DCF fires investigator in wake of boy's death

DCF fires investigator in wake of boy's death
By COLLEEN JENKINS, Times Staff Writer
Published April 4, 2004

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The Department of Children and Families fired one of its Citrus County
investigators Friday, citing his history of poor performance and
negligence.

One of the cases Hiram Agosto mishandled, according to DCF, involved
Johnathan Squires, the 23-month-old boy who died Sept. 4, 2003, in a
Crystal River apartment fire.

DCF has determined that both Agosto and the supervisor assigned to
that case failed to perform up to agency standards. The supervisor
also has received a stern disciplinary warning that puts him one step
away from getting fired.

The supervisor, Thomas Napolitano, had a praiseworthy record until the
death of Johnathan Squires.

But personnel records indicate that Agosto consistently shrugged off
DCF policies.

Agosto, 55, had worked in various DCF jobs in this region since
February 1999. He began as a family services counselor and later
became a child protective investigator.

In three years, he earned two below-average evaluations and five
written warnings.

The first warning came exactly three years ago. On April 4, 2001,
Napolitano complained that Agosto's performance was lacking. The
counselor didn't contact victims quickly enough after receiving a
report of possible abuse or neglect, and he didn't seek input from all
the appropriate witnesses.

Chronological entries were missing from his files, which themselves
were strewn haphazardly around his office, Napolitano indicated in
personnel records.

Agosto had 60 days to shape up. Otherwise, his supervisor would seek
to dismiss him.

Agosto slipped up again. In November of that year, officials learned
that it had taken him seven months to submit a safety risk assessment
in the case of a 9-year-old girl who had been a victim of domestic
violence.

Agosto was supposed to file the document within 48 hours of making
contact with the victim.

Napolitano slapped him with a written reprimand.

More warnings followed. Last year, things started to unravel.

In May 2003, Agosto was dispatched to investigate allegations at Carol
Squires' apartment. The complaining party said children were
inadequately supervised, and that one child had been burned.

Agosto's findings were disturbing. The oldest of the three Squires
boys had developed a penchant for starting fires.

It was the third neglect report DCF had received in connection with
the family. The children's grandmother said her 23-year-old daughter
was having trouble caring for the three children, all of whom were
younger than 5.

But Agosto discerned no pattern of neglect. He didn't contact the
person who reported the allegations, the children's physicians or
school officials.

Instead, he took the grandparents up on their offer to have their
41/2-year-old grandson live with them - despite evidence that family
support hadn't prevented the boy's fires before, and that such an
arrangement was contrary to district policy.

He submitted the case for closure June 23, 2003. Less than three
months later, the boy set another fire. This time, it killed
Johnathan, his baby brother. Their mother had left them with two other
adults, both of whom were asleep, when she went to get coffee at a
convenience store.

When DCF reviewed the Squires' case history early this year, the
agency determined the fire likely would have been avoided if the
family had received proper services during past investigations.

Officials suggested Agosto be required to undergo additional training.

But Agosto ran afoul of his supervisors several more times after the
fire. They couldn't even hand him the poor annual evaluation he
received March 17 because he hadn't reported to work in a week,
personnel records showed.

On March 23, they sent Agosto a letter notifying him of his impending
termination. Friday, they finalized the dismissal.

"Any time we find a case where policies or procedures were not
followed, those will be handled aggressively," said Bill D'Aiuto,
district operations and program manager in District 13.

DCF officials also sent a "final counseling notice" March 22 to Thomas
Napolitano, who supervises child protective investigators in Citrus
County. Such a notice serves as a formal warning that continued
misconduct would result in dismissal, said Renea Marcano, spokeswoman
for DCF District 13, which includes Citrus, Hernando, Marion, Lake and
Sumter counties.

Napolitano oversaw Agosto's work on the May 2003 complaint involving
the Squires family. Thus, it was his responsibility to make sure that
the investigator had properly followed up on the case before closing
it.

That didn't happen. Napolitano also allowed the arrangement that put
the oldest Squires boy with his grandparents during an open neglect
investigation.

Records show such negligence was out of character for the 14-year DCF
employee. Napolitano's personnel file is filled with commendations and
glowing reviews dating back to his days as a protective investigator.

This case marked the first major blemish in his file.
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/04/04/Ci...estigato.shtml

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