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Caseworkers suspended loafing, neglect, idleness, etc.FW:
9 DYFS workers hear charges at closed sessions in Trenton
Wednesday, October 29, 2003 BY SUSAN K. LIVIO Star-Ledger Staff (NJ) One by one, the nine child welfare employees removed from their jobs for allegedly mishandling a case that left four boys in Camden County starving appeared at closed-door hearings yesterday to face the disciplinary charges against them. A lawyer representing some of the staff described the hearings as perfunctory, tense and combative, yet lacking one crucial element: proof of any wrongdoing. A copy of the disciplinary notice from the Department of Human Services simply said each worker was suspended without pay with intent to fire them for "neglect of duty, loafing, idleness, or willful failure to devote attention to tasks which could result in danger to persons." In a box reserved for more detail of the charges, the notice reads: "You neglected your responsibilities for clients," followed by the children's initials. "They presented not a shred of evidence to support the charge, yet these workers are being fired without pay -- workers with families, with children to support," said attorney Steve Weissman, representing seven of the nine employees who are members of the Communication Workers of America. "Two of the workers were last involved with the case in 2000," Weissman added, predicting the charges against them wouldn't hold up. Special Deputy Human Services Commissioner Colleen Maguire contends the employees -- from front-line workers, to an inspector, supervisors and managers -- believed Raymond and Vanessa Jackson when they said their four adopted sons suffered from ongoing eating disorders. Yet there are no medical records in the family's file to support that claim, nor did DYFS demand such records. The adoption caseworkers, in particular, didn't pay much attention to the other children in the family, Maguire said, focusing only on the latest foster child the couple intended to adopt, a healthy and well-fed 10-year-old girl. Human Services Commissioner Gwendolyn L. Harris issued a brief response to the union's remarks last night: "The department and the Division of Youth and Family Services stand by the disciplinary actions taken against the nine staff involved in the Jackson case. Obviously we felt the actions were both necessary and appropriate in light of facts of this case." The employees worked in the Southern Adoption Resource Center in Voorhees, the Camden County district office, a regional office in Hammonton, and the department's central office in Trenton. According to sources familiar with the case who spoke on condition of anonymity, the disciplined workers included the family's last caseworker, Frances Ransome, a two-year employee whom officials say logged 27 visits to the home; veteran managers Margaret Rovner and Bettye Fowler; and supervisor Eladia Gonzalez, a 15-year veteran. Efforts to obtain comment from the workers by telephone and at their homes were unsuccessful. The labor leaders, holding a news conference in Trenton in between hearings, walked a delicate line yesterday. They agreed with the department's assertion that people must be held accountable for the state's part in the boys' suffering, yet demanded that DYFS management not trample the rights of their workers in the process. "Everybody feels very desperate about DYFS," said Hetty Rosenstein, president of Local 1037 Communication Workers of America, which represents one of the employees. "The governor and the commissioner feel really strongly because they have to have the public's confidence that DYFS is going to do its job and protect children. We agree with that. We understand that level of desperation because we share it. We don't think this is quite the way to do it." Typically civil service employees are entitled to a departmental proceeding at which they can challenge disciplinary action against them, but in this instance, the workers have opted to skip that process and seek arbitration, Rosenstein said. CWA official Paul Alexander said in the state's rush to hold the employees accountable, it failed to build a solid case. "If they can demonstrate they placed kids at risk or put blinders on, yeah, people need to be accountable for that," Alexander said. "Yet they are not putting out any information. They are just saying, trust us." Staff writers John Martin and Mary Jo Patterson contributed to this report. |
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