Religions > Atheism > DFCS / CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES probe: Violations rampant...
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Religions > Atheism |
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| Date: |
10 Apr 2007 02:17:42 AM |
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DFCS / CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES probe: Violations rampant... |
http://www.theclaytontribune.com/articles/2006/06/08/news/news03.txt
DFCS probe: Violations rampant
By Blake Spurney Editor Thursday, June 8, 2006 9:32 AM EDT
Stories of overzealous Department of Family and Children Services
employees prowling for referrals and using people's children as tools of
extortion were true, according to the Georgia Department of Human
Resources investigative report.
Such stories had been circulating for months before the watershed moment
nearly a year ago when Melinda "Mindy" McCoy was charged with reckless
conduct for not removing children from a home.
Her downfall, brought about by co-workers seemingly targeting her for
reporting questionable practices to the state, shed light on a rogue
outfit operating behind a cloak of confidentiality.
After McCoy was suspended, her case and mileage documents were found in
a shredding container at the DFCS office.
Some of the more shocking revelations listed in the 64-page report
compiled by DHR investigators and obtained by The Clayton Tribune include:
€ According to Rabun County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Mike Carnes,
"deputies were sent by DFCS to schools to pick up children from schools;
no reason was ever given for the directives and no court orders were
ever issued."
€ Police Chief Tony Free told DHR in January that he heard Cpl. Donna
Terry, and a former sheriff's DFCS liaison, "bragging that she broke the
record last month by picking up" 28 or 38 children.
€ Former DFCS employee Sabrina Ritchie "knew there were times when staff
discussed a case plan for a family and included everything they could to
make the plan nearly impossible to complete," the report said.
€ Children were removed from the FAITH shelter, and clients said they
were forced by DFCS to get a temporary protective order or risk losing
their children, according to FAITH executive director Caroline White.
Furthermore, her shelter held women "hostage" at times to help them keep
their children.
"This is DFCS' investigation," said lawyer Brian Rickman. "This is their
investigation and this is what they found, and it appears to verify
virtually all of the allegations."
The report alleges improprieties against the four employees terminated
by DFCS since the investigation began in December, and the transfer of a
fifth to another office. Findings substantiated by DHR investigators
include children removed from homes without just cause, excessive drug
screening, lack of proper supervision and a culture of violations that
were permitted in a day-to-day environment.
Former director Linda Gragg, former social services supervisor Lynn
Justus, Nicole Allen and Ritchie made false statements to investigators,
among other violations of department policy, the report said. Most
notably, the office was guilty of numerous conflicts of interest that
violated DHR's policy for Standards of Conduct and Ethics in Government.
Gragg declined to comment on the report until she had a chance to speak
with her lawyer. Allen and state DFCS Director Mary Dean Harvey did not
return phone calls seeking comment. Regional director Sid Jessup, who
also is acting director of the local office, referred all questions to a
DHR spokesman.
Rickman, the first person to publicly raise questions about the conflict
involving DFCS and its drug testing contractor, was asked for a possible
motive in the scandal.
"You can't help but think there was some type of financial motive in all
of this," he said.
Creative Consulting Services of Northeast Georgia Inc., conducted drug
screens for DFCS from October 2003-January 2006. The company is owned by
Judith Mendoza, whose daughter, Allen, started working for DFCS in March
2004.
Allen's friend and roommate, Officer Terry, and sister, Andrea Phelps,
also worked for the company. Between January 2005 and this past January,
DFCS paid the company $83,510 for 742 drug screens. Lumpkin County, with
a population 50 percent larger than Rabun's, paid out less than a third
of that amount for 733 screens.
Gragg signed the agreements with Mendoza even though she was required to
solicit a bid for anything costing more than $5,000. Gragg told
investigators it was the only place in the county that could perform the
screens.
But Mountain Lakes Medical Center Administrator Ben Busbee refuted that
assertion and said he knew of no reason why the hospital would refuse to
do screening for DFCS.
The drug screening process has elicited the most criticism since
clients, lawyers and law enforcement started coming forward with their
complaints last year. Investigators determined that people were
continually tested even if they had repeated clean screens.
Justus, among others, gave Juvenile Court Judge Joanna Temple credit for
the aggressive drug screening that ran afoul of state policy because of
Rabun's methamphetamine "epidemic." Temple, a former DFCS lawyer,
"wanted them to take it seriously," the report said.
Sonya Neely, who was transferred to the Towns County office amid the
investigation, told investigators Temple considered a refusal a positive
test, and that the judge wanted children removed immediately if a parent
tested positive. The state manual requires a court order to get a urine
sample if a parent refuses a screen.
Neely also said, "Temple wanted her verbal orders complied with the same
as her written orders." The so-called verbal orders led to case workers,
while accompanied by officers, picking up children based on one's word
of mouth.
Carnes and Free blamed Temple for much of the problems with the office.
