ABUSED KIDS IGNORED 3-YEAR BACKLOG HAS HAMPERED PROBES, ALLOWED INJURIES, DEATHS.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Los Angeles County child abuse investigators have a backlog of hundreds of cases as much as 3 years old, heightening concern that the system fails to protect children from repeated abuse, according to interviews and an audit obtained Wednesday.

Dozens of the old internal-affairs cases involve the deaths or abuse of foster children who were placed in the county's care to protect them from further harm, according to the audit of the county's Department of Children and Family Services. The Daily News obtained a copy of the audit Wednesday.

``Yet again, this illustrates the department's complete failure to protect children from reabuse in the very system promised to protect them,'' said Amy Pellman, acting executive director of The Alliance for Children's Rights, a nonprofit watchdog group.

``The lack of tracking leaves every child in foster care vulnerable every day.''

The audit, conducted this year by the county Auditor-Controller's Office, found a backlog of 258 cases in February in the DCFS internal-affairs section, which probes death and abuse focusing on negligence by county staffers and violations of county policies.

Three-fourths of the backlogged cases - 74 percent - were more than 6 months old. And of those 191 cases, half involved deaths of foster children or allegations of abuse of children at MacLaren Children's Center in El Monte, the county-run shelter for abused and emotionally troubled youths.

``Obviously, this is very disturbing,'' said county Supervisor Don Knabe. ``This situation shouldn't exist in our county. We need the right kind of information ... Maybe we can save another 10 lives because of a proper database. We need every tool we can possibly get to try and prevent these horrible things from happening in the future.''

The new report follows Daily News stories outlining an increasing number of children killed by foster parents, or by relatives who were entrusted with their care.

Children's Services Inspector General Michael Watrobski reported in February that seven children were killed by foster parents or relative caregivers in 2001. However, the department's own figures show five children were killed.

Watrobski said the dispute over the numbers is part of an ``ongoing reconciliation process.'' Either way, the number of deaths is the most in a decade, statistics show.

The backlog revealed in the new audit includes investigations of abuse allegations at MacLaren, where the audit found a backlog of 80 cases.

Cases of foster child deaths and abuse that constitute crimes are also investigated by local law enforcement agencies, county officials stress.

DCFS Director Anita Bock said she requested the audit as part of an effort to reduce the backlog and reform the system.

``I think things are getting markedly better, and hopefully in the next year we won't have a backlog anymore,'' Bock said.

Pellman, of the Alliance for Children's Rights, said county reports also showed a backlog of 874 cases in 1999, but she finds it hard to rely on the department's numbers because its computer tracking systems are so incomplete.

``It poses tremendous dangers because if you think of a foster home with five children and one of them is removed by a social worker because of an allegation of sexual abuse, there will be four other children in the home with social workers who don't know why the child was removed,'' Pellman said.

``So what we are looking at is placing all four of those children at risk of being sexually abused unnecessarily.''

The county Board of Supervisors is expected to vote Tuesday to direct Bock to implement the recommendations in the audit, which involves an automated case-management system.

The audit found that the Internal Affairs Division is operating without an effective case-management system that would allow management to effectively track investigations in terms of type, age, referral source and case-completion times. It recommends that an automated case-management system is needed to track caseloads with a time-management component to measure investigator productivity.

It found that investigators are processing cases often without conducting a preliminary case assessment to ensure the most serious cases are investigated first.

Auditors reviewed 10 cases that had been open for a year or more, and investigators said the delays were due to excessive caseloads. Also, the department has not established criteria upon which incoming cases are analyzed and prioritized.

For example, the department might give high priority to cases that involve allegations of sexual abuse, referred from the Board of Supervisors or repeat allegations against a social worker.

In the absence of such criteria, it has been the responsibility of each investigator how to prioritize his caseload. Many of them chose to focus on the oldest cases, a procedure sometimes known as a ``first-in, first-out'' basis.

Also, investigators said, in general, they give low priorities to cases involving MacLaren Children's Center because, in the great majority of cases, they are unable to substantiate the allegations.

``We can never underestimate any allegation that comes forward,'' said Kathryn Barger-Leibrich, Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich's chief of staff. ``That type of message tells me that children at MacLaren need to be heard.

``I would rather investigate something and find it's not substantiated than to turn my back on it and find that someone dies under our care. This audit should be a wake-up call to everyone that we need to ask questions about what is taking place in the department.''