To the Editor:
This week, Anthony Waldron was sentenced to 29 years to life for the death of his stepson, Jordan Brooks (”Anthony Waldron sentenced to 29 years to life in prison for murder of stepson Jordan Brooks,” Dec. 12, 2013). Brooks, who had cerebral palsy, died from sepsis and malnutrition — a tragic and untimely death.
Over the course of Waldron’s trial, which garnered widespread attention and sparked intense debate surrounding Child Protective Services (CPS) caseworkers and their caseloads, we’ve been confronted with stark details that emphasize the urgency of our duty to protect our most vulnerable. Now more than ever we need to implement sensible caseload limits for our caseworkers. That is why I’ve proposed Jordan’s Law, a historic state investment in CPS that will prevent our caseworkers from shouldering unwieldy caseloads.
This legislation would include new regulations that are incredibly past due. We are proposing the following: a hard cap at 15 cases per CPS caseworker in New York state; a requirement that the state to cover the cost of labor to obtain that threshold; an increase in New York State reimbursement for CPS positions from 62% to 75%, a 13% increase; and creation of a New York State task force to solve hiring and retention issues with CPS employees in New York state, including finding proper solutions for compensation and CPS statewide training issues.
Manageable caseloads give young lives access to the dedicated support and the attention they deserve. If I am fortunate enough to be elected to state senate, I pledge to do everything in my power to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future. We owe it to Jordan and our caseworkers to implement transformational change.
Tom Drumm
Oswego
The writer is a Democratic candidate for New York’s 50th Senate District and a former Oswego County legislator.