Dr. Ann Frisch on Winnebago County Human Services

Note: On November 2, 2002 the Oshkosh Northwestern reported on UW Oshkosh Professor Ann Frisch's advocacy on behalf of Hmong parents who had their children taken from them by Winnebago County Human Services. Dr. Frisch's efforts have prompted a state review of the case. Dr. Frisch submitted to Commentary three public statements.

• Professor Ann Frisch: Statement to the Winnebago County Board of Supervisors
• Professor Ann Frisch: Statement to the County Human Services Board
• Professor Ann Frisch: Statement to the Oshkosh Police Department

Public hearings: Winnebago County Budget 2003
Winnebago County Board of Supervisors
October 28, 2002
Ann Frisch, Ph.D., CICSW
3565 Bambi Lane, Oshkosh 54904
(920) 237-1748 home; (920) 424-7238 office
E-mail frisch@uwosh.edu

I am Professor of Education and Human Services at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. I teach Human Services and have taught, at another university, Child Welfare. I am, by training, a Social Worker and am certified as a Independent Clinical Social Worker in Wisconsin. In the past ten months, I have been an observer, advocate and friend for a family whose children were abruptly and without justification placed in foster care. I also have had opportunity to talk with other advocates who have worked with families whose children have been removed from the home and whose children received protective services.

I could not support more funding for human services at this point because I believe it is not being used to build and strengthen families, but rather disables them. If the one case where I have been able to observe is representative of other cases, I would question the quality of child protective work by the Department. I ask that the Board of Supervisors fund an investigation of their social work practices before funding any increases.

I am concerned about some of the 2003 goals of the agency.

• "Develop procedures to meet requirements of Child Welfare On-going Practice Standards." Is this acknowledgement that the Department is not currently meeting good Child Welfare practice standards? My observation in this one case is that the practices of the Department of Human Services are extremely poor.
• "Ensure that Child Welfare Juvenile Court Intake staff responds to the demand that court review hearings on child abuse/neglect cases will continue to become more detailed regarding information needs as this need has and will continue to increase given new State Standards and Laws." Is this an acknowledgement that intake staff reports are inadquate? That was certainly true in the case I have been observing. There was no physician report on file when I went with the children's father to read the family records. There were errors on some of the intake forms.
• "License 30 new child foster homes to include Treatment Foster Homes for children with exceptional needs." This is from the department that could not find an Oshkosh home for two boys from this Hmong family so that they could remain in their neighborhood school. These two boys were put in a treatment facility in Dar Boy, though they did not need treatment. They were removed from their neighborhood school, even though the Department said the plan was to return the boys to their family, and even though the judge said that it would be in the best interests of the children to remain in their neighborhood school. The Department could not find anyone to drive the children to school from Dar Boy.

It appears that the placement of these nine children could account for some of the unexpected increase between the 2002B and 2002 A/P ( "Foster Home Placements: Total Cost and Total Average Daily Population," Winnebago County Executive Budget, page 329). The average number of children in care declined between 2001 and 2002 from 136 to 130. The average number of children in 2002 went from a budgeted 130 to an actual 154. If all children in this Hmong family had been in placement for the entire year, it would have increased the average of 130 to 139. Some of the children returned in the spring, but four children are still in placement. If the increase from 130 to 154 is indicative of an increase in inappropriate placements, the Board would certainly want to evaluate current practices, especially since the Department indicates problems with standards of practice and substandard intake practices. In light of the plan to reduce the staff , is this a good way to go? (Overall department staffing changes during 2002 and proposed for 2003 are as follows. Winnebago County Executive Budget, Page 327)

When children are placed in foster care, there are costs for courts, attorneys, increased preparation and staff time to go to hearings. There are increased costs to families and diversion of energy from becoming capable parents to running around to visitations in different locations. Even the financial cost does not consider the anguish of children and parents who are separated from each other even under the worst of circumstances.

Beyond the question of increase in the funding for the agency is the question of delivery of competent practice. If the case in question is representative of the other cases handled by this agency, then the practices are adversarial, punitive and culturally exclusive. This is not the way to facilitate the growth and development of families.

Attached is a copy of my statement to the County Human Services Board in May. The incompetent services by staff continued after this hearing. Four children are still in care for no reason whatsoever at an approximate cost of $6,000 per month.

