Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday morning announced changes at the Department of Children and Families that he hopes will improve the agency's performance and simplify it mission after a series of tragic cases involving children who had interactions with the department.

The steps, which Baker said are all geared towards keeping children safe, are designed to improve procedures for tracking children and make sure social workers do not miss any warning signs. They come as the Baker administration is still working toward reducing the overall caseloads handled by employees charged with guarding against child abuse and neglect.

Baker said that in an attempt to improve retention of social workers as caseloads continue to exceed the target of 18 per worker, management and union leadership within the agency will develop a strategy this fall for recruitment and retention.

An additional $35.5 million was included in the fiscal 2016 budget for hiring, and the department will also reinstate social workers technical positions to perform non-clinical support services for employees who have yet to become licensed. Since licensing became a requirement last year, the administration reports that 82 percent of workers are licensed, up from 50 percent before the law was signed.
Social worker technicians were eliminated as part of budget cuts in 2009.

As part of the new in-take policy, which Baker said has not been updated in 12 years, the Department of Children and Families will standardize its risk assessment procedures, conduct criminal records checks in all cases, review a family's entire history with DCF, including current and prior contacts, review the frequency and type of emergency responses to the home and assess parental capacity.

DCF also plans to hire its first medical director, Baker said, and to reestablish a central regional office in Worcester by Jan. 2, 2016.
Baker is also requesting that the state Child Advocate investigate the case of Bella Bond, the 2-year-old child whose body was found in a trash bag on Deer Island in June case.

In a statement, social worker Peter MacKinnon, DCF Chapter President of the SEIU Local 509, said, "For years, social workers and investigators have called for meaningful reform and investment at DCF, but we've only seen attempts at quick fixes. This is an unprecedented collaboration between frontline child protection workers and agency administrators. Working together, we will succeed in doing what has been necessary for so long - making deep, systemic changes."