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Tuesday, July 02, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

County launches new child welfare department

Clark County officials on Monday launched the Department of Family Services, one of two departments created this month to consolidate state and county child welfare programs.

The move, intended to simplify services for children and families, is expected to reduce the number of times foster children are bounced from one foster home to another. It also is expected to speed the process for children waiting for permanent placement or adoption.

"Our goal isn't just to shift staff around, but to really make kids safer, get families together sooner, and to make the system work better," said Susan Klein-Rothschild, director of the new department.

Family Services will house adoption and foster care services, and Child Protective Services and Child Haven, the temporary shelter for abused, neglected and abandoned children.

The county's juvenile detention, probation and youth correctional centers as of Monday became part of newly named Department of Juvenile Justice Services, headed by Kirby Burgess.

The two new departments replace the county's Family and Youth Services Department.

Klein-Rothschild said the county will take over foster parent recruitment in October and eligibility services in November. She said state social workers and family therapists will become county employees in January.

The county now provides child protective services, which takes children from bad homes. The children are assigned a caseworker. Families deal with county contacts until the case is turned over to the state, where long-term foster care and adoption are handled. At the state level, the children are assigned a new social worker.

The new system will allow children to remain with the same social worker and eliminate the need for multiple assessments required in the handoff from county to state.

Last year, the Legislature gave Washoe and Clark counties three years to take control of their child welfare systems. The state will continue to provide foster care and adoption services in rural counties.