Susan Klein-Rothschild Departure announced at same time replacement is named to lead agency

Not even a heartbeat separated Susan Klein-Rothschild's abrupt resignation on Wednesday from the announcement of her successor at Clark County's beleaguered Family Services Department.

Klein-Rothschild -- who just this week learned that Clark County Manager Thom Reilly was courting a Georgia candidate to reorganize the department she led -- said her resignation is effective immediately.

In recent weeks, Klein-Rothschild has shouldered the brunt of public criticism stemming from an independent review of 79 suspicious child deaths that occurred between 2001 and 2004. The expert panel assembled by the state uncovered serious problems with how those fatalities were investigated within the system.

"The focus needs to be on the kids and families in Clark County," said Klein-Rothschild, who believes the controversy surrounding her is detracting from that goal. "My feeling was that if I pulled myself out of this process, the focus would stay on the children and families."

Klein-Rothschild said she was not forced out of the director's job, a position she took in December 2001. Reilly said he tried to persuade Klein-Rothschild to remain on staff, but she declined.

"In the best of all worlds, I wanted Susan to stay through the transition and be part of it," Reilly said. "That she left immediately is not something I preferred."

The sudden shift within Family Services was evident in a Clark County news release that announced both Klein-Rothschild's departure and the July arrival of Thomas Morton, the man who will take her place. Morton, founder of the Atlanta-based Child Welfare Institute, began discussions with Reilly about taking the job in December. That same month, the state released its initial findings that Clark County was underreporting the number of child fatalities linked to neglect or abuse.

"We need out-of-the-box thinking," said Reilly, who described Morton as a nationally respected consultant on child welfare. The child death review "raised some very serious issues for us."

Problems identified within Clark County's network of child protective services by the expert panel included a lack of oversight that allowed poor practices by case workers to continue unchecked; safety assessments of children's homes that were added to children's files after they had already died; a lack of coordination between county entities such as Child Protective Services, law enforcement, the coroner's office and hospitals; and lax efforts by social services to protect surviving siblings in cases of child death related to abuse.

Those findings are now in the hands of a state-appointed Blue Ribbon Panel for Child Death Review led by retired Nevada Supreme Court Justice Deborah Agosti. The group is charged with deciding how to proceed.

Morton could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. According to county records, the director's position held by Klein-Rothschild pays an annual base salary of about $135,601. Morton has not concluded contract negotiations with the county, so his annual salary has not been set.

Reilly, himself a former social worker, said the new director will be in Las Vegas later this month to meet his staff and the community. The decision to appoint Morton to the position without conducting a national candidate search was made to secure an excellent candidate and get things moving as quickly as possible, Reilly said.

"(Morton) played key roles in reforming the child welfare systems in Illinois and Alabama, two of the most successful child welfare reform efforts of the past decade," Reilly said.

Morton is no stranger to Clark County or Nevada. He's worked as a consultant here in the past. In 2005, the county contracted with Morton's Child Welfare Institute to review 11 child fatalities related to open CPS cases and recommend improvements. The review, which included several recommendations for improving performance, did not find the county to be negligent in any of the child deaths.

"Before Mr. Morton sets foot in Nevada, he needs to explain himself," said Donna Coleman, a former Las Vegas child advocate who is now with Demanding Justice for America's Children, a national advocacy group. "He found there was no wrongdoing on the county's part. Well, we all know now that's not true."

Coleman said she objects to the county manager's decision to forgo a national search, especially since it's a process that could have heightened the profile of child welfare issues within the community.

"This was a huge opportunity for the community to get involved," Coleman said. "I'm very disappointed with the secrecy and the going behind everyone's back to hire this person."

Coleman said she was not surprised by Klein-Rothschild's decision to step down.

"The writing was on the wall after the report came out," Coleman said.

But the news took Jan Biggerstaff by surprise. Biggerstaff, a former state Board of Education Member, is the chairwoman of Citizens Advisory Committee to the Department of Family Services. Klein-Rothschild is knowledgeable, always prepared to discuss issues and open to suggestions and input from the group, Biggerstaff said.

"I'm astounded," Biggerstaff said on Wednesday. "I like Susan a lot. She was always concerned about the kids."

Biggerstaff also said that many of the issues cited in recent reports about Family Services were problems that Klein-Rothschild inherited, such as the poor communication between county agencies. That was compounded by the constantly growing number of children in need of social services.

"It just seemed like she was always treading water," Biggerstaff said. "I'm sure she was overwhelmed."