Child welfare agency blows budget

OLYMPIA – The agency responsible for child welfare in Washington has overspent its budget by $12 million.

“I’m about as irritated as I can be,” Gov. Christine Gregoire told the Olympian newspaper.

Gregoire said she will give the agency $4.8 million to make it through the current budget cycle, which ends June 30. She also said she plans to have a “nice, long conversation” with agency officials about the overspending problem, the newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Children’s Administration, with a $450 million annual budget, oversees foster care and child protection in Washington state. It’s part of the Department of Social and Health Services.

Uma Ahluwalia, director of the Children’s Administration, blamed the budget-busting on lack of spending controls, inaccurate cost projections, increased telecommunication costs and years of unpredictable financial management. She was appointed to lead the agency 18 months ago.

The agency has frozen hiring, curtailed travel, eliminated some information technology contracts and is asking workers to take voluntary leave without pay, spokeswoman Kathy Spears said. It has also eliminated 39 positions that don’t deal directly with child welfare caseloads.

The foster care system has been troubled by tragedies, including the deaths of children in state care. Last summer the state promised to make improvements in a settlement of a class-action lawsuit over inadequacies in foster care. As part of those improvements, Ahluwalia said she had begun hiring 30 new employees – but that process was halted after only 16 hires.

“We’re here to protect children. Our hope is we will keep our focus on that,” Ahluwalia said. “But when you have cuts of this nature, it’s hard not to impact service.”