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Q&A
Child protective specialist caseload ratios and management
4:22:58
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107 sec
Council Member Althea V. Stevens inquires about child protective specialist caseload ratios and management. Commissioner Jess Dannhauser provides information on current ratios and case management practices.
- The current caseload ratio is 7.1 cases per child protective specialist
- The national standard is 12 cases, and ACS aims to keep the ratio below this for more thorough work
- There has been an increase from 936 active case-carrying CPS in March 2023 to 1,127 in March 2025
- ACS does not track hours spent on individual cases but uses time studies for allocation
- Complex cases are managed at the borough level, with adjustments made to pending rotations for specialists handling difficult situations
Althea V. Stevens
4:22:58
Child protective specialists are often one of the first intersections with family with ACS and it's critical to ensure those specialists are attentive and aware of each individual case.
4:23:10
Part of making this happen is tied to their caseload and ensuring child protective specialists are not overwhelmed.
4:23:19
What is the current caseload ratio per child protection specialist?
4:23:27
Seven point one.
4:23:30
What is the additional ratio for ECS preference?
4:23:33
How is the ratio determined?
4:24:10
Does ACS collect information on how many hours are spent on each case?
Jess Dannhauser
4:23:23
Just got the report as we walked in 7.1.
4:23:35
So the national standard is 12 and our job is to keep it below so they can do more thorough work.
4:23:43
in March of 'twenty three we had nine thirty six active CPS, case carrying CPS for both protective diagnostic and cares.
4:23:54
As of March 25 we have eleven twenty seven, so nearly a 200 CPS increase in active.
4:24:01
And so we're continuing to make sure that the services that are there, the support is there, that we're both supporting families and making sure we're taking children.
4:24:16
There are time studies that are done to allocate but we don't look at it per case.
4:24:22
There is part of supervision and management is looking at a pending rotation.
4:24:29
So when a child protective specialist is up for the next case assignment, if they have a very, very complicated case or they've had to do a removal then they might be skipped on that pending.
4:24:43
So it's actively managed at the borough level.
Sheruku Daffy
4:23:43
We have