New data shows the state's Crimes Against Children Division is falling short in some areas, including timeliness of visits to children and investigation results.
A quarterly performance report shows the agency did not meet an 85 percent compliance standard in the six categories for investigations.
The division's indicators include whether children are seen within 24 or 72 hours of an allegation, depending on severity, and whether investigations are completed within 45 days of the receipt of a complaint.
Gary Glison an administrator with the division spoke before a legislative panel Tuesday about the quarterly performance report.
He said low performance results about the timeliness of investigations are partly a problem of tracking work that’s being done.
State Senator Stephanie Flowers (D-Pine Bluff) asked about recent media reports of delayed investigations into child deaths in cases of maltreatment.
"It seems like there is such a delay in terms of a final investigative report. Can you talk to us about that?”
Glison said investigations involve many components and data from crime laboratories often take more than 45 days to process, surpassing the division's deadline to resolve cases.
"You're waiting on crime lab reports that are coming back from the medical examiners, drug screen reports in which you have to wait on before you can adequately make a determination on that,” he responded.
Flowers asked about steps taken to assess the safety of siblings of children who have been maltreated.
"If we believe there are concerns related to that child death and other siblings we will provide that information to Children and Family Services," he said, adding that office decides if siblings should be removed or remain in the home.
