Cases closed 

Committees of the Monroe County Legislature have agreed to accept a $50,000 grant to help staff in county Child Protective Services wrap-up outstanding cases. The legislation goes to the full Legislature for a vote on Tuesday, November 12. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. | CPS staffing levels and caseloads have been major concerns of Legislature Democrats as well as some children's advocates. And county Dems still regularly question the administration about caseloads. | CPS has a system in place where staff members are paid overtime to close cases or, in some instances, to maintain progress on a case. The $50,000 grant will go toward a similar effort; the money will cover overtime costs to complete some cases, with priority given to overdue cases, says county spokesperson Justin Feasel. | Feasel says that CPS is currently investigating approximately 875 abuse or neglect cases. And so far this year, it has investigated and completed 5,000 abuse or neglect cases, he says. Approximately 27 percent of reports were substantiated in September, which is close to the 29.6 percent monthly average for the year, he says. And the average caseload at the end of the month was 13.4 cases per caseworker, he says.