Blogger note:
Would've thought that criminal background checks would have been in place before anyone was hired by DCFS to work with children. Cart before the horse? Can't help but wonder if any children have suffered any kind of abuse or neglect at the hands of these unchecked worker's and it may be going unreported...
---
By City News Service
Several county child welfare workers have not undergone criminal background checks, a county supervisor said Tuesday, prompting the Board of Supervisors to call for an immediate start to the checks.
Supervisor Gloria Molina recommended that Department of Children and Family Services employees who work with children be electronically fingerprinted — a process called a Live Scan — for a California Department of Justice criminal record check.
All new county employees, employees transferring to other departments and being promoted undergo the Live Scan process, Molina said. But about 35 percent of county employees have not been scanned, including several DCFS employees, she said.
Staffers have been working for years on a feasibility study related to expanding the Live Scan process, which they were asked to expedite in September 2009.
Molina said she recently learned that state parks employees who interact with children undergo the same process.
“It’s hard to believe that all these years, we have not been doing the same,” Molina said.
She said she understood the county made a conscious decision not to do so in 1997, when legislation first passed related to Live Scan. Molina was elected in 1991.
The board unanimously voted to begin the scans immediately for DCFS employees and to begin discussions with union representatives related to the scans. It also directed staffers to report back in two weeks on the status of the overall feasibility study and plans to implement scans in other departments.
Source http://egpnews.com/2012/03/county-child-welfare-workers-to-undergo-criminal-checks/
CPS corruption hurts and destroys families worldwide. Please use caution posting about CPS here or anyplace on the internet. For your protection, using your full, real name and precise location is not advised. CPS has eyes everywhere and CPS is notorious for taking what people say, twisting it, embellishing on it and then using it against them in CPS "investigations" and at court proceedings.
Showing posts with label child welfare workers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label child welfare workers. Show all posts
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Monday, December 26, 2011
Some DHS workers allowed to keep jobs after child deaths - Oklahoma
Agency audit discovered ‘substantial violations,' blatant irresponsibility by child-welfare workers in three deaths
BY NOLAN CLAY, RANDY ELLIS AND ROBBY TRAMMELL
DHS workers are not always fired over mistakes that contributed to children's deaths.
In 2008, a Craig County child-welfare specialist, Jamie L. Veysey, was suspended without pay for only five days after a 3-year-old boy died.
A supervisor, Debra L. Grace, was suspended without pay for 60 days.
A DHS audit after the death found “substantial violations” of DHS child-welfare policy.
DHS workers had returned the medically fragile boy to his mother from foster care in February 2007. The boy, Blake Ragsdale, died of natural causes less than a month later.
He was placed with his mother even though she did not have a job, a telephone or a car, records show. The mother had failed to take care of him properly a year before during a reunification attempt.
He was in foster care because he had tested positive for methamphetamine at birth.
DHS found the workers failed to notify a judge the boy was being reunited with his mother, failed to make a safety assessment of the mother's home beforehand and failed to put any services into place to help the mother with the boy's care.
DHS found Veysey failed to check on the boy enough times after the reunification. DHS also found both did not notify the proper DHS authorities of the death.
Veysey resigned in 2010, records show. Grace no longer handles child-welfare cases, a DHS spokeswoman said.
Beaten to death
A Beckham County child-welfare specialist, Liberty Michelle Carter, was suspended for 15 days without pay in 2009 after a young boy, Ryan Weeks, was beaten to death. Carter was disciplined for her “action/inaction” in the case.
Ryan, 3, died on Nov. 4, 2008, after DHS placed him back in his mother's Elk City home from foster care. The mother's live-in boyfriend eventually pleaded no contest to first-degree murder.
A foster mother had pleaded with the agency not to return Ryan to his mother's home because he had returned from visits there with bruises. The foster mother complained to a DHS county director that Carter would not listen to her. DHS found Carter had concluded in July 2008 that the foster mother likely was making false allegations.
DHS also found Carter failed to properly look into an injury to the boy in September 2008 and failed to address Ryan's mother's fear that her boyfriend was overwhelmed.
Carter resigned in December 2010, the DHS spokeswoman said.
Medically fragile
An Oklahoma County child-welfare specialist, Glen E. Marshall, was at first offered more training after a medically fragile baby died a few days after he failed to get the child help.
“Your failure to ensure the safety of this infant demonstrated a blatant disregard of your responsibilities as a child-welfare specialist, poor judgment and egregious lack of risk assessment skills,” he was told.
