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April 07, 2005
Social services department hoping to provide more details in abuse cases
April 7, 2005 [Associated Press]
BATON ROUGE, La. The state's social services department will ask the Legislature to loosen restrictions on the information the agency can provide in child abuse cases.
Currently, department officials can't talk about specifics in open child abuse cases and are, instead, only able to outline general policies the department uses to deal with child welfare.
Ann Williamson, secretary of the Department of Social Services, said the agency will ask lawmakers in the upcoming session that begins April 25th for the ability to speak about specific cases, including any detailed steps D-S-S has taken to try to protect the child and respond to allegations of abuse.
Williamson outlined the department's legislative agenda today to the Press Club of Baton Rouge. That agenda includes a proposed extra licensing fee on the facilities it regulates, like day care and assisted living centers, if D-S-S staff has to make multiple visits for certification.
Also, the department is proposing a two-year license for those facilities in good standing, rather than the current annual license. Williamson says that will free up staff to spend more time at facilities deemed neglectful instead of making annual visits to the places without problems.
Posted by Nancy at April 7, 2005 08:25 PM