Beach dawdles on necessary changes [opinion]

The Virginian-Pilot

© September 11, 2012

More than 2 1/2 years ago, a 10-month-old baby died in Virginia Beach at the hands of his foster mother. He was shaken to death, his testicles were crushed, and he weighed less than he had at six months - discoveries that shocked the community and sent the foster mother to prison.

But the child welfare staff who oversaw placement of Braxton Taylor, who ignored signs that Braxton was in trouble, who failed to investigate his welfare, are still working. The manager described in a state report as "completely out of touch with the work being done" at his agency is still head of the Virginia Beach Department of Human Services. In fact, he is leading the organizational changes outlined in the city's Aug. 31 response to the state.

Some employees have been moved to other jobs in the agency, and the training curriculum is being changed. But Virginia Beach's abused and neglected children are still overseen by the same people, in the same culture that facilitated a death more than 30 months ago.

Two blistering reports - from the Virginia Department of Social Services and the Child Welfare League of America - were issued this summer about major personnel, organizational and training problems at the agency. Its efforts to ensure that children were placed appropriately were lax, and too little was done to find them permanent homes. "A significant culture change is needed," the state report said, dictating that Virginia Beach respond by Sept. 1.

The city's response does not indicate a sense of urgency. And it does not inspire confidence that Virginia Beach has learned from Braxton's death.

It calls for adding staff, reorganizing and implementing training. It says the department "will improve our child welfare outcomes in the near future and on an ongoing basis." It pledges to work with state and local partners, to be held accountable. It also disputes the state's contention that the agency had an above-average backlog of cases, saying Virginia Beach always beats state standards.

Deputy City Manager Cindy Curtis said "significant work is ongoing." She said City Manager Jim Spore is evaluating personnel and will report to the City Council when his evaluation is complete. She said the state report was sent in July and that the city had only a month to formulate a plan.

"Cultural change," she added, "will take time."

She's right. One month isn't much time. But 2-1/2 years seems like enough to have recognized the problems and begun changing attitudes and practices.

Changing a culture starts at the top. It permeates senior managers, one of whom was described as "not effectively performing the duties required." It trickles down to the social workers, who, according to the state report, believed their mission was to "minimize liability instead of practicing good social work."

The plan is a start. Adding social workers is probably warranted. But changes need to go much deeper.

A baby died on Virginia Beach's watch. Residents need to have confidence that it will never happen again.