Marshall was fired in November 2009 — more than a year after the child's death — after he continued to mishandle cases and lied to a supervisor, an assistant district attorney and an Oklahoma City police detective, the disciplinary records show.
Source http://newsok.com/some-dhs-workers-allowed-to-keep-jobs-after-child-deaths/article/3634878
BY NOLAN CLAY, RANDY ELLIS AND ROBBY TRAMMELL
DHS workers are not always fired over mistakes that contributed to children's deaths.
In 2008, a Craig County child-welfare specialist, Jamie L. Veysey, was suspended without pay for only five days after a 3-year-old boy died.
A supervisor, Debra L. Grace, was suspended without pay for 60 days.
A DHS audit after the death found “substantial violations” of DHS child-welfare policy.
DHS workers had returned the medically fragile boy to his mother from foster care in February 2007. The boy, Blake Ragsdale, died of natural causes less than a month later.
He was placed with his mother even though she did not have a job, a telephone or a car, records show. The mother had failed to take care of him properly a year before during a reunification attempt.
He was in foster care because he had tested positive for methamphetamine at birth.
DHS found the workers failed to notify a judge the boy was being reunited with his mother, failed to make a safety assessment of the mother's home beforehand and failed to put any services into place to help the mother with the boy's care.
DHS found Veysey failed to check on the boy enough times after the reunification. DHS also found both did not notify the proper DHS authorities of the death.
Veysey resigned in 2010, records show. Grace no longer handles child-welfare cases, a DHS spokeswoman said.
Beaten to death
A Beckham County child-welfare specialist, Liberty Michelle Carter, was suspended for 15 days without pay in 2009 after a young boy, Ryan Weeks, was beaten to death. Carter was disciplined for her “action/inaction” in the case.
Ryan, 3, died on Nov. 4, 2008, after DHS placed him back in his mother's Elk City home from foster care. The mother's live-in boyfriend eventually pleaded no contest to first-degree murder.
A foster mother had pleaded with the agency not to return Ryan to his mother's home because he had returned from visits there with bruises. The foster mother complained to a DHS county director that Carter would not listen to her. DHS found Carter had concluded in July 2008 that the foster mother likely was making false allegations.
DHS also found Carter failed to properly look into an injury to the boy in September 2008 and failed to address Ryan's mother's fear that her boyfriend was overwhelmed.
Carter resigned in December 2010, the DHS spokeswoman said.
Medically fragile
An Oklahoma County child-welfare specialist, Glen E. Marshall, was at first offered more training after a medically fragile baby died a few days after he failed to get the child help.
“Your failure to ensure the safety of this infant demonstrated a blatant disregard of your responsibilities as a child-welfare specialist, poor judgment and egregious lack of risk assessment skills,” he was told.
Marshall was fired in November 2009 — more than a year after the child's death — after he continued to mishandle cases and lied to a supervisor, an assistant district attorney and an Oklahoma City police detective, the disciplinary records show.
Source http://newsok.com/some-dhs-workers-allowed-to-keep-jobs-after-child-deaths/article/3634878
Monday, December 5, 2011
Foster fiasco - Boy on run two years after ‘bungle’
By MITCHEL MADDUX
It’s a colossal foster-care nightmare that ended with the disappearance of a 7-year-old boy two years ago — and it didn’t have to happen.
Top-notch lawyers appointed by a judge to represent the interests of missing Patrick Alford claim that the child, who vanished from his Brooklyn foster home, could have been safe today if not for glaring missteps by city child-welfare workers.
The lawyers argue that the employees with the city’s Administration for Children’s Service outrageously misled the Family Court in their bid to prove the child was in danger and even required placement in foster care in the first place.
It’s not clear why the workers did what they did to justify taking the boy. But they failed to disclose to a Family Court judge that, at the time, the child had actually been living at an aunt’s house and not with his mother, who was battling drug-addiction problems, lawyer Jonathan Lerner argued in papers filed in Brooklyn federal court.
Child-welfare workers lied in a sworn affidavit by “falsely representing to the court” there was “an imminent danger to the child’s life” if he was not immediately removed, “when in truth” young Patrick “was in no danger, imminent or otherwise, from continuing in his aunt’s care,” the documents state.
Lerner, a senior attorney at the white-shoe firm of Skadden Arps now serving as pro-bono counsel for the child, said ACS “made no assessment” that the aunt’s temporary custody of the boy “posed any danger” when its workers decided to seize Patrick on Dec. 29, 2009.
