• Casework loads determine the response time, service quality and efficiency of caseworkers working with children needing protection.
• CPS workers cannot serve children adequately when they have only two to six hours per month to devote to each child on their caseload at the current caseload ratio.
• The Council on Accreditation and The Child Welfare League of America recommend a maximum range in caseloads of twelve to fifteen cases per worker. These figures are determined by in-depth time/motion analysis of caseloads required to provide thorough, timely and quality services.
• In Texas, the average caseload for CPS workers has increased from an adjusted weighted average of 26.7 cases in 2002 versus 25 cases in 2001, two times the recommended caseload level. Yet, CPS Investigators carry over 56 cases per worker as reported 1Q04.
• The average 2003 turnover rate for CPS caseworkers was 23.5% and as high as 39.9% for entry-level caseworkers. Turnover for all Texas state employees in 2002  was 14.8%.
• Turnover increases the likelihood that miscommunication and mistakes made when a child’s case is “handed off” to a new caseworker and results in delays in permanent placements of children.
• High caseloads increase the risk of further abuse and neglect, decrease worker  productivity and cost children’s lives.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ISSUE #2: To lower caseloads & turnover

• Reduce Child Protective Service Worker caseloads by hiring more workers
• CPS should work toward becoming accredited with the Council on Accreditation for Children and Family Services such that caseloads are reduced to 12-17 cases per worker over the next decade.
• For the next biennium, CPS caseworkers should be added in order to lower the  caseload to 20 cases per worker.
• In 2002, FPS reported that it would need 237 additional staff in FY 2004 and 196  additional staff in FY 2005 for a total of 433 staff over the biennium to bring caseloads down to 20 per worker. The total cost to add these additional staff over the biennium is $29,484,649 of which $20,305,561 would be funded from general revenue. Low caseloads increase worker accuracy in assessments in removal/placement decisions. Low caseloads allow caseworkers time to research past referrals, legal and investigative case narratives and develop the best plans for families, thereby reducing the likelihood of families re-entering the system.
• Low caseloads decrease worker turnover, thereby saving hiring and training costs, and allows for a more experienced workforce thereby increasing worker productivity and reliability.
• In sum, low caseloads not only reduces the incidence of future child abuse and neglect, it also is cost-effective for the state.
• Reinstate and expand the successful Training Academy Pilot Project and expand the pilot to the other 4 FPS Districts.
• District 3 (Dallas-Ft. Worth and seventeen outlying counties) showed a dramatic reduction in turnover compared to other regions after initiation of a pilot.
• The pilot provided just-in-time replacements of caseworker vacancies by having trained workers ready for hire. This quick vacancy fill cut down on the caseloads remaining workers had to carry during the previously extended vacancy period.
• The $1.3 million cost of the pilot expanded to all five Districts amounts to approximately $6.5 million for the biennium.
• However, the pilot is cost neutral, as CPS will save the lost training costs of these workers. Retaining trained workers shifts the cost of training losses of workers that leave to employment costs of those that stay.
• CPS needs to Support Key Supervisor staff in order to build “Institutional Memory” and tenure of the workforce.
• The research notes that after manageable caseload levels, supervision “may be the next most important factor” in retaining workers . Supervisors that are well trained and tenured are more capable of guiding new workers, willing to listen to work-related problems and help workers get their jobs done.
• CPS should offer supervisors a pay grade increase in order to give caseworkers incentives to become supervisors and retain the best-qualified supervisors.
• CPS should hire part-time seasoned and best former workers to mentor new trainees.  Many former workers that left to raise a family are a low-cost, already trained valuable asset for new workers and would provide the guidance trainees require and a relief for supervisors.
• DFPS should measure and implement the most effective worker support, reward and retention systems by teaming with county experimental initiatives across the state.