by Tonya Brown
NewsChannel 15 has learned two Marlboro County Department of Social Services employees were fired in connection with the child abuse case of Edna Hunt.
State DSS officials will only say they let the employees go after an evaluation of their work in the Hunt investigation and other cases they've handled.
Last week, we learned DSS was conducting a child protective services investigation prior to Hunt's death.
We have requested more information through the Freedom of Information Act to find out if the employees violated any procedures, according to state and federal policy, for child protective investigations.
In October, Hunt died following cardiac arrest in Bennettsville.
Hunt's mother and her mother's boyfriend are charged with homicide by child abuse.
Police say Hunt had bruises and burns all over her body.
Officers say a post mortem examination showed she had been abused for some time.
DSS officials say the Director of the Marlboro County DSS resigned shortly after the child's death, but they aren't saying if his resignation had anything to do with their internal investigation.
Marlboro County Coroner, Tim Brown, says he's expecting final autopsy results on Hunt to be in sometime this week.
He will release those results when they come in.
Source http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=696491
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 fired. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fired. Show all posts
Monday, December 12, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
North Carolina DSS worker fired after DWI arrest
October 11, 2011 4:54 PM
By Diane Turbyfill
A social worker arrested twice in one week was fired from her job Tuesday.
Gaston County Social Services Director Keith Moon said the action seemed suitable for the circumstance.
“I just think given the nature of this situation that would be the appropriate action,” said Moon.
Yvette Jadine Smithen, 42, was stopped by Shelby Police in the 2100 block of East Dixon Boulevard Saturday. The officer determined Smithen had been drinking and charged her with DWI.
A 4-year-old boy was in the car when police took her into custody.
Smithen worked with the Child Protective Services division at Gaston DSS. Caseworkers are often called to testify in court, and credibility is essential, Moon said.
The DWI charge came less than a week after Smithen was arrested at a party held in her Bent Branch Street home in Gastonia.
“Those charges certainly are very serious,” said Moon. “Given the nature of duties of social workers here it was pretty much incompatible.”
On Sept. 2 Smithen was charged with resisting arrest in a Gaston County incident. According to the arrest report, Smithen interfered with police when they came to the scene of a party that afternoon.
Moon said Smithen has only been with the department for a month. She made $41,211.
Employees are required to report arrests to their supervisors.
Smithen did so last week, and she sent Moon an email requesting a meeting Monday. She was not penalized at work for her resisting arrest charge.
She did not come into work Tuesday and was terminated by a written document.
Source http://www.gastongazette.com/news/worker-61770-social-fired.html
By Diane Turbyfill
A social worker arrested twice in one week was fired from her job Tuesday.
Gaston County Social Services Director Keith Moon said the action seemed suitable for the circumstance.
“I just think given the nature of this situation that would be the appropriate action,” said Moon.
Yvette Jadine Smithen, 42, was stopped by Shelby Police in the 2100 block of East Dixon Boulevard Saturday. The officer determined Smithen had been drinking and charged her with DWI.
A 4-year-old boy was in the car when police took her into custody.
Smithen worked with the Child Protective Services division at Gaston DSS. Caseworkers are often called to testify in court, and credibility is essential, Moon said.
The DWI charge came less than a week after Smithen was arrested at a party held in her Bent Branch Street home in Gastonia.
“Those charges certainly are very serious,” said Moon. “Given the nature of duties of social workers here it was pretty much incompatible.”
On Sept. 2 Smithen was charged with resisting arrest in a Gaston County incident. According to the arrest report, Smithen interfered with police when they came to the scene of a party that afternoon.
Moon said Smithen has only been with the department for a month. She made $41,211.
Employees are required to report arrests to their supervisors.
Smithen did so last week, and she sent Moon an email requesting a meeting Monday. She was not penalized at work for her resisting arrest charge.
She did not come into work Tuesday and was terminated by a written document.
Source http://www.gastongazette.com/news/worker-61770-social-fired.html
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Second Oklahoma DHS worker fired in Serenity Deal case
Randy J. Lack, 58, a Pottawatomie County child-welfare specialist, has denied doing anything wrong. He worked for the Department of Human Services for 11 years.
The principal DHS worker on the Serenity Deal case was fired Tuesday.
