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June 24, 2008
Cuts dump at-risk
kids on state¨
By THEO EMERY, Staff Writer,
Tennessean
On Betty Moss' front porch,
Ricky and Reshawn Bell stare into the distance as Moss, their
grandmother, chats with probation officer Derrick
Brigham.
They discuss school and
Reshawn's medications, as brakes screech on a nearby street and an
elderly pit bull yawns in the yard.
The conversation winds down,
and Brigham reaches out a tattooed arm to clasp Ricky's hand,
admonishing the teen father, "Man, you got to take care of that
baby. You've got to get a job," before hugging Moss
goodbye.
Across Tennessee, the state
Department of Children's Services pays for probation officers like
Brigham, as well as schools and private programs, to keep children
like Reshawn, 14, and Ricky, 17, out of trouble, and out of state
custody.
An unexpected change to
federal Medicaid rules, though, is costing the Department of
Children's Services $73 million. To make up part of that shortfall,
DCS is ending $12 million in grants to courts, community programs
and schools that use the money to keep hundreds of children and
teens out of jail and the foster care system.
The grants, about $580,000
of which Davidson County Juvenile Court uses to pay probation
officers will end on June 30, and Brigham worries about what that
will mean for kids like the Bells.
Brigham said he now handles
about 30 cases. When the DCS money is gone, he expects his caseload
to double. With fewer visits and less oversight, he predicted that
some perhaps a quarter of them could eventually wind up in state
custody.
"Today, you might be saving
some money, but in five years, or even a year, you're going to be
spending more money, because you're taking the safety net away," he
said.
Change affects 500
kids
In January, the federal
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services decided to stop paying
states to provide "targeted case management," a system of
coordinated care management for children.
The decision affected more
than 30 states, including 30,000 children in Tennessee. Since then,
states have sought congressional action to stop the cuts; that
appears unlikely to succeed.
Tennessee is also among
states that sued over the cuts, but that could take years to make
its way through the courts.
DCS examined its options,
said Deputy Commissioner Steven Hornsby, and decided that the
department could no longer afford the grants.
"This is one of those things
that hurts," he said. "It hurts."
Hornsby said the grants help
about 500 children across the state. However, Davidson County
officials said the grants help 300 in their county, and the head of
a program in West Tennessee said the grants help 250 at his school
alone.
DCS also must lay off 160
employees because of the cuts. Those are on top of buyouts of
around 140 DCS workers, the result of a $468 million budget
shortfall for next year. Davidson, Rutherford and Montgomery
counties are three of the nearly three dozen grant recipients
across the state.
"This is not a budget cut ""
this is a budget increase," said Randy Hatch, senior administrator
at Carroll Academy. "In the end, it's going to cost more money to
keep these kids in state custody."
His school, which serves
Carroll County and four neighboring West Tennessee counties, gets
almost $860,000 from DCS to teach about 250 troubled kids on the
cusp of the juvenile justice system.
Hatch thought the school
might have to close. Now, after talks with private donors, the
school probably will stay open, but will have to cut the number of
children it serves. He predicted that some will end up in custody
or on the street.
Hornsby said the cuts will
be difficult and would require adjustment, but doubted that they
will cause large-scale migration of kids into state
custody.
"There will be some amount
of impact initially, but I really think that eventually things will
settle out, and we will adapt," he said.
Harder to oversee
kids
In Davidson County, juvenile
court officials have been forced to do that. Judge Betty Adams
Green said the Juvenile Courtgrant has paid for about 14 probation
officers, about a third of the county total, overseeing about 300
kids on probation.
Green said the court expects
to get some money from the Metro government to fill the gap, and
will probably only be down four to six officers in the end. Still,
she said it will be harder to oversee the kids, and the federal
cuts will cost the state more money down the road.
"I think it's penny-wise and
pound-foolish," she said. "I think it's a whole lot better to
address the needs on this end, than to say, 'We'll deal with that
down the road.' "
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The Black Children's Institute of
Tennessee
BCI
