Children's Ombudsman Offices

Updated February, 2008

What Are Ombudsman Offices?

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

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, 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 assist 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 theDieorof 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 addition to investigating complaints and making recommendations for systems 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.

Funding

Most of the offices require yearly state appropriations to cover operating costs. Several receive funding through the various state divisions of children and family services (if they are located within the division). In addition, statute allows many of the offices to accept funds through other sources such as grants, foundations, state license plate programs, etc. Yearly budgets depend on the size of the office and number of staff, caseload of complaints and state availability of funds:

Office	Yearly Budget
Alaska Office of State Ombudsman	$500,000	7 staff (all state services)
Michigan Office of the Children's Ombudsman	$1,303,900 (FY06 appropriation)	12 full time staff/740 complaints per fiscal year/ 1,300 - 1,400 children per fiscal year; 2 offices--Lansing & Detroit
New Jersey Office of the Child Advocate	$2,000,000
Oklahoma Office of Client Advocacy, DHS	$2,500,000	14 staff/750 compaints
Utah Office of Child Protection Ombudsman	$700,000	7 staff
Washington Office of the Family and Children's Ombudsman	$400,000	6 staff

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.

Selected Links

2003 Survey of Ombudsman Offices for Children in the United States

Georgia Office of the Child Advocate

Alaska Office of Ombudsman

Michigan Office of the Childrens' Ombudsman

Arizona Office of Ombudsman Citizens Aide

New Jersey Office of the Child Advocate

California Ombudsman for Foster Care

Rhode Island Office of the Child Advocate

Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate

Utah Office of Child Protection Ombudsman

Delaware Office of the Child Advocate

Washington Office of the Family & Children's Ombudsman