Governor to examine oversight of children's homes

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Sanford cited a lack of coordination among agencies that watch over troubled children.

The Greenville News reported earlier this year that the needs of thousands of emotionally disturbed children in South Carolina are overlooked in part because the responsibility for their care rests with at least 10 separate agencies.

The children, most of whom have been abused or neglected by family members, are often moved from home to home, forced to undergo therapeutic evaluations more than once and work with myriad case managers, according to a review of state records by the newspaper.

"Too often when you look at government programs, particularly when you're talking about programs that care for special needs kids, what you find is that the right hand doesn't always know what the left hand is doing," Sanford told The News.

"On top of that you've also got an accountability problem because any time multiple agencies and multiple budgets are working on something that, in essence, ought to be under one roof, you're not able to fix the problem as easily as you should if something isn't working as well as it ought to be."

Sanford said he plans to examine the group homes issue and other opportunities to consolidate state government operations as he develops his budget proposal.

Sanford did not say which agency he thought should be in charge of monitoring group homes.

Some lawmakers want to move one of the agencies — the Continuum of Care — out of the Governor's Office and into either the Department of Mental Health, the Department of Social Services or the Department of Health and Human Services.

State taxpayers spend $140 million a year to care for troubled children, whose problems range from behavioral disorders to mental illnesses. Included in the state's system is an office to oversee disputes between the various agencies.

Sen. Verne Smith, a Greer Republican who chairs a budget-writing panel on children's programs, said he is pleased at Sanford's interest but wants to know details of what the governor has in mind.

"All of what he says is good," Smith said. "When he gets down to meaningful restructuring, I sure want to look at it."

Smith said he wants to be sure that consolidation does not dilute or remove services for children, especially those in the Continuum.

The Children's Services Study Committee, established by the Legislature last year, found a lack of central oversight, too many agencies involved, and no consistent quality control in a report it issued earlier this year.