Return to Top of Page

Public hearings
Winnebago County Human Services
7 May 2002
Ann Frisch, Ph.D.
3565 Bambi Lane, Oshkosh 54904
920 237 1748 home; 920 424 7238 office
E mail frisch@uwosh.edu

I am Professor of Education and Human Services at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. I teach Human Services and have taught, at another university, Child Welfare. In the past four months, I have been an observer, advocate and friend for a family whose children were abruptly and without justification placed in foster care. I also have had opportunity to talk with other advocates who have worked with families whose children have been removed from the home and whose children received protective services.

I could not support more funding for human services at this point because I believe it is not being used to build and strengthen families, but rather disables them. If the one case where I have been able to observe is representative of other cases, I would question the quality of child protective work by the Department.

The goal of protective services is to help families to be happy, well cared for and able to take care of children. In the case I observed, the County Human Service action has caused problems where none existed and has almost destroyed it financially. Were it not for the support of a few advocates, this family might well have been permanently destroyed. In sum, I believe that there is a lot of money wasted on culturally exclusive social work that would not meet Child Welfare League standards for care. The money that was spent on foster care (probably from $12,000 to $15,000 in four months alone) would have been better spent elsewhere and would not have created the trauma of separation and placement.

Some examples of the poor child care practice:

• removal of 9 children from their parents due to a cut on a child's face, a one time situation which was described both by the child and the mother as an accident;
• removal of children directly from school with no chance to say goodbye to parent, to get a reasonable explanation of the trauma of not being allowed to return home after school;
• when the children failed to return home after school, the mother went to school to find out what happened, and was told her children were victims of child abuse and were being taken directly to foster homes;
• the mother was taken by police with no attorney present, no records of the interrogation and pressured to admit that she had abused a child;
• when she failed to come to work because she was in jail, she was fired;
• the mother was put in jail for four days…although the children were already removed from her care;
• the family secured an attorney and took their life savings (several hundred dollars) to pay a retainer;
• there were numerous times when no interpreter was provided and in some cases, the interpreters may not have been familiar with court terminology and practice;
• they had no funds to pay for a trial, so faced with the possibility of losing all their children in a trial, they chose to plea bargain to a lesser charge and their children were ordered to be retained in foster care. Having plea bargained, she never had a chance to deny that she had done anything to harm her children;
• the family had some income supplements through food stamps and energy assistance, so when their children were removed, they became impoverished because the income supplements are based on the number of people in the family - they went from 11 to 2. They couldn't move to a smaller house because they hoped to get their children back and would need the house.
• while the probation worker was telling the family "don't yell at your children", the social workers were saying "you have to raise your voice at your children, otherwise they won't behave." You can imagine how difficult these rules were to this family.
• in order to see their children, they had to travel to have supervised visitation with their children in various towns and locations; they had to meet with probation officers, social workers, lawyers. They were exhausted and anguished by what they had to do to get their family back together.
• the mass production system of protective service meant that there were intake workers, then social workers, also case workers, family paraprofessionals, but none of them helped the family with tangible resources, claiming they had to go to other workers in other departments. Whenever there seemed to be a need, the social workers told them to see some other social worker or program. In one or two instances, they reapplied but were turned down…because their new family size did not qualify them. Some resources were promised, but never delivered.
• In desperation to have enough income to get their children back, the mother went to work - nights - in Ripon. The social workers' response was; that's up to her if she wants to go back to work. There was no comprehensive plan to see if all the children were at home, would they requalify for benefits so that they could manage financially without her working. Considerable time was spent by the social workers to try to get the parents to ask family members to care for the children. I don't think the social workers ever considered that probably the incident that started this whole agony was because she was working to try to make enough money to provide additional money for the family.
• Because of the confusion of what one social worker was doing and what others were doing, I asked the social workers if the parents could request a copy of their social service records. I was told emphatically that those records were not accessible to the parents. I, however, called the supervisor and was told of course the family members could have access to their own and their childrens' records.

