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Audit highlights issues in Mecklenburg County's child services department

By Blake Hanson
By Blake Hanson

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A newly completed audit found gaps in a county program tasked with protecting children who are neglected or abused.

The internal audit examined several facets of the Youth and Family Services Division of the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services. It looked at cases referred to staff from 2013 to 2015.

Auditors found social workers did not complete assessments of cases that came across their desk by a state deadline 44 percent of the time. It also found evidence workers failed to follow state guidelines for notifying law enforcement about evidence of abuse or neglect.

The issues are not a surprise for the man who leads the Youth and Services Division.

"This audit outcome is consistent with some of the things we found in the past," said Charles Bradley, who has served as the division director since 2013. "We've been working on these issues for a number of years."

Bradley said new systems have been put in place to close the gap on several of the issues raised in the audit.

For example, the audit found that DSS did not have a mechanism in place for adding child abuse perpetrators to a state registry.

"What we found is that we were not monitoring that process," Bradley said. "[We] some process flows to address that issue and we'll be doing much better in that area going forward."

It's hardly the first time that the YFS Division has been under fire.

In 2012, Channel 9 reported a former DSS director raised questions about the performance of Youth and Family Services. She said the leadership wasn't working as a team. Other investigators have found issues with the child welfare system.

County Commissioner Pat Cotham, who serves on the audit committee, said the department has had to make fixes in the past.

"I'm glad that the audit came out, I'm glad we identified some areas and so now we just need to zero in and try to fix them because these are our children," Cotham said.

Bradley also expects help in a new budget. He said the county manager is recommending 17 new employees for the department.

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