Randy J. Lack, 58, a Pottawatomie County child-welfare specialist, has denied doing anything wrong. He worked for the Department of Human Services for 11 years.
Serenity Deal, 5, died in June from an assault after she began living full time with her father in Oklahoma City at the recommendation of Lack and other DHS workers.
The father, Sean Devon Brooks, now is charged with first-degree murder. She was placed with her father from foster care even though she was injured twice in January during overnight visits with him.
“I don't have a crystal ball. I couldn't possibly have known any of this was going to happen,” Lack said last week.
Lack said he thought Serenity's injuries in January were from accidents.
His supervisor, Jennifer Shawn, was fired Thursday.
Lack was fired on grounds of unsatisfactory performance, misconduct, willful failure, dishonesty in reports and neglect of duty.
Lack of background check cited
In the termination papers, the agency specifically said Lack failed to fully check the father's background, often taking the father's word for things. Lack, for instance, once reported Brooks had no history of family violence. Brooks' ex-girlfriend actually had obtained a protective order against him after an angry confrontation in 2003.
The agency also said Lack never interviewed that ex-girlfriend, who had three children with Brooks. The ex-girlfriend later told police she considered Brooks too violent to be around his children.
The agency said Lack failed to notify the judge and the district attorney when Serenity needed medical treatment for black eyes and a swollen face the second time she was injured in January.
The agency said Lack failed to report to a judge that Serenity had reacted negatively to hearing her father's name while in foster care. Both of Serenity's foster mothers had reported this concern, according to the termination records.
Lack and Shawn have hired an attorney, Pete Serrata, to appeal their firings.
Serrata on Tuesday again criticized DHS, saying the agency did an incomplete and haphazard investigation into what happened in Serenity's case. Lack last week said he was personally invested in his cases.
“When you go home at night you still think about those kids,” he said then. “It's the first time in my life I've ever been fired. ... I've always done a good job in whatever capacity I've worked. Now, at this late stage in life, having to start all over again, it's a pretty scary thing.”
Source http://newsok.com/second-oklahoma-dhs-worker-fired-in-serenity-deal-case/article/3606070
The principal DHS worker on the Serenity Deal case was fired Tuesday.
Randy J. Lack, 58, a Pottawatomie County child-welfare specialist, has denied doing anything wrong. He worked for the Department of Human Services for 11 years.
Serenity Deal, 5, died in June from an assault after she began living full time with her father in Oklahoma City at the recommendation of Lack and other DHS workers.
The father, Sean Devon Brooks, now is charged with first-degree murder. She was placed with her father from foster care even though she was injured twice in January during overnight visits with him.
“I don't have a crystal ball. I couldn't possibly have known any of this was going to happen,” Lack said last week.
Lack said he thought Serenity's injuries in January were from accidents.
His supervisor, Jennifer Shawn, was fired Thursday.
Lack was fired on grounds of unsatisfactory performance, misconduct, willful failure, dishonesty in reports and neglect of duty.
Lack of background check cited
In the termination papers, the agency specifically said Lack failed to fully check the father's background, often taking the father's word for things. Lack, for instance, once reported Brooks had no history of family violence. Brooks' ex-girlfriend actually had obtained a protective order against him after an angry confrontation in 2003.
The agency also said Lack never interviewed that ex-girlfriend, who had three children with Brooks. The ex-girlfriend later told police she considered Brooks too violent to be around his children.
The agency said Lack failed to notify the judge and the district attorney when Serenity needed medical treatment for black eyes and a swollen face the second time she was injured in January.
The agency said Lack failed to report to a judge that Serenity had reacted negatively to hearing her father's name while in foster care. Both of Serenity's foster mothers had reported this concern, according to the termination records.
Lack and Shawn have hired an attorney, Pete Serrata, to appeal their firings.
Serrata on Tuesday again criticized DHS, saying the agency did an incomplete and haphazard investigation into what happened in Serenity's case. Lack last week said he was personally invested in his cases.
“When you go home at night you still think about those kids,” he said then. “It's the first time in my life I've ever been fired. ... I've always done a good job in whatever capacity I've worked. Now, at this late stage in life, having to start all over again, it's a pretty scary thing.”
Source http://newsok.com/second-oklahoma-dhs-worker-fired-in-serenity-deal-case/article/3606070
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
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