A city official says the Child and Family Services Agency will get social workers from other District offices and hire more staff.

The moves come after the recent deaths of several children, a backlog of cases and the resignation of the agency's director.

Peter Nickles, the city's acting attorney general, says a temporary influx of social workers is needed.

D-C Council member Tommy Wells promised more money for the agency on Thursday. The agency has been under federal court scrutiny for almost 20 years. All sides agree that the agency has made significant improvements in that time, but a court monitor and advocates say conditions have gotten worse in recent years.

District officials say the problem is temporary, and attribute the backlogs to the discovery in January of four dead girls at their home in Southeast Washington.

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