The Child Protection Division represents the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) in court and administrative proceedings regarding child abuse, neglect, and substance dependency. It helps ensure that abused and neglected children are placed in safe living environments. It also advises case workers and represents the Department of Human Services with respect to licensure of child care centers and residential treatment centers.
During the 2015 General Session, the Legislature appropriated for Fiscal Year 2016, $8,036,300 from all sources for Child Protection. This is a 3.8 percent increase from Fiscal Year 2015 revised estimated amounts from all sources. The total includes $6,649,800 from the General/Education Funds, an increase of 3.9 percent from revised Fiscal Year 2015 estimates.
In addition to statewide compensation and internal service fund cost increases, the following appropriation adjustments were made during the 2015 General Session:
Average number of Child Protection cases handled per attorney
In addition to the number of cases being handled, the number of attorneys available to handle these cases influences the ability of the Child Protection Division to accomplish its mission. This workload measure tracks the statewide average number of cases per available attorney at a point in time (end of each fiscal year).
Number of cases handled by the Child Protection Division
The ability of the Child Protection Division to accomplish its mission is significantly impacted by the number of cases they are required to handle. Most of these cases are in the Juvenile Courts. This workload measure tracks the total number of Juvenile Court cases at a point in time (the end of each fiscal year).
COBI contains unaudited data as presented to the Legislature by state agencies at the time of publication. For audited financial data see the State of Utah's Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports.