Over the years, I've posted a number of stories about people suing DSHS for failing to supervise foster care placements or otherwise take care of vulnerable children. Now there's a study indicating that the agency is gravely understaffed. Boost child-welfare caseworkers by 70 percent, study says, Seattle Times, Dec. 11, 2007:
The state's child-welfare system is so short-handed that a recent study estimated 1,240 more workers are needed to keep up with the demand.
The Workload Study, conducted for the state and released last month, comes amid an upswing in the number of children in out-of-home care, either in foster homes or with relatives. Meanwhile, children are being neglected by their parents as overloaded state employees struggle to protect them.
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