If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Welfare worker accused of stealing nearly $75,000
Welfare worker accused of stealing nearly $75,000
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/200...186&news01ad=1 By Diana Hefley, Herald Writer LYNNWOOD -- A former state employee entrusted to help the poor has been arrested for allegedly stealing almost $75,000 meant for welfare clients. As a financial services specialist, Richard N. Hartline, 30, opened accounts and authorized funds for people who applied for medical, food and financial assistance from the State Department of Social and Health Services. Detectives believe Hartline opened bogus accounts, withdrew the cash and kept the money, according to court documents. Investigators found evidence that Hartline fraudulently authorized $74,599 to be deposited into 11 fake accounts between December 2005 and September 2006. "He was able to circumvent the checks and balances," Washington State Patrol detective Charles Sletten said. "He found a glitch in the system." Hartline resigned from DSHS in November. He agreed to surrender to police and was booked into jail for investigation of multiple felony counts of misappropriation and falsification of accounts. Hartline appeared Thursday in Everett District Court, where a judge ordered him released without bail. He declined to speak with investigators about the allegations, Sletten said. A second DSHS financial services specialist resigned in connection with the case last year. Investigators believe that man gave Hartline access to his computer and Hartline opened two fraudulent accounts using the man's name and password, Sletten said. Detectives don't believe the second employee was directly involved in the alleged thefts. The fraudulent accounts first came to the attention of administrators at the Lynnwood DSHS office in September 2006 after they received complaints that Hartline was dealing drugs to clients, according to court documents. Hartline had worked for DSHS since August 2002. A supervisor audited the clients' accounts and discovered that Hartline had authorized financial assistance to the two men without verifying that they were eligible, Sletten wrote. The office launched a full audit. DSHS policy requires an applicant to meet with a caseworker, who will determine if the person is eligible for assistance and also verify the applicant's identity, according to court documents. The information is then passed along to a financial service specialist who opens an account for the person. The client is given a card, like a debit card, to purchase items or withdraw cash. Detectives believe Hartline recorded computer records for 11 accounts to make it appear that the application had been properly processed. He also backdated the accounts so caseworkers were unaware that they needed to verify the person's identity, Sletten wrote. Once he opened the fraudulent accounts, Hartline allegedly authorized backdated deposits, according to court documents. Detectives spoke with seven of the 11 people who had accounts opened in their names. They all were friends or former high school classmates of Hartline but denied knowing that he was stealing from the state using their names, according to court documents. Police believe once the money was deposited, Hartline got the clients' cards and immediately withdrew the money. Four clients told police they'd lent Hartline their cards for various reasons, Sletten wrote. Detectives couldn't find any evidence that the clients were involved in the thefts and don't expect to make any additional arrests, Sletten said. DSHS officials believe their internal controls worked to catch the fraud. They haven't changed anything in the system, spokeswoman Kathy Spears said. DSHS financial transactions are routinely audited, she said. She had no explanation why it took nearly nine months to discover the fraudulent accounts. "As soon as we got wind, we took action," she said. Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or . An Inconvenient Truth about Child Protective Services, Foster care, and the Child Protection "INDUSTRY" Child Protective Services Does not protect children... It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even killed at the hands of CPS. every parent should read the free handbook from connecticut dcf watch... http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US These numbers come from The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN) Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS Perpetrators of Maltreatment Physical Abuse CPS/Foster care 160, biological Parents 59 Sexual Abuse CPS/Foster care 112, biological Parents 13 Neglect CPS/Foster care 410, biological Parents 241 Medical Neglect CPS/Foster care 14 biological Parents 12 Fatalities CPS/Foster care 6.4, biological Parents 1.5 Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per 100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a bunch of social workers. THIS IS AMERICA'S HIDDEN HOLOCAUST Currently Child Protective Services violates more constitutionally guaranteed liberties & civil rights on a daily basis then all other agencies combined, Including the National Security agency/Central intelligence agency wiretaping programs… THE CORRUPT BUSINESS OF CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES BY: Nancy Schaefer Senator, 50th District of Georgia http://www.senatornancyschaefer.com/...s.php?filter=6 This is Child Protection? By Gregory A. Hession, J.D. http://www.jbs.org/node/4632 Mercenary Motherhood: "Memoirs of a Babystealer." http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/...nion-rightrail FOSTER CARE IS A 80 PERCENT FAILU. A Brief Analysis of the Casey Family Programs. Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. By Richard Wexler http://www.nccpr.org/reports/cfpanalysis.doc HOW THE WAR AGAINST CHILD ABUSE BECAME A WAR AGAINST CHILDREN http://www.nccpr.org/issues/1.html Adoption Bonuses: The Money Behind the Madness DSS and affiliates rewarded for breaking up families By Nev Moore Massachusetts News http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/...May/mayds4.htm A recent study has found that 12-18 months after leaving foster ca 30% of the nation’s homeless are former foster children. 27% of the males and 10% of the females had been incarcerated 33% were receiving public assistance 37% had not finished high school 2% receive a college degree 50% were unemployed Children in foster care are three to six times more likely than children not in care to have emotional, behavioral and developmental problems, including conduct disorders, depression, difficulties in school and impaired social relationships. Some experts estimate that about 30% of the children in care have marked or severe emotional problems. Various studies have indicated that children and young people in foster care tend to have limited education and job skills, perform poorly in school compared to children who are not in foster care, lag behind in their education by at least one year, and have lower educational attainment than the general population. *Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support 80 percent of prison inmates have been through the foster care system. The highest ranking federal official in charge of foster care, Wade Horn of the Department of Health and Human Services, is a former child psychologist who says the foster care system is a giant mess and should just be blown up. http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=2017991 Four rigorous studies have found that at least 30 percent of America’s foster children could be home right now if their parents had decent housing. This study found thousands of children already in foster care who would have done better had child protection agencies not taken them away in the first place. Front-page story in USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...m?csp=34#Close The full study is available here. http://www.mit.edu/~jjdoyle/doyle_fo...arch07_aer.pdf The bottom line? - Child Protective Services and the Foster Care system for the most part turns out young adults that are nothing more than walking wreckage... CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CONSTITUTIONALLY GUARANTEED LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS ON A DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAMS.... CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON... 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 THEY ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION... |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Accused social worker remains on payroll | fx | Foster Parents | 0 | August 30th 07 05:50 AM |