A new Child Protective Services report shows a significant decrease in the number of open cases in Erie County. The development follows several changes made to the department after the deaths of three children in recent years.
Compared to May of 2014, the number of open CPS investigations is down nearly 40 percent to 2,866.
Erie County Commissioner of Social Services Al Dirschberger, who's been on the job about a month, credits the legislature for approving the hiring last year of nearly three dozen new staff members. Dirschberber also says investigations are more robust because community partners are now co-located within CPS.
"We're able to look at the mental health issues...we're also able to evaluate; is there domestic violence? Is that effecting what is happening in the family? So it really kind of wraps around an investigation that looks at all safety and risk factors."
Last month alone the department closed 800 cases. Dirschberger says more changes could be made to CPS depending on the outcome of a University at Buffalo study of chronic neglect in Erie County.
"We're also looking, as a department, to be more in the community, more visible, more partnering. Partnering with law enforcement. Partnering with schools. Partnering with community based organizations. To just not respond to child abuse, but also to work on the front end, to prevent child abuse," Dirschberger said.
The report to the County Legislature also shows in the past year the number of cases carried by individual case workers has been cut by about half to 25.