BATON ROUGE - In an audit released Monday morning, the Legislative Auditor's Office found an increase in understaffing and caseload issues for the Department of Children and Family Services. 

Auditors found Child Welfare offices with DCFS had unmet staffing needs of at least 129 workers in fiscal 2024 and reported $149.9 million in personnel expenditures, an increase of $6.2 million from fiscal 2023. 

Child welfare workers also saw an increase in their caseload from an average of 9.3 active cases in fiscal 2023 to 15.9 by January 2025. 

While the statewide backlog of Child Protective Services cases has decreased since fiscal 2023, the backlog in the Alexandria Region has increased by 65.9% in the same period. 

Understaffing was one of the concerns about DCFS amid the death of Mitchell Robinson III, who died from a fentanyl overdose after nearly dying twice before.

The department's new secretary, David Matlock, took control in February 2024 and told WBRZ he has been working to improve conditions for children in the state since. 

WBRZ's Destiny Beasley will have more on the audit in Monday's later newscasts.