Foster children are getting harder to deal with because of increased substance abuse among parents. At least 70 percent of the children placed in protective custody come from homes where the mother or father abused drugs or alcohol. Children who have fetal alcohol syndrome, for instance, may develop a multitude of physical, behavioral and mental problems. A lot of parents aren't receptive to treatment. The cases that end up getting transferred to our custody are cases where the parents have rejected all offers of drug treatment.
More problematic children require more attention from caseworkers.
But with an average caseload of 47 children, state workers are at nearly twice the recommended national standard of 25 to 1. The state has attempted to achieve the modest goal of 35 children per caseworker, which is still 40 percent higher than the national standard. Through last summer, the Las Vegas district office was about 12 caseworkers short of meeting that goal. The caseworker staff increased from 50 to 54 this fall and will climb to 59 next year. Fredlund estimates he needs 62 caseworkers for a caseload ratio of 35 to 1.