ETHICS COMPLAINT AGAINST SENATOR PAM ROACH…DISMISSED!!!!!

WASHINGTON SENATOR PAM ROACH, DID NOT VIOLATE STATE ETHIC LAWS

 

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/1514/story/633628.html

 

- An October 2008 complaint alleging Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, violated ethics laws by releasing confidential information about someone who made a complaint against her was dismissed.

Roach reportedly had been trying to help grandparents of a child who had been placed in foster care and posting about the situation in her personal, non-legislative blog. The foster mother complained that Roach had slandered her and made personal attacks in the blog. The foster mother also claimed personal information about her had been revealed, although Roach never said her name.

The board found that while Roach had used her office to advocate for the grandparents in court and with the Department of Social and Health Services, her actions didn’t violate state laws. The board also found that disclosure of any of the foster mother’s personal information did not violate ethics laws.

DAD SCOLDED FOR TAKING TODDLERS TO MEN’S RESTROOM

 

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?storyID=92112

Originally published July 02, 2009

By Adam Behsudi

News-Post Staff

 

A family wants an apology after a father said he was publicly accosted by a security guard after taking his 3-year-old and 1-year-old daughters to the men’s restroom at the Frederick County Department of Social Services.

“He banged on the (stall) door like he was a cop,” said Donovan O’Neil. “He was just really inappropriate about it.”

The scene that occurred Friday morning turned ugly, O’Neil said, when the guard reprimanded him outside the bathroom in front of a crowd.

“We would just like an apology, that is all,” said wife Ashleigh O’Neil, the girls’ mother.

The guard was responding to a complaint made by someone who had used the restroom while O’Neil was in the stall with his daughters, according to DSS.

“There were other staff present when the incident unfolded, and they did not feel anything unpleasant was said,” said DSS spokeswoman Deborah Lundahl.

The building, at Carroll and All Saints streets, does not have a family restroom, but Lundahl said staff would have been happy to clear the men’s room for O’Neil to use.

She said the department director contacted the family.

“We reviewed the incident and are satisfied with how it was handled,” she said.

Ashleigh O’Neil said she had not been notified of any review of the incident and disagreed that nothing unpleasant was said.

She said the guard was aggressive, gesturing toward his crotch about what their 3-year-old daughter could have seen.

Ashleigh O’Neil said she met her husband and daughters at the building, where they inquired about receiving energy assistance.

As they were preparing to leave, her 3-year-old daughter said she had to use the restroom, and the 1-year-old needed a diaper change. She asked her husband to take the girls to the restroom while she checked the parking meter and picked up an additional form.

O’Neil said she came back into the building and heard a secretary call for Child Protective Services to immediately report to security.

When she went to the restroom area to check on her family, she found the security guard and a group of people including DSS staff, she said.

“To this day (the 3-year-old girl) is scared to go to the bathroom,” O’Neil said.

The guard is employed by Abacus Corp., a company DSS subcontracts for building security.

Ed Cussina, an area manager for the company, said he was looking into the incident.

He said he will likely have a supervisor interview the guard and review a report of the incident, usually filed no matter how minor the occurrence.

“If there’s further action that needs to be taken, we take it,” Cussina said.

 

CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES: WHO’S HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE?

 

http://www.kget.com/news/local/story/Child-Protective-Services-Who-s-holding-them/-bIi9P4Wz0ip9UBe8YsK3g.cspx

Last Update: 7/01 8:02 pm

 

Child abuse investigations in Kern County have risen nearly 20 percent within the last year. CPS workers are supposed to protect the children behind those numbers, but are they doing a good job, who’s holding them accountable, and are they open to public scrutiny?

When a child is the victim of abuse or neglect, CPS usually will not comment on the case. Officials say state law doesn’t allow them to tell the public if they’ve been out to the home before or if the child was ever placed in foster care.

You may remember the case of little Angelo Mendoza, Jr. Police say his father bit out one of his eyes and nearly blinded the boy.

“I would hear his dad threatening him and running in the house. And you could hear the screaming and stuff like that,” neighbor Misti Gill said.

When 17News covered the story, neighbors told us they suspected neglect but didn’t think calling CPS would make a difference.

“About a week before that something happened back there and he was yelling and screaming at the kid. And I thought, he’s screaming pretty bad at him,” Briseno said.

Just last week another child abuse case, 2-year-old Guillermo Alvarez died after police say he was beaten by his mother’s boyfriend.

“The few times that I got involved was when I saw the kids playing in the yard…I would tell them to get back in the house,” neighbor Pedro Hernandez said.

Two years ago Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 39. When investigators suspect a child died because of abuse or neglect, the bill allows CPS workers to share basic information like the child’s age, where, and when the child died.

But even with this law in place, CPS usually tells the public and the media it can’t discuss details surrounding its investigation because of privacy laws.

“As many times as people say that we are hiding, at the same we are saying that we are unable to defend ourselves. We are unable to share the work that so many of this county’s social workers do day in and day out,” assistant director of CPS Bethany Christman.

Christman agrees with the state’s privacy laws and says information about the type of abuse some children are forced to endure should not be released to the public. But Christman wishes CPS officials could tell taxpayers what they did to prevent a death or help a child.

“If we have one death a year, two deaths a year, five deaths a year, those are all too many and we should not tolerate that in our community. At the same time, when we go in and extract children and take the work necessary to remove them from families, those are looked at as saves and no one talks about that,” Christman said.

In the month of March, CPS workers say they investigated about 1,600 child abuse tips from the community. So although there is little transparency and they usually can’t discuss the work they do, CPS officials are asking the community to simply trust them. If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected, case workers say you may never know it but you could be helping them build a case and you may save a child’s life.

If you suspect a child is being abused, you should report it right away. You can call the Child Abuse Hotline at 631-6011. The hotline is answered 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. But if you feel a child’s life is in immediate danger, you should call 9-1-1.

 

IN LOVING MEMORY OF ZOEY SANDERCOX

This is the video that I made for Zoey’s family.