When ACS workers met again with the aunt two weeks later, they even deemed her suitable to serve as a temporary guardian for the boy. But for reasons that are unclear, the child nevertheless continued to remain in the foster home until his disappearance, Lerner wrote in the scathing court papers.
Patrick, who would now be 9 years old, was last seen on the night of Jan. 22, 2010, after he apparently slipped off while taking out the trash with his foster mom at her East New York home.
Adding to the debacle, ACS put him with a foster mother who spoke only Spanish, even though Patrick spoke only English.
The child, who had documented emotional and educational issues, was so unhappy that he began to experience psychiatric problems and tried to run away on several occasions.
Despite a psychologist’s assessment that the boy urgently needed medication and psychiatric care, ACS failed to take immediate action to help the boy, Lerner charged.
This chain of events prompted a federal judge overseeing the lawsuit about the child’s disappearance to suggest that — if proven — the city could be liable for damages.
Lawyers for the city strongly dispute the claim that ACS workers deliberately misled a Family Court judge and contend that facts arose that led them to believe that leaving Patrick with relatives was not a good option.
Source http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/foster_fiasco_2t4PoiyY60swRmOCmHCVXN
It’s a colossal foster-care nightmare that ended with the disappearance of a 7-year-old boy two years ago — and it didn’t have to happen.
Top-notch lawyers appointed by a judge to represent the interests of missing Patrick Alford claim that the child, who vanished from his Brooklyn foster home, could have been safe today if not for glaring missteps by city child-welfare workers.
The lawyers argue that the employees with the city’s Administration for Children’s Service outrageously misled the Family Court in their bid to prove the child was in danger and even required placement in foster care in the first place.
It’s not clear why the workers did what they did to justify taking the boy. But they failed to disclose to a Family Court judge that, at the time, the child had actually been living at an aunt’s house and not with his mother, who was battling drug-addiction problems, lawyer Jonathan Lerner argued in papers filed in Brooklyn federal court.
Child-welfare workers lied in a sworn affidavit by “falsely representing to the court” there was “an imminent danger to the child’s life” if he was not immediately removed, “when in truth” young Patrick “was in no danger, imminent or otherwise, from continuing in his aunt’s care,” the documents state.
Lerner, a senior attorney at the white-shoe firm of Skadden Arps now serving as pro-bono counsel for the child, said ACS “made no assessment” that the aunt’s temporary custody of the boy “posed any danger” when its workers decided to seize Patrick on Dec. 29, 2009.
When ACS workers met again with the aunt two weeks later, they even deemed her suitable to serve as a temporary guardian for the boy. But for reasons that are unclear, the child nevertheless continued to remain in the foster home until his disappearance, Lerner wrote in the scathing court papers.
Patrick, who would now be 9 years old, was last seen on the night of Jan. 22, 2010, after he apparently slipped off while taking out the trash with his foster mom at her East New York home.
Adding to the debacle, ACS put him with a foster mother who spoke only Spanish, even though Patrick spoke only English.
The child, who had documented emotional and educational issues, was so unhappy that he began to experience psychiatric problems and tried to run away on several occasions.
Despite a psychologist’s assessment that the boy urgently needed medication and psychiatric care, ACS failed to take immediate action to help the boy, Lerner charged.
This chain of events prompted a federal judge overseeing the lawsuit about the child’s disappearance to suggest that — if proven — the city could be liable for damages.
Lawyers for the city strongly dispute the claim that ACS workers deliberately misled a Family Court judge and contend that facts arose that led them to believe that leaving Patrick with relatives was not a good option.
Source http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/foster_fiasco_2t4PoiyY60swRmOCmHCVXN
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Arizona CPS myths identified, cleared up by experts
by Mary K. Reinhart
Arizona’s child-welfare system has come under a microscope in recent months, with most of the attention focused on several high-profile deaths and how the state’s Child Protective Services might have prevented them.
State officials said at least six children, who had been the subject of one or more CPS reports, have died so far this year. Of the 70 children whose deaths officials attributed to maltreatment in 2010, 18 had prior CPS involvement.
As a gubernatorial task force on child safety works on recommendations, which will likely become legislation in the coming session, misconceptions and myths abound about the responsibilities and rules governing CPS and its workers.
“The myth is that there’s a simple solution to this problem,” said Karin Kline, who spent 26 years in a variety of CPS positions.
