Audit reveals some understaffing issues at DCFS during 2024 fiscal year

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - An audit of the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services revealed some understaffing issues during the 2024 fiscal year.

The audit was conducted by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. The findings were released on Monday, June 9.

According to the findings, regional child welfare offices at DCFS had unmet staffing needs of at least 129 workers during the 2024 fiscal year. Some of the positions with high vacancies included frontline child welfare workers. Their caseload went from 9.3 active cases every month during the 2023 fiscal year to 15.9 cases between July 1, 2024, and January 31, 2025.

The audit report stated that DCFS conducted staffing assessments every six months in the past. Going forward, the agency plans to complete an assessment every three years unless there are significant changes in the workforce.

There was some good news revealed in the audit report. The DCFS statewide backlog of child protective services cases has gone down in recent years. According to the audit, the backlog declined by 19.8 percent between the 2023 fiscal year and February 2, 2025. Specifically, the number of cases went down from 3,070.6 to 2,463.

While the overall backlog of child protective services cases dropped, there was a jump in the number of cases in the Alexandria region. To address the issue, DCFS has created a specialized interview team to fast-track the staff hiring process, the audit said. New staff positions and temporary staff members have also been added.

The report from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor also revealed that child welfare staffing turnover rates went down slightly from 15.9 percent in the 2023 fiscal year to 15.3 percent in the 2024 fiscal year. Specifically, there were an average of 214 child welfare workers who left DCFS during the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years. From July 1, 2024, to March 26, 2025, 151 child welfare workers left DCFS.

DCFS Secretary David Matlock responded to the audit in a letter to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor.

“Despite ongoing challenges, DCFS remains committed to strengthening its frontline workforce,” Matlock said in the statement. “The department continues to explore strategies for effectively managing child welfare caseloads and workloads, with the goal of improving staff retention and increasing positive outcomes for children and families.”

To read the full audit report from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor, click here.

Click here to report a typo. Please include the headline.

Click here to subscribe to our WAFB 9 News daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.