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Lawmaker Wants Probe After CPS Employees Fail Background Checks
Lawmaker Wants Probe After CPS Employees Fail Background Checks
By Phil Riske A state senator has called for an investigation regarding a number of Child Protective Services employees whose background checks revealed criminal offenses. “This is something we need to look into,” said Sen. Ron Gould, R-3, in a speech on the Senate floor Feb. 23. “Apparently 50 of the employees of Child Protective Services were unable to pass this [criminal background checks] and are sitting in their chairs and not doing anything.” CPS issued a statement on Feb. 22 that 37 employees were denied a fingerprint clearance card, including 21 case managers, for old charges ranging from shoplifting to DUI. Agency spokesman Liz Barker told Arizona Capitol Times none of the offenses involved sex crimes or crimes against children. “This is us following the law,” she said, adding that the average amount of time elapsed since an offense was nearly 22 years. “We’re giving them due process.” Workers Reassigned All employees denied clearance were immediately assigned to duties that do not involve client contact, and 14 with past DUI arrests could be let go if they fail to find positions in CPS that do not require driving. Those assigned to desk duties are “doing critical jobs,” Ms. Barker said. An additional 18 employees were given a clearance card, but with restrictions on driving, meaning they may not transport children and adults, including fellow employees. Three of the 18 with driving restrictions have since been left the agency. Sixteen employees were given until Feb. 25 to show that they have applied for “good cause exceptions,” and if they have not applied or are turned down for clearance, they will be fired, Ms. Barker said. Fifteen employees have been granted “good cause exceptions,” CPS said, and six have pending applications. An employee denied a clearance card has the right to apply for a good cause exception, Ms. Barker said. The Board of Fingerprinting (part of the Department of Public Safety) processes the application and takes into consideration the nature and circumstances of the offense, the employee’s history since the offense and the amount of time passed since the offense. The law requires that employees be re-fingerprinted every three years, and that led to discovery of old crimes among veteran employees, Ms. Barker said. Last Year’s Bill Required Clearance Card As part of CPS reform legislation passed during a special legislative session last year, H2073 required CPS employees covered under reform package to have a clearance card by last Oct. 26. The bill also puts CPS and the Department of Economic Security on a system that notifies officials within 24 hours if an employee is arrested for a new offense. “This bill was seen as a positive step in ensuring that CPS staff reflect the highest ethical and professional standards,” CPS stated in its Feb. 22 statement. In his floor speech, Mr. Gould said, “We need to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ money. The employees should be out investigating cases and protecting children. And I hope you will support me as I investigate this.” On KFYI Radio Feb. 24, he said he had not received any reaction to his call for an investigation, but added he will personally investigate. “I am not a windbag,” Mr. Gould said. — http://www.azcapitoltimes.com/main.a...ArticleID=1823 "Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons, For you are crunchy and taste good with catsup." |
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One of the problems with this will be the loss of so many black male
employees. Black men are often profiled and cited and hassled into reactions so they can be cited at a massive rate over white people. It will be interesting to see how this washes out. I wonder what other areas of human services will be given the same mandate. A great many very good people have some criminal problems in their background. Kane |
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Kane wrote: One of the problems with this will be the loss of so many black male employees. That's an incredibly racist comment, Kane. MADD themselves state that white high school kids have a higher rate of driving under the influence than any other race (12.9% of whites, 9.1% of blacks), and that that the rate of "alcohol involvement" of drivers is statistically equal among adult white and blacks. www.madd.org Black men are often profiled and cited and hassled into reactions so they can be cited at a massive rate over white people. The story makes no mention of the race of the folks that have arrests - what makes you make this jump? It will be interesting to see how this washes out. I wonder what other areas of human services will be given the same mandate. A great many very good people have some criminal problems in their background. Kane chickeyd |
