State blames staffer for missing records

State blames staffer for missing records
Her lawyer faults agency's sloppy filing for lost files in abuse case
By Vic Ryckaert February 10, 2004
The missing records linked to the case of a 4-year-old Marion County
boy who died of neglect should have been maintained by a former
caseworker, state officials said Monday.
But the state's sloppy filing system is to blame for the missing
documents, according to a lawyer representing caseworker Denise Moore.
Cindy Collier, planning and policy director for the state Family and
Social Services Administration, acknowledged there were problems in
Marion County's filing system, and she said changes are under way to
improve security and organization in the main file room at 4720
Kingsway Drive.
"We know that it was not well-maintained in Marion County," Collier
said. "There was a big room with lots of things that were hard to
find."
Moore, however, was ultimately responsible for the files now missing,
Collier said.
Indiana's child welfare agency acknowledged last week that records
linked to Anthony Bars, a 4-year-old who died of neglect at the hands
of his adoptive parents, have been missing for more than a year.
Those records, Collier said, should have been maintained by
then-caseworker Moore, who was suspended earlier this year and will be
terminated Feb. 14.
"If regular procedures were followed, both of those files would have
still been in the possession of the caseworker in charge of the case,"
Collier said. "CHINS (Child in Need of Services) files and adoption
files are not closed until an entire family has been served."
Anthony was beaten and starved in the home of his adoptive parents,
distant relatives Latricia and L.B. Bars. Anthony died of dehydration
on Jan. 19, 2002.
The Barses were convicted of neglect in Anthony's death and are
serving prison sentences.
A Marion County grand jury is looking into why the Barses were allowed
to adopt Anthony and his twin sister, Latoya, even though L.B. Bars
was convicted of battery for whipping his own daughter with an
extension cord.
A boxload of documents concerning Anthony's welfare has been turned
over to authorities, Collier said, but two files were discovered
missing shortly after the boy's death.
One missing file, Collier said, holds adoption records, and the other
contains documents dealing with Anthony's Child in Need of Services
case.
An intense search for the files began soon after Anthony's death,
Collier said in her most extensive comments on the missing paperwork
to date. The agency's internal investigative team spent months looking
for the records and interviewing people who would have handled the
documents. So far, Collier said, the results have been "inconclusive."
"We have not been able to find them or prove internally what happened
to them," Collier said.
No other records in any child death case have ever turned up missing,
she added.
"To my knowledge, this is a very rare occurrence."
Moore, the soon-to-be fired caseworker, is charged with three
misdemeanors for allegedly lying to a judge about performing a
background check on the Barses during the adoption proceedings in
1999.
Moore's attorney, Jack Crawford, called the filing system "less than
adequate" and blamed the state for losing the records. Crawford said
he believes the files contain information that will exonerate Moore.
A former caseworker said documents frequently disappeared from Marion
County's file room.
"Nine times out of 10, if you had a file that was open more than six
months, you would never get the case file back," said Diane Reach, who
worked for the Division of Family and Children from 1998 to 2001 and
is now a foster parent. "It would go and disappear. There was no
organized filing system."
http://www.indystar.com/articles/0/119354-4220-009.html
Defend your civil liberties! Get information at http://www.aclu.org, become a member at http://www.aclu.org/join and get active at http://www.aclu.org/action.