Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Child care rating project halted

Also, poor people to be charged for legal services if they can afford it

Clark County commissioners on Tuesday dismantled a child care center rating project despite protests by child care advocates who said the ratings are crucial to ensuring children receive quality care and education.

Commissioners agreed that the project's resources could be better used in the county's ailing Public Defender's Office. To further assist the office, commissioners also agreed to begin charging poor people for legal services if they can afford it.

"We're trying to make the best use of our limited staff," County Manager Thom Reilly said. "Before we do optional programs, we have to make sure we're providing the services mandated by the federal government, the state and county code, first."

Reilly said the county is facing significant shortages in the Public Defender's Office.

An outside analysis of the office found that for years heavy workloads and poor training and accountability have compromised the legal defense provided to the poor.

The review, which was conducted by the Legal Aid & Defender Association, states that lawyers in the office are saddled with workloads double the national standard, and that there are so many juvenile cases that lawyers devote an average of only two hours to each case.

Commissioners unanimously agreed to Reilly's plan to move two of the four social workers from the child care rating project to the Public Defender's Office. Two others will go to the Child Care Licensing Division of the Social Service Department.

The rating system was designed to inform parents on the quality of the staff and the services facilities offer. But after a year and seven months, it still is not in place.

"We're really disappointed to see them discontinue the child care rating system," said Patti Oya, coordinator of newly formed Nevada Office of Early Child Care and Education. "It feels like a big step backward. Research shows many states are using this system and it shows that it really is a way to improve the quality of child care."

Darryl Martin, director of the Social Service Department, said child care licensing inspectors would still be able to use the tools of the rating system to help child care centers improve. He also stressed the need for social workers in the licensing division, which is short staffed and needs to ensure centers follow minimum safety standards to operate.

"Right now, I'm short 14 to 15 social workers, including two in child care licensing," he said. "We do have pressing needs in our department, and my concern and urgency is for social workers on the front lines."

Public Defender Marcus Cooper said the social workers are crucial to improving the services his office provides.

"Social workers are becoming an increasingly important element in public defender programs," he said. "They can provide information about clients attorneys would otherwise be unfamiliar with. I'm also keen on what is something of a trend in public defense, that is, a holistic approach. Social workers can help clients deal with the underlying problems, whether it's drug abuse, unemployment or mental health."

Reilly said he and Cooper would work with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and other stakeholders to ensure any system the county adopts to charge some clients for a legal defense is constitutional and fair. He said at least 14 other states have fee structures in place that charge clients who are poor but able to contribute to part of their legal defense. The fees range from $10 to $100.

"It's not the panacea for addressing all the problems in that office, but it's one important step," Reilly said.

Adding social workers to the Public Defender's Office will be helpful, but adding lawyers would do more to help its indigent clients, said Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada ACLU.

"We're certainly willing to sit down with the county and other stakeholders to explore the possibilities of a fee structure," Peck said. "But we do not believe the limited imposition of nominal fees from that small fraction of clients will make much of a dent in the very substantial problems faced by that office."