Anita Barbee. Photo courtesy of the Courier-Journal.

Budget cuts, staff reductions and heavy caseloads are hampering the ability of Kentucky social service workers to protect children, according to this article in the Courier-Journal.

Kentucky has about 1,300 social service workers, down from 2,000 a decade ago. At the same time workers are under increasing scrutiny over recent child death cases.

The situation has gotten so bad some workers are breaking down on the job, suffering from health problems or just quitting, observers said.

“It is a crisis,” said Anita Barbee, a professor at the University of Louisville’s Kent School of Social Work and a National Association of Social Workers member. ”It’s the constant erosion of the workforce, and cuts in services that have gotten us to this crisis.”

To learn more about how social workers help young people in crisis, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Website by clicking here.

Instead the NASW Kentucky Chapter said in this article that the public should focus on the factors that led to the childrens’ injuries or deaths.

“Our response should target what we already know — frontline workers in Kentucky carry caseloads well above the national recommended number, have low salaries and high turnover rates, and are not required to be degreed or licensed social workers,” the chapter said in statement. 

The full NASW Kentucky Chapter press release is available at the chapter’s Website. Go there by clicking here.

Gov. Steve Beshear announced in November the state would release records of children who have been killed or nearly killed due to abuse or neglect. However the records that were released were heavily censored, with the names of children who were killed redacted and the names of counties where incidents occurred deleted.

The National Association of Social Workers is part of the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths. The coalition supports new bicameral legislation from Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) and Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) that could make significant impact toward reducing fatalities from child abuse and neglect. To learn more about the coalition click here. You can also learn more about how social workers protect children by visiting NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Web page by clicking here.

Richard Dawahare

Cheers to Kentucky attorney Richard Dawahare for urging the state to hire more social workers in his column in the Lexington Courier-Journal.

Dawahare said part of the reason Kentucky has an absymal child fatality rate is that social workers have caseloads almost twice the recommended federal standard of 18 to 20 per worker. Dawahare said there is no way overstressed workers can protect all the children in their care.

“Social workers are Kentucky’s front line soldiers in the war against child abuse and neglect,” he wrote. “The vast majority of them are tireless servants to their calling.”

Dawahare’s column comes at a time when social workers are not getting good press in the state.

A judge recently ruled that caseworkers failed to properly protect Amythz Dye, a 9-year-old who was beaten to death by her 18-year-old adopted brother. However, news headlines mistakenly said the caseworkers were trained and licensed social workers.

Gov. Steve Beshear also ordered the release of records of children who were killed or almost killed due to abuse or neglect, an action that has raised concern among social workers.

To learn more about how social workers protect children visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Website by clicking here.

Charley Nell Llewellyn. Photo courtesy of the News-Enterprise.

Award-winning social worker Charley Nell Llewellyn died this Monday in Hardin County, Kentucky at age 84.

Llewellyn, a former county school social worker, was a champion of children and women’s rights. Before retiring in 1987 she was named Social Worker of the Year by the Kentucky chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and Kentucky School Social Worker of the Year.

“She was one of the most dedicated, compassionate people who worked with children,” said Denny Duggins, who worked with Llewellyn in the school system.

To read her full obituary in the News-Enterprise click here.

University of Louisville researchers Seana Golder (left) and Linda Bledsoe (right) from the Kent Social Work School and George Higgins. Photo courtesy of the Courier-Journal.

Researchers from the University of Louisville Kent School of Social Work and University of Kentucky will study ways to keep women out of prison.

The project, called “The Women’s Health Research Study,” will look at how incarcerated women were affected by victimization, including physical and sexual abuse, according to this article in the Courier-Journal.

“This is a big study, but it’s going to give us a lot of information that we just don’t have,” said  George Higgins, an associate professor in justice administration at University of Louisville.

A $1.5 million federal grant will fund the project. The team will begin recruiting women in the Louisville area in the next few weeks and hopes to examine 400 women on probabation and parole.

There were almost 115,000 women in federal and state correctional institutions as of June 2009, up 23 percent from 2000, according to this Bureau of Justice Statistics report. About 2,200 women are jailed in Kentucky and another 15,000 are on probation or parole.

Betty Heck.

Snow has blanketed many parts of the United States and Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter.

Is the cold, snowy weather getting you down? The News-Enterprise in Kentucky interviewed National Association of Social Workers member Betty Heck, MSW, LCSW, and clown and comedian Jim Roberts about how to break the wintertime blues.

Heck recommended exercise, getting out of the house, and a good diet, among other things. You should also avoid hanging around other sad people because depression is contagious, she advised.

“Everything is a system,” said Heck, who owns Life Designs Behavioral Health Center in Elizabethtown, Ky. “We all affect each other.”

To read the full article click here.

And to learn more about how Heck and other social workers help people maintain their health and sense of well being visit the NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Web site by clicking here.

Their job is to help children and families, but often times they claim they are the ones who are the victims.

“But I do feel that I have saved at least one person. But for every one I save, there’s two that want to hurt me,” social worker Lula Duerson said as she testified before the House Health and Welfare committee on Thursday.

To view the full article, click here

Legislation passed in the 2007 session called the “Boni Bill” in the name of Boni Frederick, who died during a home visit, was supposed to fund millions for many safety improvements

WLKY.com – FRANKFORT, KY — Wednesday, Kentucky social workers told legislators in Frankfort the promises of a law meant to keep social workers safe have been broken.

The law was set up after social worker, Boni Frederick, was stabbed and bludgeoned to death three years ago after taking an infant for what was supposed to be a final home visit.

The Boni Bill was born as a result, but social workers told legislators budget cuts are killing its purpose.

Several social workers shared their stories of doing their jobs in fear as they tried to convince the joint House-Senate Health and Welfare committee more needs to be done to protect them. [full article]