Another is that there are obvious red flags to show CPS workers which children should be removed, she said.
“That the kids who are killed have prior physical injuries and a prior report that a CPS worker somehow overlooked,” she said. “Often, it’s a kid sent to school dirty or hungry, or mom’s got drug problems.”
The Republic asked experts to help identify common myths surrounding child abuse and neglect. Among them:
CPS can force parents or caregivers into drug or mental-health treatment or to accept other services, such as parenting classes and child care.
In fact, state law limits the authority of CPS to require anything of parents or caregivers accused of abusing or neglecting their children. And the law requires the caseworker to inform the family of this right at the beginning of an investigation.
Once caseworkers remove children and place them in state custody, a judge can require the family to meet certain conditions in order for the state to return the children. Parents might be able to keep their children under an “in-home dependency,” which also involves a court order and requirements parents must meet to prevent the child’s placement into foster care.
But short of a court order, the law states that a CPS worker “has no legal authority to compel the family to cooperate with the investigation or to receive protective services offered.”
CPS will offer services to families accused or at risk of abuse or neglect, but participation is voluntary. Officials said families who agree to participate voluntarily are more likely to benefit than those forced to accept treatment or services as a condition for getting their children back.
Budget cuts over the past several years, however, have reduced the extent and the timeliness of voluntary services.
Confidentiality laws prevent CPS from talking publicly about cases.
In fact, Arizona has one of the least restrictive confidentiality laws in the country. State law allows the department to “confirm, clarify or correct” information about a case of child abuse or neglect that already has been made public.
That might include a situation where police investigating a missing or neglected child-release information about prior CPS involvement in the case. CPS could speak publicly about the case to correct misinformation or explain what caseworkers may have done to try to help the family.
The department rarely takes that opportunity, however, and some say that can make it appear that it’s got something to hide.
“They can talk until they’re blue in the face if they so choose,” said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform. “If they don’t talk, they’re stonewalling.”
Kline sees it differently.
“The myth here is that CPS is not talking to cover for themselves,” said Kline, now with Arizona State University’s Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy.
The agency does release basic information about child fatalities and near fatalities. One of the concerns about providing more information, however, is that it could endanger federal funding under a child-welfare law that has its own confidentiality requirements.
But Wexler said that’s just an excuse. Federal officials have never taken a nickel away from a state for a confidentiality breach, he said, and the move in recent years has been toward more openness, not less.
Most children are killed by their mother’s boyfriend.
In fact, mothers were the perpetrators in 34 out of 70 child maltreatment deaths in 2010, according to the Arizona Child Fatality Review Program, and fathers were responsible for 18 child deaths.
A mother’s partner was the culprit in six child deaths last year.
“It’s true that a boyfriend presents a risk factor to a young child,” Kline said. “But it is not true that they’re more likely to harm a child.”
The statistics reflect the fact that mothers are the primary caregivers. Sixteen of the child-abuse and neglect deaths in 2010 were because of prematurity or other medical causes, such as a mother failing to seek medical care for a child or a baby born prematurely because of prenatal drug exposure.
Child abuse and neglect is spread equally across all socio-economic levels.
In fact, the most recent federal study shows that children in families earning below $15,000 a year are more than five times as likely to be considered maltreated compared with other children.
Researchers aren’t clear whether that’s because of the stress of poverty, or if greater scrutiny by state agencies results in more abuse and neglect reports. Most of these families receive some kind of public benefit, such as food stamps or subsidized housing.
“The more challenges that a family experiences and the more stress a family experiences, the more likely children’s needs aren’t going to be met, and they’re gonna be abused” or neglected, Kline said, adding that the vast majority of low-income families don’t abuse or neglect their children.
Other factors that can put children at risk include lack of child care and health care, and the lack of support from extended family. Some argue that case managers sometimes confuse poverty with neglect, and they remove children instead of offering help that would keep families together.
“The biggest connection between poverty and neglect is the confusion of poverty with neglect,” Wexler said. “Either way, your best solution is to target the poverty.”
Source http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-news/2011/11/27/arizona-cps-myths-identified-cleared-up-by-experts/
Arizona’s child-welfare system has come under a microscope in recent months, with most of the attention focused on several high-profile deaths and how the state’s Child Protective Services might have prevented them.
State officials said at least six children, who had been the subject of one or more CPS reports, have died so far this year. Of the 70 children whose deaths officials attributed to maltreatment in 2010, 18 had prior CPS involvement.
