The sheriff's office assumed responsibility* for child abuse investigations less than 10 years ago after state Department of Children & Families employees were accused of
shocking
shortcomings, including falsifying
records
|
Falsifications bring change in child abuse cases
By JOSH POLTILOVE
Tampa Tribune
Published: February 7, 2010
TAMPA - The resignation of a child protection investigator accused of falsifying documents has prompted changes in how the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office handles child abuse cases.
An internal affairs probe found that investigator Heather Stokes falsified and/or fabricated 25 investigations, seven of them
completely.
Stokes said she made up details and forged signatures on one investigation because she was "overwhelmed" with cases, according to an internal affairs report. The seven-year veteran resigned a day after being confronted by investigators.
Stokes was one of two child protection investigators to resign since April after being accused of
falsifying documents.
No children or families were harmed as a result of any of the
fabrications, according to documents obtained by The Tampa Tribune. Perhaps
we need to define the word "harm"? See Legal
Abuse Syndrome
But every child protection investigator must now photograph the child at the child's home, and that information goes in a case file, sheriff's spokesman Larry McKinnon said Friday.
Supervisors also now are tasked with randomly reviewing cases and making 25 to 30 quality assurance checks each month; investigators aren't alerted beforehand to which families will be contacted.
"We're imperfect," McKinnon said. "We try to police our own. And when we find
errors, we're going to obviously try to correct them."
He said there's no indication of a deeper problem with the department's child protection services.
So this is business as usual- just someone got caught.
Nothing to see here. Move on.
The sheriff's office assumed responsibility* for child abuse investigations less than 10 years ago after state Department of Children & Families employees were accused of
shocking
shortcomings, including falsifying
records. *Does
this mean those "investigators" were CONSTITUTIONALLY SWORN
OFFICERS? Or the Sheriff was just "responsible"?
The sheriff's office has about 85 child protection investigators and handles roughly 1,100 cases a month.
McKinnon said investigators' caseloads should not be considered overwhelming, despite the recent misdeeds.
"There's no excuse for inappropriate behavior, regardless of whether you're overworked or not," he said.
Except nobody has any ETHICS.
Not just a local issue
Investigators falsifying records isn't just a local concern. In a two-year stretch, more than 70 child welfare workers in Florida were
caught lying about their efforts to protect children, according to an Orlando Sentinel report in July.
When questioned, those workers generally complained they had too many cases.
FULL
STORY
So nothing ever really changes
with CPS (note the title of this story).
These were Sheriff's office employees? Really Sheriff, you of all
people should know that you can't trust a Social Work agent as far as you
can THROW one. CPS agents are pathological LIARS
and SOCIOPATHS.
Just think for a minute about what's
going on in the rest of the country with CPS agencies that have NO
SUPERVISION WHATSOEVER.
"Bureaucracies are beautiful mechanisms for the evasion of responsibilities and guilt."
-Warren Bennis
