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Advocates criticize Bowser's proposed defunding of ombudsperson's office

The Office of the Ombudsperson for Children provides oversight for children involved with D.C.'s Child and Family Services Agency.

By Ellie Silverman | 2024-04-04

Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) has proposed eliminating the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children as part of her fiscal 2025 budget. (Craig Hudson for The Washington Post)

Advocates for children and families criticized D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser's proposal Wednesday to defund an office that provides oversight for children involved with the city's Child and Family Services Agency.

They emphasized the essential role they say the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children plays as a resource for children and families who need help navigating the complexities of the child welfare system. Without the office, "no one is looking at what the agency is doing ... because it is very much behind the wall of privacy," said Sharra Greer, the policy director at the Children's Law Center.

"These are children who have been abused and neglected. They're in the care of the city," Greer said. "It's really important that there be an independent look at how they're being cared for and whether or not the legal requirements are being met."

The office's budget was one of about $500 million in cuts the Democratic mayor included in her $21 billion budget proposal. She said Wednesday that she viewed the work of the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children as "duplicative" and "costly." The D.C. Council is tasked with providing oversight, she said, and a separate office is unnecessary.

But Ombudsperson Petrina Jones-Jesz said in a statement that the work her office does is "critical" and said she remains hopeful it will be funded. The proposed cut comes after a year in which her office began receiving constituent complaints and signed a lease for an office space.

"Now that the infrastructure is in place," Jones-Jesz said, "we will be able to provide more support to District residents who contact us."

Council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4), who chairs the committee that oversees the ombudsman office, and Brianne K. Nadeau (D-Ward 1), who wrote the bill that established it, expressed concern over slashing the office's nearly $1.2 million operating budget.

"For over a year, OFC has given families critical support and pushed forward policy recommendations that will improve CFSA and our child welfare system," Lewis George said in a statement. "Today's budget proposal eliminates a service families won't be able to find anywhere else."

The city council's Facilities and Family Services Committee is scheduled to hold hearings related to the budget in the coming weeks before proposing modifications. But it's unclear whether the office will survive.

The D.C. Council established the Office of the Ombudsman for Children in 2021, overriding a mayoral veto. Among its responsibilities are investigating complaints, providing policy recommendations and monitoring CFSA's performance. The District has about 500 children involved in foster care and serves more than 1,000 children in their homes, according to the latest CFSA data.

"The mayor's rush to eliminate the agency disregards its potential impact," Nadeau said. "The value of safeguarding children and families far outweighs the modest cost."

Marla Spindel, the executive director of DC KinCare Alliance, a nonprofit organization that serves relative caregivers, has brought clients to the ombudsperson to talk about complicated issues, including relatives' concerns that a child is unsafe at home with a birth parent.

"It was empowering for them," Spindel said. "They have somebody that's listening, and they're able to say out loud what's happening because it's so upsetting and frustrating and horrifying to know things are happening and you just feel powerless to do anything about it."

In 2023, the office fielded 49 complaints, most of which were from biological mothers, and closed 32 of them. Of those closed cases, 41 children were involved, according to the office's latest annual report.

The report highlights three cases where the ombudsperson's office assisted children and families, including cases related to a mother's complaint of visitation issues with her children; a grandmother's ability to provide for grandchildren after their parents died; and issues a caregiver faced obtaining a birth certificate for a baby.

"There's a huge power dynamic between the agency that has your child and the birth family," said Tami Weerasingha-Cote, the senior supervising attorney with the policy team at the Children's Law Center. "Having the ombuds there to help families navigate, answer questions, problem solve, to be that intermediary ... is really, really important."

Meagan Flynn and Michael Brice-Saddler contributed to this report.


This article was downloaded by calibre from https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/04/04/dc-budget-bowser-cuts-ombudsperson-children-families-cfsa/


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