Iowa's social workers see growing foster care caseloads A three-year-old boy opens the back door to follow Krista Kronstein as she goes to bring in the family dog at the home of Kronstein and Emily Steeples, who were caring for four foster children in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Chapter 1: Trying their best

As a social worker and a foster parent, Emily Steeples sees foster care’s shortcomings up close. Steeples is a foster and adoptive family connections specialist for Four Oaks in Cedar Rapids, which provides support for families across most of the state. She and her spouse, Krista Kronstein, 36, also have been foster parents since 2015. “I think (Iowa Department of Human Services workers) definitely are trying their best,” Steeples said. “I don’t think there’s anybody out there, and I haven’t had contact with anybody, who’s not really trying to do what’s best for kids.” But what Steeples and others interviewed for this series have said DHS child welfare system lacks a number of key things — enough foster parents to care for displaced children; enough social workers to support birth and foster parents; and enough resources to bring foster care up to top capacity for those it surrounds. Recent events have brought more scrutiny to DHS, as well as more public awareness to the strains it faces managing the child welfare system. In two separate cases, two teenage girls in central Iowa — Natalie Finn and Sabrina Ray, both 16 years old — died after being adopted by their foster parents. 52 percent

of abuse allegations were accepted for investigation by DHS in 2016 After these very public cases, Janee Harvey, DHS child welfare and community services bureau chief, said DHS conducted a systematic review of policies, procedures and practices from the very first call to department’s child abuse hotline and all the way through the assessment of the alleged abuse. DHS found that intake staff were seeking more information to open a case than what policy actually required, Harvey said. RELATED STORY: Courts part of oversight in protecting children in Iowa's foster care system To address this, DHS conducted more training for intake staff — those who take calls of reported abuse — on burden of proof. Harvey said DHS also changed its policy for supervisors at intake. Instead of reviewing all cases accepted into the child welfare system, these supervisors now are required to review all rejected cases “to make sure the policy, procedure and the employee manual is really being followed.”These internal changes, as well as the increase in reports following the deaths of the two Iowa teenagers, has resulted in more cases for DHS. In 2016, DHS received more than 50,000 reports of alleged abuse on its abuse hotline, and social workers accepted about 52 percent of those cases. This year, the current rate of accepting cases is almost 65 percent, Harvey said. 65 percent

of abuse allegations have been accepted for investigation in 2017 “When you’re looking at resources, I’m not going to lie, we’ve been extremely busy,” said Karen Johnson, DHS child abuse protective assessment worker. “Our caseloads right now are probably double what they were a year ago.”

Krista Kronstein comforts one of the foster children currently being cared for by Kronstein and her spouse, Emily Steeples, at their home in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Chapter 2: 'You just get comfortable with being uncomfortable'

There are two classes of social workers that handle DHS child abuse cases. All abuse allegations are investigated by social worker 3s, who then make a determinations on the case, such as if a child should be removed from the home. According to a legislative presentation from DHS in March 2017, there were 182 social worker 3s employed throughout the state. Social workers 2s, on the other hand, oversee ongoing cases within DHS, including those children in foster care. Three are 336 such workers in Iowa. The average caseload for these social workers is based on state standards, noted Wendy Rickman, DHS division administrator for adult, children and family services. However, she added both social worker 3s and 2s are probably handling double the caseload recommended by the Child Welfare League of America. A national organization made up of public and private agencies, the League, recommends 12 to 15 children per worker. There are 182

DHS social worker 3s throughout Iowa For DHS social workers, such as Steve Henderson, there are no typical days on the job. Most days, “you just get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” “There’s times where workers are actually scared to go to homes,” said Henderson, an ongoing caseworker. “I know I have a certain home that I’m nervous every month I go out there, and I text my supervisor when I get there and when I leave there because I’ve had threats made, and I still have the requirement to see the family. Knowing what’s going on with someone, maybe not necessarily in that home, but in that person’s life, can make it scary.” According to data from March of this year, DHS worked with 4,247 families with an ongoing case per month. In addition, the department worked with 1,818 Iowa youth per month, along with more than 2,200 foster families.

A basket full of children's shoes sits near the door of Krista Kronstein and Emily Steeples' home in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Steeples and Kronstein were caring for four foster children in October, and two of the children have since returned to their biological parent. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Chapter 3: Turnover

Four Oaks’s Steeples said burnout in foster families can be caused by a variety of things. Perhaps they’ve had a series of placements with children with a lot of health or behavioral challenges. Maybe there was a disagreement with, or no support from, their social worker. Case worker Henderson said DHS social workers also juggle frequent turnover among their ranks. While a revolving door of staff increases the workload for other social workers, it also can be a strain on the families they service, such as the Cooks. Natalie and Tony Cook, fostered twin boys until the couple adopted them at the beginning of this year. While their sons were in foster care, Natalie said the family went through three different DHS workers due to turnover, as well as a different Family Safety, Risk and Permanency Service worker — who would oversee birth parent visits — each week. “So much turnover, so many people, that there wasn’t a constant person that they’d go with” on visits, Natalie said. There are 336

DHS social worker 2s throughout the state The Cooks’ third and final DHS case manager, Laura Palumbo, was a social worker who had been working in foster care 20 or so years. “I know we probably wouldn’t have the boys right now if it weren’t for her,” Natalie said. “She was the No. 1 person in the system who gave me hope that there are people in the system who really care about these kids — it’s not just another caseload to them.”

Emily Steeples looks on as Krista Kronstein lifts one of their foster children out of his sister's bunk bed as they get ready for stories at their Cedar Rapids home on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Steepes and Kronstein were caring for four foster children in October, and two of the children have since returned to their biological parent. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Chapter 4: Making it work