RIDGELAND — Just before Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated in March of 1933, a friend reportedly said to him that he would be the greatest president ever if he saved America from the Depression. Roosevelt’s reply was, “If I fail, I may be the last.”
David Chandler, Mississippi’s newly appointed director of Family and Children’s Services, is in a similar position. If Mississippi fails to satisfy the requirements set forth by a federal judge in the Olivia Y consent decree, he may be Mississippi’s last state child welfare director.
I had the pleasure of meeting Chandler at the 14th Annual Institute of Child Welfare this past week in Jackson. The Institute, sponsored by the School of Social Work at Jackson State University, always includes presentations by some of the most knowledgeable people in social work and related services to children from across the state and nation.
Chandler was the keynote speaker. It was clearly evident from his address that he knows what is needed to save Mississippi’s Division of Family and Children’s Services from being placed in receivership by the federal government. He quoted the staffing requirements, including social workers and other child-protection specialists, from the federal court’s report on Mississippi. Several millions of dollars more than the Division of Family and Children’s Services currently receives must be allocated by the Legislature to meet the demands set by the court.
The most disturbing revelation of Chandler’s address is the May deadline for Mississippi to show definite progress in its compliance with the consent decree. There is much work to be done in a short time, and the Legislature will need to step forward very quickly with the funding.
Judging from the comments I heard during the two days of the conference, those in attendance are hopeful that Chandler will succeed. I would even say that there is much confidence in him. This is noteworthy given that social workers tend to think and vote more to the left than Governor Bryant or any of his appointees.
I think that the specter of Mississippi losing authority over its child protection program has made people realize that we are not dealing with a Democrat or Republican issue here. Nor are we dealing with a conservative or liberal issue. What we are facing is the strong possibility of a court decision that confirms that we have failed to take care of our children. No Mississippian can desire such an outcome.
In 1931, the Fifth Annual Meeting of the Mississippi Conference on Social Welfare met on the campus of the Mississippi State College for Women in Columbus. Mrs. Alfred Tunstall, the director at that time of the Division of Child Welfare in Alabama, delivered an address entitled, “The Contribution of Organized Child Welfare Departments to the Well-being of a Commonwealth.” I rather think that if I could find a copy of her address, it would contain many of the same issues we are confronting today.
One thing for sure, the well-being of Mississippi is quite contingent upon Mississippians managing our own state child protection program and succeeding in the protection of our children.
• Vincent Venturini, of Ridgeland, is a part-time visiting professor of social work at Mississippi Valley State University and a former associate provost of the school.
