Children's Ombudsman Offices/Office of the Child Advocate
Updated March, 2012
What Are Ombudsman Offices? Or, Offices of the Child Advocate
Ombudsman offices have been established in a variety of state, municipal, county, local, federal, academic organizations and businesses. As an independent, impartial and confidential complaint handler, an ombudsman serves as an alternative means of dispute resolution. The U.S. Ombudsman Association describes an ombudsman as "a public offical appointed by the legislature to receive and investigate citizen complaints against administrative acts of government."
Overview of Children's Ombudsman Offices/Office of the Child Advocate
In recent years, states have chosen to create ombudsman offices or offices of the child advocate to assist in providing oversight of children's services. The purpose of these offices is to:
- handle and investigate complaints from citizens and families related to government services for children and families - this may include child protective services, foster care, adoption and juvenile justice services
- provide a system accountability mechanism by recommending system-wide improvements to benefit children and families - often in the form of annual reports to the Legislature, Governor and public. For example, Delaware's Office of the Child Advocate examines policies and procedures and evaluates the effectiveness of the child protection system, specifically the respective roles of the Division, the Attorney General's Office, the courts, the medical community and law enforcement agencies; reviews and makes recommendations concerning investigative procedures and emergency responses
- protect the interests and rights of children and families - both individually and system-wide
- monitor programs, placements and departments responsible for providing children's services - which may include inspecting state facilities and institutions
Approximately 29 states currently have either ombudsman or offices of the child advocate with duties and purposes related to the welfare of children. This number is not exhaustive; there are a number of states in the process of creating ombudsman offices. Jurisdiction, size and operation of the offices vary.
Establishment:
Legislative Enactments (19):
Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey (enacted in 2003 session), Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and Washington
Executive or Administrative Order:
Kentucky and New Mexico
Jurisdiction varies:
Oversight of all state agencies:
Ombudsman offices in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado (Office of Consumer Relations), Florida and Nebraska generally function to asist the public with questions and complaints about state agencies. Most of the offices receive complaints regarding children and family services.
Operate within state divisions of children and family services:
California Office of State Foster Care Ombudsperson, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon (reports directly to the Governor and the Director of Human Services), South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Wyoming all provide ombudsman services through the states' divisions of child and family services.
Independent and autonomous:
A number of states operate independent and autonomous ombudsman offices, specifically handling issues related to children—Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Washington. These offices are not part of the states' divisions of child and family services. Legislation in Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey and Rhode Island (Rhode Island is cited as a model for children's ombudsman offices by the American Bar Association) offer especially comprehensive services in addiition to investigating complaints and making recommendations for system change:
- Child fatality review (Rhode Island, Connecticut - staff review panel and prepare reports for Legislature and the public. Rhode Island may covene a formal investigaive comission and issue a public report, which often results in system reform.)
- Access to all records and files
- Issue subpoenas to acquire records and information as necessary and to compel attendance and testimony of witnesses (Georgia, Rhode Island, New Jersey)
- Initiate litigation against a state agency on behalf of children (Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island) (Georgia - can apply to the Governor to bring legal action via a writ of mandamus or application for an injunction)
- Inspect, monitor and review foster homes, group homes, juvenile detention centers, residential treatment centers and other state facilities (for example, the Rhode Island Office monitors public and private residential placement facilities and shelters - during an on-site visit, the Office checks that the facility is in compliance with health, safety and fire codes, assesses the quality of the program, interviews children and verifies any repots of institutional abuse)
- Privately interview children who are subjects of child abuse allegations or complaints (Rhode Island, Connecticut, Georgia)
- Provide training and technical assistance to state guardians ad litem and CASA programs
- Develops and provides quality training to Division staff, Deputy Attorneys General, law enforcement officers, the medical community, family court personnel, educators, day care providers, and others on the various standards, criteria and investigative technology (Delaware)
- Recommend legislation (Rhode Island, Connecticut)
- Apply for and accept grants, gifts and bequests of funds from other sources
Enabling legislation from several states require the ombudsman or child advocate to be appointed by the Governor (Minnesota), for a specified time period. Several states require the Governor to develop a nominating or selection committee composed of repesentatives from fields related to child welfare and/or juvenile justice. At least one state statute (Georgia) requires an Advisory Committee to advise on issues related to the work of the ombudsman on an ongoing basis.
Results
While there have been no formalized evaluations of the effectiveness of the offices, some of the outcomes include legislative enactments, child fatality reports, and system-wide recommendations for change. Some examples:
Rhode Island Office of the Child Advocate
- a national criminal background check requirement for foster and adoptive parents
- mandatory training for DCYF staff
- a multi-disciplinary hospital discharge of drug-exposed babies
- court-ordered case plans mandated at reviews
- mandatory minimum sentences for first degree child abuse cases
Michigan Office of the Children's Ombudsman
- Seventy percent of the 105 annual report recommendations issued by the Office since 1995 have been fully implemented by the Michigan Family Independence Agency. (Michigan Child Welfare Review, Status of Quality Assurance System, Item 31)
Washington Office of the Child and Family Ombudsman
Promoted access to DSHS' formal complaint resolution process
Recommended tightening school district compliance with mandatory reporting laws
Made three major recommendations regarding CPS child sexual abuse investigations that were incorporated into state law in the 1999 legislature
Reported on the lack of GAL representation for children prompting the legislature to strengthen that system in the 1999 session
Issued a report highlighting chronic neglect
Georgia
Conducted intensive audits of five county DFCS offices in the fall of 2003. These included in-depth reviews of hundreds of case records and hundreds of stakeholder interviews.
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