Child Protective Services Workers pad their pay in serving kids,County auditors discover $100,000 wrongly pocketed

Workers pad their pay in serving kids
County auditors discover $100,000 wrongly pocketed
BY TROY ANDERSON,Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 09/05/2007 11:22:21 PM PDT

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_6812465

Los Angeles County children's services workers pocketed at least
$100,000 in unwarranted overtime and bonus pay amid lax oversight and a
payroll system riddled with problems, according to an audit released
Wednesday.

In the second review of the Department of Children and Family Services
in the past month, auditors cited numerous instances of overpayments and
underpayments because of incorrect timecards, errors in payroll-system
input, and misapplications of payroll rules and regulations.

In one case, auditors reviewed 30 employees who work at the 24-hour
Child Protection Hotline or the Emergency Response Command Post who each
averaged $26,000 in overtime in 2005.

"The employees' supervisors ... indicated that they often approve
employees' overtime forms without knowing whether the employee actually
worked the overtime," auditors wrote.

"This was particularly true at the hotline and command post because
there are multiple supervisors and employees working various shifts."

The audit follows one last month that found that the agency charged with
protecting the region's children spent millions of dollars on
unnecessary and overpriced supplies, violated county spending limits and
has such

a shoddy inventory program that it can't account for all its equipment.

But DCFS Chief Deputy Director Susan Kerr said Wednesday that the
department is taking action on problems raised in the audit. "It's going
to be a combination of issuing clear, written policies and procedures
and giving workers the necessary training," Kerr said.

"We've already issued instructions that managers have to sign daily
absence reports for their sections. And we're developing policies and
procedures, where necessary, and have arranged for the auditors' staff
to come and train our staff in some of the areas where they found
deficiencies."

The most recent audit reviewed overtime, industrial-accident payments
and bonus pay.

The Board of Supervisors has expressed growing concern in recent years
about timecard abuses in county government. Overtime costs shot up from
$296 million in 2003-04 to $423 million in 2005-06.

In audits of other agencies, investigators have found "systemic
deficiencies," with hundreds of investigations under way, and increasing
numbers of employees are being fired and disciplined for timecard abuses.

In the recent review of the DCFS' payroll and overtime system, auditors
noted at least one instance that is being investigated as a possible
criminal action.

"We also noted two employees who regularly signed each other's overtime
forms and instances where the employees may have forged a supervisor's
signature," Auditor-Controller Tyler McCauley said.

"We referred this matter to our Office of County Investigations."

Auditors also reviewed payroll data for 20 employees who were paid
sick-leave benefits and found that nine workers went from using
part-time sick pay - or being absent without pay - to taking full-time
sick-pay leave without a department head's approval. The result was
$53,000 in overpayments.

In industrial-accident payments, auditors found that DCFS payroll
employees did not update the payroll system when one employee went out
on workers' compensation leave. The employee continued to receive
regular pay, plus temporary disability payments, resulting in a $19,315
overpayment, auditors said.

In another case, four employees continued to receive temporary
disability payments after they returned to work, resulting in $18,000 in
overpayments.

Auditors also found that six employees received bilingual bonuses after
being absent for more than 60 consecutive days, resulting in $1,100 in
overpayments.

In a written response to the audit, DCFS Director Trish Ploehn said she
wants to start a quality-assurance program.

The program would randomly sample 5 percent to 10 percent of payroll
transactions each month to determine whether appropriate procedures are
being followed and salaries and benefits are accurate.

"We agree with all of the recommendations in the report," Ploehn wrote.
"In the near future, we will provide the board a detailed report on our
progress."








CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....

CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.

every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf

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 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, 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.


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...