Foster “children have been hurt. Two of the incidents I know about were infants.” – Steve Marshall
The county’s foster care system has been declining, with at least two infants and older children in foster care being hurt, according to Steve Marshall, who represents the Blue Ridge District on the Patrick County Board of Supervisors.
The Patrick County Board of Supervisors have known about the issues within the local department of social services, some of which were outlined in an August 1, 2023, email from Patrick County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Kimberly R. Belongia.
“It would be impossible for children to have not been hurt when you have that level of apathy,” Marshall said of the board’s inaction. “You have foster homes that haven’t been supervised or inspected in over seven months.”
Noting the “dire circumstances” the department is facing, the judge wrote that she “wanted the board to know that, in my opinion, the situation is only getting worse every day. These circumstances are likely to cause Patrick County a significant increase in spending and exposure to liability in the near future.
“Currently, PCDSS is severely understaffed, and has an approximately 300 percent increase in the number of children in foster care compared to past years,” Belongia wrote, and noted at the time that there were 39 children in DSS custody. In the past, the average at any given time was nine or 10 children.
“For the last month, nearly every case I have heard has involved a foster care plan that has not been filed with the court in a timely manner. This lack of compliance has caused continuances which may put the county on the hook for placement costs for the children it would not otherwise have had to cover,” the judge wrote.
Belongia also noted DSS workers were not getting their applications for Medicaid IV-E funds filed on time. If children’s placements are not paid for by IV-E funds, they are paid by the Children’s Service Act (CSA) funds.
“I’m sure you are all aware that the county’s reimbursement percentage of CSA funds is significantly higher than with IV-E funds. So, the county is already spending more money than it should simply because there is not enough staff to properly service each of these cases,” Belongia wrote in the email.
“Effective August 4, 2023, PCDSS will only have one foster care Family Services Specialist on staff,” the email stated. However, that worker was on maternity leave until October 2023.
“That means there will be no workers in this unit. All of this unit’s responsibilities will be shifted to the Child Protective Services (CPS) unit,” Belongia wrote, and noted that then-DSS director Joan Rogers requested the approval of two new positions In February 2023. “The board of supervisors denied both of her requests.”
Rogers left the agency last year, according to Marshall.
In a June 14, 2024, email to County Administrator Beth Simms, Belongia stated the situation is considerably worse now.
“Please note that there are now over 50 children in foster care in Patrick County. There is currently one foster care supervisor and NO foster care social workers on staff. Additionally, since this letter was written, PCDSS has been monitored by the Virginia Department of Social Services and is now subject to a VDSS Corrective Action Plan.
“Not to be overdramatic, but I am concerned that PCDSS is close to being the first jurisdiction in Virginia to have the state come in and ‘take over’ its foster care unit. A takeover is uncharted water, but I can only imagine, any cost of such an occurrence would be charged back to the jurisdiction,” Belongia’s email stated.
Marshall said DSS now has 34 children in foster care, one supervisor and one worker with another scheduled to start working next week.
“The absolute, most horrible maximum that you’re supposed to have per worker is 15. We had one worker for over 50 children, it’s just not acceptable. We have 53 now as far as I know. As of Tuesday,” July 9, 53 kids, he said.
Marshall believes there’s no way the board didn’t know there were issues with DSS. In addition to the emails from Belongia, “there’s indications, things come up.”
Because the situation was so dire, Marshall was among those who wanted the board initially charged with overseeing the department dismantled, and an advisory board appointed instead. That way, the county – and supervisors – are directly responsible.
“With the Advisory Committee, that makes the board of supervisors essentially the Board of Social Services (BSS). Then we appoint a representative, which is now Beth (Simms). She becomes the Board of Social Services. The one person now is the Board of Social Services under the law,” he said.
At the February 6 BSS meeting, the board voted unanimously to dissolve the Administrative Board of Social Services (ABSS) and requested the board of supervisors establish an advisory board in its place.
On February 12, Marshall requested the board of supervisors convert the BSS to an advisory board. The board of supervisors voted at its April 8 meeting to appoint Simms as the BSS, which in effect dissolved the administration board and established the advisory board.
The advisory board currently has two members – Jane Cardwell, who serves as the at large member, and Marshall, who is the board’s representative.
Marshall said two applications have been received for the Mayo River District position. He made a motion to appoint Samantha Willard to the position at the July 8 meeting but received no second. The other applicant, John Sayer, submitted his application on July 9.
Marshall said what he wants to do is, and is attempting to do, is engender some kind of sense of urgency on the board.
“Forget the money, all I keep hearing about hiring people is we can’t pay what other people do. Well, you don’t have a choice. Not only is it the right thing to do, but don’t forget this is all state mandated, and federal law mandated,” he said, adding the county is supposed to be taking care of youngsters in foster care.
Marshall said he also keeps hearing about how DSS trains its employees, but they then leave.
“They won’t (leave) if you pay them and incentivize them. If you’re paying them more and you’re incentivizing them more than Henry County, they’re not going to leave Patrick County to go to Henry County or any other county,” he said. “It should be a no brainer and just do it because you have to fix the issue.”
If the state comes in and “takes over,” Marshall said instead of it paying 84-87 percent of all costs, the county will have to pay 100 percent of all costs.
“I think we’re extremely close right now to having the state come in and take over. The board of supervisors is in a position to stop it. We’re in a position to do what needs to be done to rectify the problem,” he said.
Marshall said if the board doesn’t adopt an urgent posture to rectify the situation with DSS, he believes the state should come in and “take over. Whatever solution is needed to keep the kids safe.”
