Secretary Rebecca Harris told a joint Senate and House Health and Welfare Committee on Oct. 13 that the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has reorganized to focus exclusively on child welfare and child support after the state's "1 Door" realignment shifted other social services out of DCFS effective Oct. 1.

Harris described eight commitments in a business plan that she said will guide the department’s work, and said DCFS is moving "from a compliance based model to a performance based model" in its child-welfare practice. "We were able to recognize several efficiencies last year," Harris said, adding that the department has issued a business plan for the fiscal year and is emphasizing staffing, training, technology and accountability.

Second‑shift hires and staffing: DCFS said it has hired 53 new second‑shift child‑protective staff to respond to evening and overnight reports. Harris provided a regional breakdown (for example, eight second‑shift staff in Orleans and seven in Covington) and said the hires completed classroom training and were in shadowing assignments at the time of the hearing. Harris said the hires were intended to reduce after‑hours response delay and relieve pressure on first‑shift staff.

Backlog and supervision: The department reported a backlog of investigations that committee members and DCFS described during the hearing as roughly 3,700 overdue reports. DCFS said it is using multiple inputs to burn down the backlog: the newly hired second‑shift staff, additional frontline hiring and a new continuous quality‑improvement and quality‑assurance team.

Child fatalities and prior contact: During Q&A, Rebecca Hook, DCFS medical director, told the committee that 39 child fatalities were reported in the calendar year to date. Hook said 25 of those 39 fatalities had prior DCFS investigations involving a household member or other case member; 14 of the fatalities were associated with prior substantiated investigations, and 28 of the reviewed fatality cases were pending as of February 2025. Hook provided those numbers to the committee when asked for more detail during the meeting.

Harris candidly assessed the agency’s current performance level. "So to that end, I would say, I give us a C," she said when asked to grade Louisiana’s child‑welfare system, adding that the department is aiming for faster timeliness and improved oversight and training. Committee members pressed for quantifiable metrics and a public dashboard; Harris said a dashboard tied to the business plan would be available within weeks and that the department would provide it to committee staff.

Technology and process changes: DCFS described several technology projects intended to speed intake and improve records access: an automated bot to process central registry clearance requests (the department reported processing times that averaged six days after an August deployment), AI tools for centralized intake that flag calls with urgent or repeated concerns, and Project Sabre to digitize legacy paper records (DCFS estimated tens of millions of paper records statewide). Harris said the department is also planning a HomeReady platform to standardize foster‑parent recruitment, training and certification.

Policy, training and quality control: DCFS said it will reallocate existing positions to frontline child‑welfare operations, revisit compensation and incentive structures to retain staff, and create a statewide training and QA function that will provide remedial and ongoing training in local offices. Harris said the department has requested civil‑service changes to adjust special‑interest pay for entry‑level child‑welfare positions and would seek additional pay changes after reorganization is formalized.

Why it matters: Committee members said the number of child deaths with prior agency contact was alarming and pushed DCFS for timelines, metrics and immediate solutions. Several lawmakers urged faster progress and clearer, published milestones showing how reorganizational steps will reduce backlog, improve timeliness and, ultimately, reduce fatalities.

Next steps and oversight: Harris said the department will provide a dashboard with baseline metrics and quarterly updates, will continue to refine staffing and compensation strategies, and will share an itemized list of reforms that will require statutory or budgetary support. Committee members said they will schedule further oversight and indicated a willingness to work with DCFS and budget committees to address gaps that DCFS says it cannot resolve alone.