The Colorado Department of Human Services is complying with many recommendations spelled out in audits from last year, but problems still persist at the agency that oversees child-welfare services.

That’s according to department Executive Director Reggie Bicha, who on Tuesday updated a legislative panel on the progress being made toward addressing a long list of concerns found in the audits.

The audits addressed three areas: Problems specific to counties that screen child abuse or neglect cases; medication mismanagement at youth facilities; and issues involving the agency’s ombudsman program, which serves as a department watchdog.

Bicha told the Legislative Audit Committee that DHS has fully complied with all recommendations from the latter two audits and has complied with 25 of 35 existing recommendations on how to provide greater supervision at the county level.

That audit found dozens of deficiencies, including problems screening potential child abuse cases at the county level and a lack of department supervision over the 64 county departments.

While he shared good news about compliance with audit recommendations, Bicha was forthcoming about problems that still affect the care of children in the system.

“We can technically comply with an audit finding, but it doesn’t necessarily fix some of the problems,” Bicha said.

Bicha said county caseworkers fall short in key child-abuse and neglect case standards. Those include whether case workers are making initial responses to cases in a timely manner and whether cases are closed within the 60-day statutory time frame.

Those problems, he said, are tied to a staffing shortage.

“The need for additional case workers is imperative in helping us get over the hurdle,” Bicha told lawmakers.

The Legislature recently approved funding for 100 new case workers. Bicha said the increased staffing will help the department fully comply with standards but added that he anticipates returning the Legislature again next year to request funding for additional workers.

Bicha also said the agency needs help in order to comply with a mandatory requirement that each child welfare case be reviewed by child protection teams, groups made up of community volunteers.

The department opens 85,000 new cases each year and doesn’t have the resources to be in total compliance with team reviews of those cases, he said. Bicha has asked the Attorney General’s Office to allow DHS to focus on certain cases based on a risk assessment.

Bicha said his department is doing a better job administering medications to youths in the care of DHS.

An audit in August found the department wasn’t closely monitoring psychotropic medications for appropriate use and side effects in the Division of Youth Corrections system.

A sample of medical records showed the overwhelming majority of youths in the system were being administered medications that alter mood and behavior, but the division wasn’t appropriately monitoring heart rate and blood pressure.

Bicha and his staff said there is now more oversight on those matters, in large part due to the creation of a chief medical officer position and work by medical experts who are now reviewing cases more diligently.

“Our agency has had no strategic approach nor executive leadership as it relates to health care delivery and medical care,” Bicha said. “We have changed that.”

The department is also in total compliance with recommendations made last July, when auditors questioned the independence of the contractor hired to act as a watchdog of the child-welfare system, Bicha said.

DHS had directly hired the Child Protection Ombudsman Program contractor, leaving some to wonder whether it could provide objective critiques of the department’s workings.

The Legislature addressed that issue earlier this year by moving the ombudsman program out of DHS and under the supervision of an independent board.

Over the past year, Bicha has been subject to intense criticism from lawmakers over his leadership at the department.

In May, more than 80 lawmakers blasted Bicha’s department in a letter addressed to Gov. John Hickenlooper. The letter lists several complaints about how the department operates. The governor has voiced strong support for the agency director.

Bicha has promised better communication with lawmakers going forward and stressed at Tuesday’s hearing that he remains focused on protecting Colorado’s children.

“There’s nothing more important that we do in state government than making certain that kids are safe when their families aren’t able or unwilling to do so,” Bicha said. “And so it’s been an utmost priority for us to work quickly and thoroughly to get these audit findings in place.”

The committee hearing lacked the tension that had been evident at previous hearings involving DHS. Still, lawmakers on the committee, speaking after the hearing, had mixed reactions about the department’s direction.

Sen. Tim Neville, R-Littleton, said he continues to have concerns about kids being over-prescribed psychotropic drugs and hopes the department continues to improve the administration of those medications.

“Let’s consider this a work in progress,” Neville said.

Rep. Dianne Primavera, D-Broomfield, said she walked away feeling hopeful about the changes being made, especially those involving management of prescription drugs.

“I was pleased,” she said. “I think they’ve taken some good steps to hire appropriate staff to oversee the medication management. We now have a model to use, and it looks to me like the department has taken it seriously, which is very pleasing to my ears.”

— Twitter: @VicVela1