According to the report, Free "thought Judge Temple was responsible for
much of the trouble because she was power hungry and out of line."
Carnes also thought "Temple was the problem. He did not understand what
verbal orders were and how they were legal."
Neither Temple, nor the person who appointed her, Chief Judge Ernest
"Bucky" Woods, returned phone calls seeking comment.
To help pay for the excessive screening, Gragg approved pulling money
from Prevent Unnecessary Placement funds, typically used to help people
clean or repair their homes.
Several other conflicts were revealed during the investigation. Mendoza
and Phelps got paid $20 an hour to do paperwork for DFCS and Terry was
paid for respite care by DFCS. Respite care typically is when an officer
stays with a child in a hotel room when the child can't be placed with a
foster parent.
According to DFCS receptionist Linda Brown, Mendoza had an office at
DFCS where she conducted drug screens. Phelps previously had a day care
in her home and received referrals from DFCS, some of which were from
Allen, according to Terry Salemi, a former DFCS worker.
Justus' husband, Cory, owned a vending machine in the DFCS lobby. It was
removed Jan. 16. Gragg gave him a soft drink machine because RC Cola
never came to pick it up.
According to Neely, Justus was "closer than friends" with Ritchie and
let her go on home visits even though she wasn't qualified to do so.
Terry went on most calls with Allen while Terry was the sheriff's
liaison. Terry also performed drug screens while on duty as a Clayton
police officer, according to the report. Ritchie told investigators the
conflict wasn't discussed around Allen because she was "protective" of
her family. Terry, who was considered part of her family, told
investigators she went inside homes to make decisions; "she didn't just
sit in the car and let them make the decisions."
Some DFCS employees had covered for each other, at least until the
investigation got under way. A DFCS investigator was going to look into
a referral concerning Neely, but Justus screened out the referral on
Gragg's instruction.
When previously questioned by The Tribune about her office, Gragg
routinely brought up how she was short staffed and that her employees
were overburdened with a heavy caseload. Justus told investigators that
Gragg "went through the newspaper to look for situations in which DFCS
had not received a referral, but she would not call it shopping for
referrals. Director Gragg was making sure that all the cases were being
addressed."
DFCS workers also went through reports at the sheriff's office to make
sure nothing was missed. Dispatchers complained that Terry questioned
every call that came to the 911 center.
Neely acknowledged that people in Rabun knew the best way to get even
with someone was to make an anonymous call to DFCS accusing someone of
using drugs. Even when no evidence of drug use existed, "she knew the
policy was to do a drug screen."
Even people without children were not immune from running afoul from an
apparent culture of vindictiveness at DFCS.
A review of one case file showed Cory Justus, a sheriff's office
employee, reported to his wife, Lynn, that someone had a filthy house,
possibly abused drugs and had an unsupervised child. Neighbors,
including Lynn's ex-husband, also made allegations to DFCS about the person.
Case worker Steve Gates found the reports unfounded because no child was
living in the residence.
Police often went to the house on barking dog complaints. Cory Justus
told an officer that his wife "wanted to get something" on the family
and suggested that the officer report a dirty house. Gates did not turn
in a report regarding his conversation with the officer because he
feared retaliation from Lynn Justus, his supervisor.
One of the most telling signs of how out of control the situation became
comes from the small number of referrals DFCS has seen since January.
Jessup said no child had been placed in state custody since mid-January.
He said DFCS had worked hard with family members in cases where it
appeared a child might have to be removed. In the worst cases, children
have been left with a relative or neighbor.
Case manager Kim Bell reported in January that the number of referrals
had declined in recent months. She had heard schools were afraid to make
referrals because of the media coverage.
White said FAITH had seen a decline in the number of calls it received
on its crisis line and in the number of people coming to its shelter for
assistance.
"That's what we were hearing from people who walked through the door,
that they would never call 911 again or FAITH because they didn't want
to lose their children," White said last week.
In her six years at FAITH, White had never before had a child removed
from a shelter. "I wouldn't ask for help either," she said. "We have a
lot of healing to do."
When asked who the victims were, she said it was the community at large.
"It's every social service agency in this community, but it's also those
workers who were fired because they were misguided and mismanaged. All
those people were dedicated to social services."
Allen and Ritchie told investigators Gragg and Justus signed off on
every decision they made.
"Nicole truly cared about children and was just misguided and
mismanaged. I don't think she tried to hurt anybody, personally," White
said.
Rickman said a bigger issue than the financial motives needed to be
addressed.
"It was a crusade. That's a more complicated thing to address. People
who honestly thought they were the only ones who know what's best for
kids ... and were going to do whatever it takes," he said. "I don't
think it was just about money. I think they truly believe nothing wrong
has been done."
Rickman also said no objective person could come to a conclusion other
than that some serious instances of wrongdoing occurred. The real
tragedy, he added, would be if nobody learned from it.
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA/CIA
WIRETAPING PROGRAM....
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEIR
"FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
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