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The Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) is part of the state Department of Health and Human Services. Its portion of the state budget is a half a billion dollars. That money comes from state taxpayers.
This newspaper asked the 1st District senate candidates for their views on certain DYFS questions. The following are their answers.
Under present legislation children may be removed from their homes merely on suspicion or accusation with minimal evidence of serious physical harm being present. Would you favor increasing the criteria needed to actually remove a child whose life was not threatened physically?
Sen. Jim Cafiero: "We are all concerned about protecting children. But maybe it would be in order at this time to look into the manner in which DYFS is operating and implementing the legislation and step in and set some standards. I am concerned with the whole due process issue."
Candidate William Hughes Jr.: "The problem of overly reactive and aggressive DYFS caseworkers is a symptom of an agency that is under-staffed, under-trained and under siege. Reacting to previous instances of children being left too long in dangerous environments, it seems that, in some cases, the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction. Rather than risking another ‘circumstance’ of a child falling through the cracks, there have been an increasing number of DYFS case workers erring on the side of caution. Unfortunately these errors sometimes can prove more harmful than the removal of the child. What is needed is a thorough and comprehensive review of DYFS, its staffing levels and its procedure and policy. Until this can be completed a temporary increase in the standard where there is no evidence of physical harm may be necessary."
Under present policy, parents who have their children removed do not have the right to immediate legal assistance provided by the state. They may have to wait a couple of months unless they are wealthy. What would you do to get immediate representation for those who cannot afford private counsel?
Cafiero: "I am concerned with the whole due process issue. Parents should have at least as much protection as criminals."
Hughes: "The policy of forcing caregivers to wait until they are provided legal representation is wrong and should be ended. The removal of a child from their home is truly a drastic measure, and there must be a mechanism by which parents and caregivers can quickly and fairly challenge the state’s decision."
Would you favor the establishment of a Citizens Watchdog Committee composed of citizens not involved with or employed by the government or the DYFS Union (Communications Workers of America) to accept and review actions and policy of the agency?
Cafiero: As the former chair of the Senate Committee on Women’s Issues (January 1992-June 2001), Cafiero is a co-sponsor of two senate bills calling for the establishment of a panel to extensively review DYFS policy and procedure Bill S-175 and Senate Bill S-1910 establishing the office of Ombudsman to field complaints and do reviews of the agency. Copies of the bills to find its exact provisions may be obtained by calling the Cafiero’s office.
Hughes: "There would be no need for such a committee if the governor and the state Legislature had been doing their jobs. There are already several levels of oversight, both at the executive and the legislative levels in Trenton; regarding the way DYFS does business. As pointed out in your current series of articles as well as other newspaper stories dating back as far as 1998, the failure of Mr. Cafiero’s committee to address the issues you’ve raised and others is one of the reasons why DYFS remains an agency in dire need of an overhaul. It was interesting to see where Mr. Cafiero called on the state to investigate DYFS but his call points to the larger question of why he failed to act upon these issues when the state was obviously aware of the problems and it was his job as chairman to investigate and to make the necessary changes.
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