The O'Malley administration's spending plan doesn't provide enough money to carry out reforms of Maryland's child welfare system, which has come under increased scrutiny in the wake of a Baltimore toddler's death, children's advocates told a legislative panel yesterday.
The proposed $606 million budget for the Department of Human Resources provides a 3.2 percent increase that fails to keep up with the rate of inflation, advocates told members of a House appropriations subcommittee.
They say up to $30 million more is needed to pay for enhancements at the agency, which is struggling to respond to the death of 2-year-old Bryanna Harris after local child protective workers allowed her to stay with her drug-addicted mother.
But Human Resources Secretary Brenda Donald, in a brief interview outside the hearing, said she is satisfied she is getting the resources she needs to reform the agency. "I believe this budget will allow us to move forward aggressively with reforms," Donald said.
According to legislative analysts, the budget does not include enough funds to fill nearly 125 vacant positions. Also, the state does not meet recommended standards for caseload ratios that were established by the Child Welfare League of America.
"There's not enough money," Del. Mary-Dulany James, a Democrat who represents parts of Harford and Cecil counties, told advocates who attended the hearing. "We are lacking funds. I don't think there's anyone who is going to disagree with that."
Advocates sharply criticized the O'Malley administration. "It doesn't appear that child welfare is a priority, and it needs to be," said James P. McComb, executive director of Maryland Association of Resources for Families and Youth. "The bottom line is the money isn't there" for reform.
Donald, a former Washington official who has led Maryland's department for about a year, has proposed a program called "Place Matters" that would keep at-risk children in their home communities instead of removing them to placements elsewhere.
The program is favored by advocates, many of whom say they believe that priorities have been upside-down. They say a focus on caring for children who have already been abused or neglected should change to helping families before they implode.
"Secretary Donald's vision ... is exactly the vision" advocated for two decades, Charlie Cooper, administrator of the State Citizens' Review Board for Children, said in a written statement. But the funding level will force her to "run while standing in quicksand and build a palace without tools."
Donald had input in the budget, but the administration has instructed all department heads to be fiscally conservative.
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