JACKSON — Advocates for children agreed to give Mississippi more time to improve the state’s child welfare system under a deal presented Tuesday to a federal judge. In exchange, state officials agreed to try to reduce the number of children in state custody who are being cared for by unlicensed foster parents.
It’s the latest development in the long-running Olivia Y case, named for one of eight children who lawyers said had been abused because of the state’s failures. Despite a series of settlements that promised reforms, the state has repeatedly failed to meet its targets.
The plaintiffs in the 12-year-old lawsuit agreed not to ask Senior U.S. District Judge Tom Lee to take over until October, unless a July progress report is unsatisfactory.
The agreement follows a $34 million infusion of state funding by lawmakers who also agreed to create a freestanding Department of Family and Children’s Services in an attempt to stave off a federal takeover.
David Chandler, who currently runs the children’s division of the state’s Department of Human Services, said his agency needs time to use this new funding to increase pay and hire more social workers once the new budget year begins July 1.
“It gives us a period of time to demonstrate to the court, now that the Legislature has provided us with the funding, that we put the hard-earned taxpayers’ dollars to use meeting the needs of the children of the state,” Chandler said.
Chandler said he didn’t immediately know how many children are in unlicensed homes. The order calls for an outside consultant to count them as of May 1.
Some foster parents have applied for licensing but not yet been approved because of delays by the department.
Lawyers for A Better Childhood, a New York-based group representing plaintiffs, withheld comment Tuesday, pending the judge’s approval. As part of the agreement, the state agreed to admit that it didn’t meet settlement terms in the period ended June 30, which could make a takeover easier.
Chandler is seeking a broad new settlement, saying some earlier provisions are unnecessary or impossible to meet.
Either way, the judge will expect to see documented progress five months from now.
“We will be prepared to provide an accounting from the stand in October,” Chandler said.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.