As a gubernatorial task force on child safety works on recommendations, which will likely become legislation in the coming session, misconceptions and myths abound about the responsibilities and rules governing CPS and its workers.
“The myth is that there’s a simple solution to this problem,” said Karin Kline, who spent 26 years in a variety of CPS positions.
Another is that there are obvious red flags to show CPS workers which children should be removed, she said.
“That the kids who are killed have prior physical injuries and a prior report that a CPS worker somehow overlooked,” she said. “Often, it’s a kid sent to school dirty or hungry, or mom’s got drug problems.”
The Republic asked experts to help identify common myths surrounding child abuse and neglect. Among them:
CPS can force parents or caregivers into drug or mental-health treatment or to accept other services, such as parenting classes and child care.
In fact, state law limits the authority of CPS to require anything of parents or caregivers accused of abusing or neglecting their children. And the law requires the caseworker to inform the family of this right at the beginning of an investigation.
Once caseworkers remove children and place them in state custody, a judge can require the family to meet certain conditions in order for the state to return the children. Parents might be able to keep their children under an “in-home dependency,” which also involves a court order and requirements parents must meet to prevent the child’s placement into foster care.
But short of a court order, the law states that a CPS worker “has no legal authority to compel the family to cooperate with the investigation or to receive protective services offered.”
CPS will offer services to families accused or at risk of abuse or neglect, but participation is voluntary. Officials said families who agree to participate voluntarily are more likely to benefit than those forced to accept treatment or services as a condition for getting their children back.
Budget cuts over the past several years, however, have reduced the extent and the timeliness of voluntary services.
Confidentiality laws prevent CPS from talking publicly about cases.
In fact, Arizona has one of the least restrictive confidentiality laws in the country. State law allows the department to “confirm, clarify or correct” information about a case of child abuse or neglect that already has been made public.
That might include a situation where police investigating a missing or neglected child-release information about prior CPS involvement in the case. CPS could speak publicly about the case to correct misinformation or explain what caseworkers may have done to try to help the family.
The department rarely takes that opportunity, however, and some say that can make it appear that it’s got something to hide.
“They can talk until they’re blue in the face if they so choose,” said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform. “If they don’t talk, they’re stonewalling.”
Kline sees it differently.
“The myth here is that CPS is not talking to cover for themselves,” said Kline, now with Arizona State University’s Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy.
The agency does release basic information about child fatalities and near fatalities. One of the concerns about providing more information, however, is that it could endanger federal funding under a child-welfare law that has its own confidentiality requirements.
But Wexler said that’s just an excuse. Federal officials have never taken a nickel away from a state for a confidentiality breach, he said, and the move in recent years has been toward more openness, not less.
Most children are killed by their mother’s boyfriend.
In fact, mothers were the perpetrators in 34 out of 70 child maltreatment deaths in 2010, according to the Arizona Child Fatality Review Program, and fathers were responsible for 18 child deaths.
A mother’s partner was the culprit in six child deaths last year.
“It’s true that a boyfriend presents a risk factor to a young child,” Kline said. “But it is not true that they’re more likely to harm a child.”
The statistics reflect the fact that mothers are the primary caregivers. Sixteen of the child-abuse and neglect deaths in 2010 were because of prematurity or other medical causes, such as a mother failing to seek medical care for a child or a baby born prematurely because of prenatal drug exposure.
Child abuse and neglect is spread equally across all socio-economic levels.
In fact, the most recent federal study shows that children in families earning below $15,000 a year are more than five times as likely to be considered maltreated compared with other children.
Researchers aren’t clear whether that’s because of the stress of poverty, or if greater scrutiny by state agencies results in more abuse and neglect reports. Most of these families receive some kind of public benefit, such as food stamps or subsidized housing.
“The more challenges that a family experiences and the more stress a family experiences, the more likely children’s needs aren’t going to be met, and they’re gonna be abused” or neglected, Kline said, adding that the vast majority of low-income families don’t abuse or neglect their children.
Other factors that can put children at risk include lack of child care and health care, and the lack of support from extended family. Some argue that case managers sometimes confuse poverty with neglect, and they remove children instead of offering help that would keep families together.
“The biggest connection between poverty and neglect is the confusion of poverty with neglect,” Wexler said. “Either way, your best solution is to target the poverty.”
Source http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-news/2011/11/27/arizona-cps-myths-identified-cleared-up-by-experts/
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Oklahoma counties have history of child death problems
Records reveal that two to the 11 Oklahoma DHS workers and supervisors allegedly involved in her case have been disciplined by the agency within the last four years.
