An Open Letter To Governor Charlie Baker regarding the state of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families

“Dear Governor Baker,

I have been involved with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families my entire life, with permanent custody beginning at age thirteen. I could write you a book about the atrocities occurring within the department, but rather than bore you with stories that are redundant to you as well as the public, I’ve decided to talk to you about the biggest issue that the Department of Children and Families has to deal with: caseloads.

I walked into the DCF office of New Bedford one day at the age of fifteen. I had just had my monthly sibling visit and went into the back office to wait for a social worker to bring me home. On every social worker’s desk was a whiteboard. They read, ‘I have X amount of cases.’ All of the desk’s read amounts in the double digits. The highest number I saw on those whiteboards was 35. 35 cases. 35 individual families, whether that be one child or seven, all needing special attention, with only one social worker assigned to the case.

Each of these cases requires court proceedings, family visits, one home visit per month, paperwork, foster care reviews, traveling in and out of state lines, as well as any other services the child(ren) or parent may need. It is simply impossible to expect one person to accomplish all of these things effectively.

I’ve had my share of ‘bad social workers.’ Social workers who were not prompt. Social workers who neglected to sign paperwork on time. Social workers who it seemed only visited my case during foster care reviews. Up until I read those signs, I assumed that these ‘bad social workers’ were just bad people who only worked for a paycheck. I knew then that this wasn’t the case at all. These social workers were merely overbooked, each day in their calendars packed back-to-back with appointments and events. I knew then that it wasn’t a matter of whether or not those social workers cared about me, but rather their inability to care due to the sheer amount of work put on their tired shoulders.

At age 16, I met you, Governor Baker. It was at the Sibling Connections Annual Gala, a wonderful organization that aims to keep siblings in foster care through various events and retreats. I was invited to perform a poem I had written about my younger brother. You and some of your colleagues heard my poem recited in private, on a balcony designated for the most important people at the gala. You shook my hand, and told me that my hometown of New Bedford was ‘a wonderful place.’ I recited an entire poem from memory about how painful it was being separated from my siblings, and all you had to say was how ‘beautiful’ a city that is currently imploding due to the lack of funding in schools, hospitals, and mental health provisions.

There were so many things I wanted to say to you. I wanted to tell you about how the opioid epidemic has personally affected me. I wanted to explain to you exactly what it’s like to be a ward of the state. Most of all, I wanted to tell you that due to being overworked, my social worker neglected to notice that my brother was living in an abusive home. My deepest regret in life was my choice not to say any of those things to you, and instead joking about how you should offer me a job in the statehouse. Now that I am eighteen and no longer an active case but instead under a VPA (Voluntary Placement Agreement), I feel that I can finally express these feelings from an objective viewpoint.

Governor Baker, you may think that it’s permissible to excuse these heavy caseloads with a lack of social workers or resources. I refuse to accept that excuse. What I will accept is a promise. A promise to crack down on court proceedings that take longer than they need to. A promise to devote more of your time on televised debates to talking about the state of the Department of Children and Families, (which currently, you and your colleagues spend little time on). A promise to hire an outside agency to conduct foster care reviews in order to determine whether or not a case should be in the custody of the state. A promise to establish a proper timeline for the investigation, custody, and permanency of a child. A promise to hold courts responsible for upholding said timelines. A promise to never allow foster youth, like me, to be neglected by a system meant to protect us.

I want to discuss so much more with you, including the state’s blatant ignorance of the Massachusetts Foster Child Bill of Rights as well as the Sibling Bill of Rights, and what needs to be done to change the state of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.

Sincerely yours,
Alexis Ostman.”