Many people expected the Guilford County commissioners to say something about the recent Guilford County Division of Social Services (DSS) scandal in which State of North Carolina investigators discovered that social services workers in Child Protective Services and other DSS workers dealing with kids have been completely ignoring duty, policy and the law in many cases.
However, that job is being taken on by county staff.
The investigation began after three children being overseen by Guilford County DSS were killed in a house fire last December.
On Thursday, June 22, county staff held a press conference in the Carolyn Coleman Conference Room on the first floor of the Old Guilford County Court House to answer questions regarding the case and to explain how the county would address the major shortfalls exposed by the state’s investigation.
One of the more interesting questions was answered in an email following the conference: No county employees have been fired as a result of the revelations.
A statement from the county, responding to a question asked during the press conference, reads, “There have been no terminations to date. Accountability is a core value of the County and we are committed to reviewing this matter at a systems level as well as service delivery, which includes looking at individual performance.”
The problems in DSS became public early last week after a Thursday, May 16 letter from the NC Department of Health and Human Services became public. That scathing letter exposed findings of the state that some county social services workers were completely ignoring many of the rules and practices meant to keep kids in the county’s care safe.
Before the Guilford County Board of Commissioners meeting on Thursday, June 15, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Skip Alston said he anticipated that the board would have a comment following a closed session discussion with the county attorney.
However, the commissioners did not say anything after that discussion and still haven’t said anything publicly about DSS problems. One high-ranking county official said one major reason nothing was said is because the county is concerned with potential negligence charges in lawsuits that might be filed against Guilford County.
This week, before the county’s press conference, Alston reiterated that he could not say anything and added that county staff was taking the lead on informing the public through the June 22 press conference as to the corrective steps that are being taken.
Skip and his BS. I hope the county gets their asses sued. Maybe you can then terminate the worthless who failed to do their job but certainly loved their paycheck.
Skip should be worried about being sued personally, he’s the one who redirected 1.5 million taxpayer dollars to his pet project without any input from the taxpaying citizens or the commissioners. The death of these children should be on his conscience. Had Skip as the good chairman done his due diligence for the whole county and spent our tax dollars for the benefit of the county maybe the social workers could have been better paid or trained. Gosh we could have hired extra workers to take up some of the workload. Here’s an idea Skip, let’s cross train the 5 new mwbe workers you personally hired for your pet project and make them social workers
CYA in the worst form.
Negligence in Guilford County? I’m shocked! Why does it always take a catastrophe to occur before anyone so much as inquires of deficiencies? Why aren’t ongoing audits being implemented? These tragedies are avoidable when policies and procedures are adhered. And don’t stop at DSS. Take a look at Town Hall in general. The Police and Fire Departments. And for God’s sake, conduct an audit for the Greensboro Housing Authority; you know, that non-profit organization that refuses requests for information. What’s wrong with oversight?
You’re confusing the county government with the city of Greensboro government
Name something our govt does well.
This problem does not “solely” lie on DSS in it’s entirety. The tyranny of some judges,the GAL’s,along with the children attorneys all play a major role.They work together which in turn is a complete recipe for disaster. While reunification is alleged to be the goal, Title IV-E funding seems to be more of the motive. I personally have proven documentation to support this theory. Such as the county billing the government for children in their custody but, not in their care. Fraudulent documents used to remove children. The list goes on. Maybe if judges and said agencies weren’t granted immunity for their despicable acts then things would be a lot different. I’d love to share my story/ documents with Mr Alston or investigators because man…do I have a story to tell.
I’d love to hear your story. I am a parent attorney. I can assure you we are not collaborating with anyone. We are not so well liked because of that.
100% true. I also have extremely solid evidence and proof of everything that you have stated. Very unfortunate but my children and I have had our lives destroyed from all of this and you couldn’t have said it better. Very valid and true.
Social services, by and large, fail miserably when left in the fumbling hands of government workers.
When will justice return to America? Rotten all the way from the bottom to the top!! I can’t believe what I’ve witnessed over fifty years of being aware that “Government is criminal enterprise, writ large.” Murray Rothbard
The issue is many that work in DSS field are scorned women that hate men. They cover for & assist women trying to keep kids from their fathers, all too often that’s not the right thing. Another problem is the hiring of friends & family- lazy people run in packs.
Well that’s a lie… I couldn’t get a job when I applied even though I passed the tests… Maybe I wasn’t a scorned woman or didn’t have the makings of one who wanted to keep a man from seeing his child… How do they determine that quality… However I do agree that nepotism and favoritism rules out quality and competent employees every time… That’s why we are in the current state of failure as is on all levels here…
I smell some lawsuits against the county and county officials for this epic blunder; that is probably why their not talking to anyone right now, because they are afraid.
The one thing that Skip does well is to make ridiculous excuses for the DSS workers who failed to protect innocent children. He blathers on and on with no true action steps to terminate those responsible. I actually hope someone does sue the department for gross incompetence and neglect.