Imagine a different scenario:

What could we do with a family that is Hmong, has nine children. The husband has a reasonable job, they live simply. They do not have all the middle class trappings; their own bedroom, own dresser, lots of toys. But they are happy. Nine children can leave you frayed at the edges sometimes and in this instance, there was an accident. If protective services had become involved, what could they have done that would have been cost effective and would have really helped the family:

• All available resources brought into the family so that the mother did not have to work;
• Some discussion with family about their needs, frustrations, worries and problem solving to see how needs could be met.
• A promise of support and rather than adversarial action, a social services provided family advocate to assure their needs are met and they have reserve to respond to tough moments bringing up nine children;
• Meeting with Hmong groups to see if there are problems in the community, discrimination, need for services, that the Department could assist with.
• Support for intercultural activities;
• Training for Hmong group workers to work with families;
• Providing interpreters with all sessions; in fact Hmong social workers. But interpreters should be paid for by a separate office from human services.
• Providing Hmong foster homes. I understand some Hmong families have offered, but they have been ignored. They should be sought out by the Department of Human Services.
• Attorneys should be provided, but funding should not come from Social Services otherwise it constitutes a conflict of interest.

In short, my observations that the Department of Human Services (with regard to child protective services) is:

• Adversarial
• Punitive
• Culturally exclusive

If the funds used to put nine children in foster care for one month had been used to be supportive, friendly and positive, this family could have been enriched. As it is, the children have been subject to the trauma of separation and placement, the parents have had their discipline methods challenged. Good child welfare practice is possible - and it is less expensive than adversarial, punitive and culturally exclusive practice.

It could be:

• Supportive
• Helpful
• Culturally inclusive and respectful

In short, I would not support more funding for poor social service practice. I would divert the funding to strengthen families, rather than fragment and destroy them then try to patch them back together.

Return to Top of Page

Public comment
Oshkosh Police Department
Dr. Ann Frisch, Ph.D.
3565 Bambi Lane, Oshkosh 54904
(920) 237-1748 (920) 424-7238/1490
E mail frisch@uwosh.edu

I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the role of Oshkosh police in our community. While there are many reasons to thank and appaud the Oshkosh police for providing security and protection, I ask that some practices be changed. I am including, as part of this official record, a copy of the statement I made at the Winnebago County Human Services public hearing on 7 May 2002. I request that my statements be placed in the public record.

I am Professor of Education and Human Services at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, and a Certified Independent Clinical Social Worker. I have taught Child Welfare at another university.

I am very concerned that the Oshkosh Police Department is undermining and weakening families where other communities are able to work in a more pro-active and positive way. I cite for example the incarceration of a 26 year old Hmong woman, wife and mother, for four days. The Oshkosh police and the Department of Human Services removed their 9 children directly from their school when one of the children was found to have a cut (appropriately treated by the family at the local hospital) on his cheek. Without any notification to the parents, the children were taken from school to foster care, a practice that is almost never appropriate and would violate standards of good practice.

The woman was interrogated by police without interpreter or counsel until she was forced to confess to child abuse. She was taken to jail for four days during which time she was not given adequate heat or blankets. She was placed on probation.

While on probation, the "counsel" given her by the probation officer conflicted with the orders from Human Services. An example of this was the probation officer telling her not to yell at her children while Human Service workers were telling her to raise her voice so that her children knew she "meant business".

As I have outlined in my statement to the County Human Services Board, there was no justification for removal of the children, and certainly not the incarceration. Why would the police department put her in jail after the children were out of the home? How did this serve justice? How did this make any sense? Finally, it leads the public to suspect that there is some bureaucratic advantage to incarcerate her.

If this were an isolated event, I would be less concerned. But I hear stories of other minority groups that are treated in similar punitive ways. Large fines for driving under the influence of alcohol, plus jail time, and court involvement. Would it both be sensible and good public practice to have programs in which people trained in human relations work with minorities and others to strenthen and build families and communities. It is being done in other communities. As an example, government could work with communities to provide the "designated driver" idea so that when the Hispanic people have a dance, there is a means for fathers and mothers to get home safely with without further impoverishment.

I understand that in some cases, even when people believe they are not guilty, they pay the exorbitant fines just because they cannot afford a lawyer or to risk racism in a court case.

Individual and group training in diversity is not enough. Public policy and programs must be changed to be supportive, helpful, culturally inclusive and respectful.

Return to Top of Page

Return to Commentary