BY RANDY ELLIS,
NOLAN CLAY AND
ROBBY TRAMMELL
SHAWNEE — The 2009 death of 6-year-old Alexis Morris was in the same region of the state where DHS child welfare workers have been involved in at least four other cases that ended in violent deaths.
Records reveal that two of the 11 DHS workers and supervisors allegedly involved in Alexis' case have been disciplined by the agency within the past four years. It is not possible from the records to determine whether the discipline was connected to that case.
Serenity Deal, 5, Kelsey Smith-Briggs, 2, Aja Johnson, 7, and Melissa Ellison, 5, all suffered violent deaths within the past nine years after having come under supervision of DHS in Lincoln and Pottawatomie counties. Aja's DHS case was closed before her death, said Sheree Powell, spokeswoman for DHS.
Powell said DHS administrators are highly aware of child deaths in Lincoln and Pottawatomie counties and for more than a year have been engaged in a special focus program to identify deficiencies in those counties and provide additional training.
“This broad assessment includes reviews of individual cases, management of the offices and decision making, as well as communications between the counties, district attorneys and the courts,” Powell said. “We have also instituted weekly training sessions with our legal division, county staff and assistant district attorneys.”
A lawsuit over Alexis' death alleges one of the disciplined workers, Tamara Story, was both a close friend and worked at DHS with a sister of Alexis' father.
Alexis' mother contends that relationship prompted Story and other workers to leave Alexis and a brother at their father's home when they should have been removed.
Story declined to comment when contacted by The Oklahoman.
Workers disciplined
Records show Story is one of two DHS workers involved in Alexis' case who have been disciplined by the agency.
Story was fired by DHS in April for dereliction of duty and having medical limitations that prevented her from performing her duties.
Her discharge letter indicates she failed to appear at work the last nine months she was employed, was on medical leave without pay for a portion of that time and had complained actions taken weren't fair because her medical problems were “OKDHS' fault.”
Records show Story was suspended without pay for five days in April 2010 for unsatisfactory performance and misconduct and had twice before received written reprimands on the same grounds.
At the time of her suspension, she was cited for more than 20 areas of substandard performance. Those included falsifying documents in her permanency child placement caseload, lack of worker contacts with parents, being “not diligent at all” in searching for relatives with whom children could be placed, announcing child visits in advance and allowing parent-child unsupervised weekend visitation and trial reunifications without safety assessments of the homes.
In that April 12, 2010, disciplinary letter, DHS Area IV Director William Wilson Jr. ripped the performance of child welfare workers in Pottawatomie County, noting that even though that county was one of two focus counties within his 15-county jurisdiction that had received extra training, a review revealed “outcomes for children were extremely disappointing in most categories.”
“In fact, Pottawatomie is the first and only county in Area IV to have had scores of zero (on a scale of 100) in any category, much less several categories,” Wilson wrote.
Other findings
The county scored:
• 0 percent in substantially achieving the goal of providing permanency and stability for children in their living situations.
• 0 percent in substantially achieving the goal of preserving continuity of family relationships and connections for children.
• 0 percent in substantially achieving the goal of enhancing the capacity of families to provide for their children's needs.
• 67 percent in substantially achieving the top goal of protecting children from abuse and neglect.
• 33 percent in substantially achieving the goal of maintaining children in their home whenever possible and appropriate.
• 67 percent in substantially achieving the goal of providing children with appropriate services to meet educational needs.
• 50 percent in providing children with services to meet their physical and mental health needs.
Gloria Weiss was the other Pottawatomie County DHS child welfare worker named in the lawsuit who has been disciplined by the agency.
Records show Weiss was suspended without pay for five days in 2008 for misconduct that included unauthorized disclosure of confidential information, failure to follow DHS policy and discourteous treatment of clients, employees or members of the public.
Source http://newsok.com/oklahoma-counties-have-history-of-child-death-problems/article/3620508
BY RANDY ELLIS,
NOLAN CLAY AND
ROBBY TRAMMELL
SHAWNEE — The 2009 death of 6-year-old Alexis Morris was in the same region of the state where DHS child welfare workers have been involved in at least four other cases that ended in violent deaths.
Records reveal that two of the 11 DHS workers and supervisors allegedly involved in Alexis' case have been disciplined by the agency within the past four years. It is not possible from the records to determine whether the discipline was connected to that case.