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chickeyd wrote: Kane wrote: One of the problems with this will be the loss of so many black male employees. That's an incredibly racist comment, Kane. No, it would be if it were a lie. It is not. Black males are more often targetted for stops, arrests, than whites are for the same offenses. I'm curious how you find this "racist?" Do you think I'm accusing blacks of being more criminal than whites? I am pointing out they are unfairly profiled. You ever been stopped for being white in the wrong neighborhood? I never have. I have black friends, professional people, that have been stopped for things like DWB (Driving While Black) repeatedly. To nice a car, to white a neighborhood. An attorney aquaintence of mine that holds a high public appointed job in state service, and inherited a great deal of money and can afford to live like a prince, has about one a year of these DWBs since his mid 20's. He's a 45 year old man now. And it still goes on. He is very "black" looking, and he's married to a white women, herself an attorney. He's been put over the hood of his car just about every stop. He tends, since he's an attorney, to ask the officers for their authority to make the stop. It seems to **** them off, somehow. Imagine if this family can't put a stop to it how prevalent this practice is. I lived in da 'hood. I know what is what on this issue. MADD themselves state that white high school kids have a higher rate of driving under the influence than any other race (12.9% of whites, 9.1% of blacks), and that that the rate of "alcohol involvement" of drivers is statistically equal among adult white and blacks. I'm not arguing the facts you cite. This isn't the only criminal charge involved. Black males get charged a lot for "resisting an officer." Viewing a few videos of stops of black men and how things proceed would make it clear the officers pushed the pain levels before the reaction. I've been stopped by cops plenty. They rarely even touched me, and then most carefully. I am white. Ever see the video a black cop, in plain clothes, made of himself getting hassled by white cops. As I recall they managed to bust a plate glass window using his body. He did nothing more than ask the same questions I have asked, and I got polite answers and no bodily contact from the officers. Even Jesse Jackson has admitted, shamefully, that he's found himself, when hearing footsteps behind him on a dark street, to being "relieved" that when he looked it was white people behind him. That's how prevalent racism is...even blacks are victims of suspecting other blacks without proper warrant to do so. www.madd.org Black men are often profiled and cited and hassled into reactions so they can be cited at a massive rate over white people. The story makes no mention of the race of the folks that have arrests - what makes you make this jump? Because of the loss of talented and dedicated people that would ensue if the criteria is used that past "arrests and convictions" are used. I don't doubt, for instance, that white youths have the same incidence (and even higher) of driving and alcohol involvement. What I believe (by my experience in both communities) is that black youths will get busted for it, while white youth will be more often let off with a "warning." Yah have to remember, I was a white male youth at one time. No special connections, but I got away with things my brothers of color did not. That includes other than blacks. Indians, hispanics. I've watched cops, when I was a kid, haul them away and leave me behind and I was part of the party. It's just too common to ignore. In other words, blacks will have more "crime" in their background for no other reason than they are black, and I would assume there is a high number of black people employeed in DHS in Florida. What I find amusing or interesting or the same usual crappola, about this particular article is the careful avoidance of job description. Some people that are employeed by CPS are in non client critical positions. They don't directly interact with clients. I don't think that was sufficiently sorted out here, and the reader is left to assume it's all caseworkers. All the article says, allowing the reader to assume all are casecarrying is that "employees" were failing background checks. None casecarrying employees of CPS in my area outnumber caseworkers. There are various kinds of clerical duties that have no client contact. There are those that work exclusively with foster parents. Those that run printing and mailroom functions at all levels, from branch office to central state office. An article that pinpointed caseworkers with criminal backgrounds would have been a very good use of the media. Why didn't they do so? I suspect because the number was so insignificant. It will be interesting to see how this washes out. I wonder what other areas of human services will be given the same mandate. A great many very good people have some criminal problems in their background. Kane chickeyd Kane |
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Opps, in my prior response I think I used the state of "Florida" rather
than Arizona. My bad. Kane |
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Kane writes: What I find amusing or interesting or the same usual crappola, about this particular article is the careful avoidance of job description. All the article says, allowing the reader to assume all are casecarrying is that "employees" were failing background checks. None casecarrying employees of CPS in my area outnumber caseworkers. There are various kinds of clerical duties that have no client contact. An article that pinpointed caseworkers with criminal backgrounds would have been a very good use of the media. Why didn't they do so? I suspect because the number was so insignificant. Hi, Kane, This article seems to be a good use of the media then, since a good many of those 37 CPS workers were involved with clients. We don't know exactly how many were caseworkers, but we know that 21 of them were case managers. And all of those with criminal records were placed in positions that did not involve client contact...which leads one to understand they were removed from positions that did. "All employees denied clearance were immediately assigned to duties that do not involve client contact, and 14 with past DUI arrests could be let go if they fail to find positions in CPS that do not require driving," the article says. So, at least in this particular episode of fact, the mean old media is not out to "get" the nice little CPS people. Doug |
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