FORM HELD ON UPGRADING STATE SERVICES

Several of the nearly 50 people attending a forum Friday on a plan to restructure state services to children and families said they could not understand why employees of agencies could not communicate more instead of having a new agency created.

The forum, one of several being held around the state this month, was sponsored by the Citizens for Missouri's Children to discuss with legislators, public agency representatives and other groups the services that a new agency would provide.

On several occasions the Cape Girardeau Caring Council, which is an effort spearheaded three years ago by Rep. Mary Kasten to improve coordination and cooperation between agencies in this area dealing with children and families, was cited as an example of what could be done on a statewide basis.

"Why not make it easier to sit down and talk between departments, much like the caring council, only on a broader level," said Charlotte Craig, administrator of the Cape County Health Department.

Craig's counterpart in Madison County, Betty Krueger, said instead of forming a new agency it would be better to improve cooperation and use the additional funds for programs to benefit families and children.

"I don't see why there is such a big to-do about this," said Krueger. "Why not communicate ... I think we need to work closer together and put money where we need it most."

Both Krueger and Craig said within their health departments, staff communicate regularly and share information on patients and make referrals.

Sen. Jerry Howard, D-Dexter, said he is not convinced the new plan would be better.

"Why is this better? How is this different from what we can do today?" asked Howard. He questioned whether a new Division of Children's Services would have better cooperation between employees than existing agencies.

But Susan Jennings, from the governor's policy office, said it would be better to have more of a "one stop shopping" place rather than shuffling people to different state departments and agencies.

Melba Price, from the Department of Social Services, agreed that some children "are bounced from one area to another. It's a crime what we are doing to some families in this state."

Price stressed the new legislation would insure better coordination and would enable them to respond to needs of children earlier.

Jennings said there is good cooperation at the upper levels of state agencies, but that coordination gets lost at the local levels and individual case levels.

"Why doesn't the governor just issue an executive order to work together at the case level," said Howard.

"It just doesn't work; directives like that don't work," said Price.

Jennings said many caseworkers do not understand what staff involved with other programs are doing.

Charlie Stokes, deputy director of the Department of Health, supported the need for a new agency because he said it will place a better focus on programs for children and special services that are available at the case level.

"This frontline coordination is what will eventually make the difference," said Stokes, adding that there has been a trend in recent years to expand inter-agency meetings.

Stokes said a new computer program being used, known as MOCARES, will improve coordination because information on clients and families will be computerized. "This really gives us a chance to share information," he said.

"This is a real opportunity for the improvement of services to kids," Stokes noted.

On Jan. 15, Gov. John Ashcroft issued an executive order to create a Division of Children's Services within the Department of Social Services by combining the Division of Family Services child welfare programs, the Department of Mental Health children's programs, and the Division of Youth Services.

But on March 4, the governor withdrew his order and now supports HB 1632, sponsored by Rep. Kay Steinmetz, D-Florissant, which would do about the same thing.

The bill is now on the House Perfection Calendar and will be taken up soon.

The governor is also allocating $1.5 million for community prototype sites next year in St. Louis, Kansas City, Cape Girardeau, Columbia and Springfield.

A second bill, HJR 64, is still in committee and would create a new Department of Children's Services.

There was some discussion at the forum whether the new children's services agency should be a division or be a department, which would give it greater status.

Jennings said the governor opposes department status because it would expand the state's bureaucracy and force the need to create an expensive support staff that a department must have. Also, by putting the division within an existing department, Jennings said there will be less money spent on administrative costs and the plan could be implemented by legislative action rather than a vote of the people through a constitutional amendment.

"The governor wants to maximize services to children. With a division, we will be able to start doing that July 1," said Jennings.

Another discussion point was whether the community prototypes should be done for a few years, the results of those program analyzed, and then a new agency created.

Jennings said under the Steinmetz bill, the agency would be reviewed after four years to determine whether it needed to be significantly changed.

She pointed out that there are already prototypes for improving services to children around the state, such as the Community Caring Council here.

Jennings and Price admitted there was some disagreement over the advantages of a department over a division and the amount of authority a new agency should have.

Among the other concerns expressed was that many state agencies that deal with families and children are not adequately funded now. Dennis Reagan, director of the Cape Girardeau County Division of Family Services office, noted that he is staffed at 66 percent of need.

Rep. Kasten said she supports the House bill and believes it will lead to the kind of coordination statewide to improve services to children and make resources go farther.

"I'm excited about the whole direction," said Kasten. "We think the direction is absolutely on target.

"To make this work, we need to involve the whole community."