Serenity Deal, 5, Kelsey Smith-Briggs, 2, Aja Johnson, 7, and Melissa Ellison, 5, all suffered violent deaths within the past nine years after having come under supervision of DHS in Lincoln and Pottawatomie counties. Aja's DHS case was closed before her death, said Sheree Powell, spokeswoman for DHS.
Powell said DHS administrators are highly aware of child deaths in Lincoln and Pottawatomie counties and for more than a year have been engaged in a special focus program to identify deficiencies in those counties and provide additional training.
“This broad assessment includes reviews of individual cases, management of the offices and decision making, as well as communications between the counties, district attorneys and the courts,” Powell said. “We have also instituted weekly training sessions with our legal division, county staff and assistant district attorneys.”
A lawsuit over Alexis' death alleges one of the disciplined workers, Tamara Story, was both a close friend and worked at DHS with a sister of Alexis' father.
Alexis' mother contends that relationship prompted Story and other workers to leave Alexis and a brother at their father's home when they should have been removed.
Story declined to comment when contacted by The Oklahoman.
Workers disciplined
Records show Story is one of two DHS workers involved in Alexis' case who have been disciplined by the agency.
Story was fired by DHS in April for dereliction of duty and having medical limitations that prevented her from performing her duties.
Her discharge letter indicates she failed to appear at work the last nine months she was employed, was on medical leave without pay for a portion of that time and had complained actions taken weren't fair because her medical problems were “OKDHS' fault.”
Records show Story was suspended without pay for five days in April 2010 for unsatisfactory performance and misconduct and had twice before received written reprimands on the same grounds.
At the time of her suspension, she was cited for more than 20 areas of substandard performance. Those included falsifying documents in her permanency child placement caseload, lack of worker contacts with parents, being “not diligent at all” in searching for relatives with whom children could be placed, announcing child visits in advance and allowing parent-child unsupervised weekend visitation and trial reunifications without safety assessments of the homes.
In that April 12, 2010, disciplinary letter, DHS Area IV Director William Wilson Jr. ripped the performance of child welfare workers in Pottawatomie County, noting that even though that county was one of two focus counties within his 15-county jurisdiction that had received extra training, a review revealed “outcomes for children were extremely disappointing in most categories.”
“In fact, Pottawatomie is the first and only county in Area IV to have had scores of zero (on a scale of 100) in any category, much less several categories,” Wilson wrote.
Other findings
The county scored:
• 0 percent in substantially achieving the goal of providing permanency and stability for children in their living situations.
• 0 percent in substantially achieving the goal of preserving continuity of family relationships and connections for children.
• 0 percent in substantially achieving the goal of enhancing the capacity of families to provide for their children's needs.
• 67 percent in substantially achieving the top goal of protecting children from abuse and neglect.
• 33 percent in substantially achieving the goal of maintaining children in their home whenever possible and appropriate.
• 67 percent in substantially achieving the goal of providing children with appropriate services to meet educational needs.
• 50 percent in providing children with services to meet their physical and mental health needs.
Gloria Weiss was the other Pottawatomie County DHS child welfare worker named in the lawsuit who has been disciplined by the agency.
Records show Weiss was suspended without pay for five days in 2008 for misconduct that included unauthorized disclosure of confidential information, failure to follow DHS policy and discourteous treatment of clients, employees or members of the public.
Source http://newsok.com/oklahoma-counties-have-history-of-child-death-problems/article/3620508
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Oklahoma DHS governing board refuses special meeting on Serenity Deal death
Serenity Deal, 5, died in Oklahoma City after being placed with father by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.
The governing board of the state's child-welfare agency has refused repeated requests to hold special meetings on the high-profile deaths of children in its care.
Steven Dow, of Tulsa, called for the special meetings. He is one of nine commissioners who oversee the state Department of Human Services.
He told The Oklahoman, “My calls for greater accountability and interest by the commission in even asking questions are met with a deafening silence. … I basically have gotten no response from most of the commissioners.”
Dow asked for special meetings after the 2010 death of Aja Johnson, 7, and the June death of Serenity Deal, 5.
He brought up five other children's deaths in one of his requests for a meeting about Serenity.
“Not once has the Commission discussed any of these horrific situations nor attempted to understand how our agency failed these children. Not once,” he wrote in an email to other commissioners.
“For a system to allow so many tragic deaths in such a short period of time is unconscionable. For us to not invite someone who has investigated the cases nor even ask our staff to explain what, from their perspective, happened is irresponsible and an utter dereliction of our duty to oversee the Department,” he wrote.
