Walker County DFCS director's removal highlights Georgia's new focus on accountability

Walker County Department of Children and Family Services building in Lafayette, Ga.
Walker County Department of Children and Family Services building in Lafayette, Ga.

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See the Times Free Press investigation into Georgia's child services department here.

The director of child welfare services in Walker County, Ga., was recently removed from her post after multiple complaints -- a move that officials say shows the state now is serious about accountability.

The Division of Family and Children Services' decision to remove Director Kimberlee Gravitz came two months after local media outlets reported that a LaFayette foster mom and her son were arrested on child cruelty charges.

Gilbert Elementary School officials said they reported suspicions of abuse more than a dozen times to the Walker County DFCS office starting last October, but nothing was done.

But when LaFayette police were called in January, officers found the 9-year-old boy had multiple bruises on his head. The officer reported that the boy's ribs showed prominently and he complained he was hungry. The child was removed from the home and Shirley Chandler and her son, Richard Voivedich, were arrested.

Susan Boatwright, a DFCS spokeswoman, said Thursday the decision to demote Gravitz wasn't related to the foster mom's arrest. She said state Director Bobby Cagle made the decision about two months ago after he got multiple complaints from local DFCS employees and the community. Boatwright wouldn't give specifics of the complaints, except to say the changes were necessary to ensure children are safe and the public has confidence in the child welfare system.

"Walker County is not the only county that may need some changes to get us where we need to go," said Boatwright. "But Bobby says his job is to hold people accountable and he takes that seriously."

Since a series of high-profile child deaths brought media attention and criticism to how Georgia was handling child abuse cases last year, the state has begun to crack down.

Last summer, Gov. Nathan Deal removed the head of the DFCS, appointing Cagle and tasking a council to study ways to improve the child welfare system. Cagle found the agency had 3,300 overdue child abuse investigations and staffing levels were 40 percent lower than they should be. He implemented mandatory overtime to whittle the case backlog down to the current 500 cases, said Ashley Fielding, a department spokeswoman.

Cagle hired 278 staff members last year and this year he was allocated $7.5 million for 175 more case managers and supervisors.

photo Walker County Department of Children and Family Services building in Lafayette, Ga.

Fielding said Cagle took a list of the Child Welfare Reform Council's recommendations published this year and will focus on maintaining an adequate workforce, improving supervising practices and becoming better engaged with the public. He is holding public forums across the state and plans to create advisory boards across the state, she said.

Since last March, the number of child abuse cases investigated has nearly doubled and the number of children in state custody reached 8,862 last year. That's the most since 2009 and some critics say the state has overcorrected.

In the LaFayette case, Boatwright said she was not familiar with the police report stating the local Walker County office was notified 13 times of potential child abuse, but did nothing.

"That's something I have not seen," she said.

LaFayette police said Gilbert Elementary School counselor Jana Marshall told authorities she had reported to the office at least a dozen times and had documentation to prove it.

Contact staff writer Joy Lukachick Smith at 423-757-6659 or send news tips to jsmith@timesfreepress.com.

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