South Carolina having hard time keeping caseworkers as abuse, neglect caseloads grow

More and more child abuse and neglect cases are being reported in South Carolina.

And many of those cases are in Richland County, Social Services Director Susan Alford told a state Senate panel Wednesday.

The state Department of Social Services has recorded a 68 percent increase in the number of cases that it has accepted since re-establishing hubs to take reports of abuse and neglect.

“This has, obviously, had a dramatic impact on us,” Alford told senators.

Alford is asking the General Assembly to approve her agency’s request for nearly $51 million in added money in the state budget that starts July 1, primarily to hire more than 250 caseworkers to help overworked staffers.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article196454734.html