Dow said only one other commissioner, Anne Roberts, of Norman, agreed to a special meeting on Serenity.
Against a special meeting over Serenity was Commissioner Aneta Wilkinson, of Tulsa.
Wilkinson wrote in an email to Dow: “I firmly believe that DHS is handling this very unfortunate matter in the correct way. This terrible incident is not a system failure but involves the actions of individual people.
“Calling a special meeting at this time will only impede the investigation and disciplinary actions that are being implemented at this time. The proper role of the Commission is to determine policy. We are not and we should not be involved in personnel matters.”
Serenity died less than a month after she began living with her father full time in Oklahoma City at the recommendation of DHS workers.
The girl was placed with her father, Sean Devon Brooks, even though she was injured twice in January during overnight visits with him. DHS was involved because Serenity's mother had been accused of molesting a boy.
Brooks, who did not know he was the girl's father until she was 3, has been charged with first-degree murder.
DHS officials say child-welfare workers made mistakes in the girl's case. Four workers were put on administrative leave. One committed suicide. Another resigned. The other two are in the process of being fired.
Aja, 7, was killed in January 2010 by her stepfather, Lester Hobbs. Investigators said Hobbs killed the girl's mother in his motor home in Geronimo, left in her car with Aja, killed Aja and killed himself.
Aja was visiting her mother at the time of her death. Her father had temporary custody. DHS was criticized after her death because child-welfare workers earlier in her life had pushed for her to live with her mother and stepfather even though he was a felon and there were reports the stepfather abused her.
Source http://newsok.com/oklahoma-dhs-governing-board-refuses-special-meeting-on-serenity-deal-death/article/3602731?custom_click=pod_headline_crime
The governing board of the state's child-welfare agency has refused repeated requests to hold special meetings on the high-profile deaths of children in its care.
Steven Dow, of Tulsa, called for the special meetings. He is one of nine commissioners who oversee the state Department of Human Services.
He told The Oklahoman, “My calls for greater accountability and interest by the commission in even asking questions are met with a deafening silence. … I basically have gotten no response from most of the commissioners.”
Dow asked for special meetings after the 2010 death of Aja Johnson, 7, and the June death of Serenity Deal, 5.
He brought up five other children's deaths in one of his requests for a meeting about Serenity.
“Not once has the Commission discussed any of these horrific situations nor attempted to understand how our agency failed these children. Not once,” he wrote in an email to other commissioners.
“For a system to allow so many tragic deaths in such a short period of time is unconscionable. For us to not invite someone who has investigated the cases nor even ask our staff to explain what, from their perspective, happened is irresponsible and an utter dereliction of our duty to oversee the Department,” he wrote.
Dow said only one other commissioner, Anne Roberts, of Norman, agreed to a special meeting on Serenity.
Against a special meeting over Serenity was Commissioner Aneta Wilkinson, of Tulsa.
Wilkinson wrote in an email to Dow: “I firmly believe that DHS is handling this very unfortunate matter in the correct way. This terrible incident is not a system failure but involves the actions of individual people.
“Calling a special meeting at this time will only impede the investigation and disciplinary actions that are being implemented at this time. The proper role of the Commission is to determine policy. We are not and we should not be involved in personnel matters.”
Serenity died less than a month after she began living with her father full time in Oklahoma City at the recommendation of DHS workers.
The girl was placed with her father, Sean Devon Brooks, even though she was injured twice in January during overnight visits with him. DHS was involved because Serenity's mother had been accused of molesting a boy.
Brooks, who did not know he was the girl's father until she was 3, has been charged with first-degree murder.
DHS officials say child-welfare workers made mistakes in the girl's case. Four workers were put on administrative leave. One committed suicide. Another resigned. The other two are in the process of being fired.
Aja, 7, was killed in January 2010 by her stepfather, Lester Hobbs. Investigators said Hobbs killed the girl's mother in his motor home in Geronimo, left in her car with Aja, killed Aja and killed himself.
Aja was visiting her mother at the time of her death. Her father had temporary custody. DHS was criticized after her death because child-welfare workers earlier in her life had pushed for her to live with her mother and stepfather even though he was a felon and there were reports the stepfather abused her.
Source http://newsok.com/oklahoma-dhs-governing-board-refuses-special-meeting-on-serenity-deal-death/article/3602731?custom_click=pod_headline_crime
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)