Posted on 05/04/2002 6:54:20 AM PDT by summer
Altering records could be a felony
By Karla Schuster | Florida Correspondent
Posted May 4, 2002
TALLAHASSEE -- State lawmakers moved quickly to stiffen criminal penalties for falsifying records in child-welfare cases Friday, as the governor ordered Florida's top child-welfare official to Miami to aid in the investigation of a missing girl whose disappearance went undetected for more than a year.
In a unanimous vote, the House passed a bill that would make it a felony for any state worker or private contractor hired by the state to alter, destroy or falsify records in a child-welfare or elder-abuse case. In most cases, public officials prosecuted for falsifying records face a first-degree misdemeanor charge.
"Hopefully, we can prevent another tragedy like the one in Miami, and if it does happen again, the workers responsible will suffer the penalties they deserve," said Rep. Sandra Murman, R-Tampa, sponsor of the bill.
Under the proposed law, workers who alter documents could be charged with a third-degree felony, and they could face a second-degree felony if a child suffers great bodily harm or dies in a case in which records were falsified.
The proposal, which will be heard in the Senate next week, was added to the agenda of the Legislature's special session in the wake of the case of Rilya Wilson, whose caseworker, Department of Children & Families officials say, falsified records, claiming she made home visits on the child when she had not.
Agency officials said that as a result of the caseworker's actions they did not learn of the girl's disappearance until three weeks ago, 15 months after her grandmother said a woman who identified herself as a DCF worker took the child. The caseworker and her supervisor have resigned.
As police continued their search for Rilya on Friday, Gov. Jeb Bush met with DCF Secretary Kathleen Kearney to discuss the case.
"We talked about where we stood in terms of understanding how it could be a caseworker would not know where their child is and how [case] files don't have the necessary information in them," Bush said.
Shortly after the meeting, Kearney, a former Broward judge hand-picked by Bush in 1999 to lead the troubled child-welfare agency, flew to Miami.
Bush said he has confidence in Kearney's leadership and that the state must determine if Rilya's case is "an isolated case or a systemic problem" before deciding if other DCF officials should be disciplined.
"We haven't gotten to that yet," Bush said. "If this is a systemic problem, we will take corrective action. We will make the necessary changes."
Lawmakers, however, say Rilya's disappearance is a clear sign that problems at DCF are pervasive. Several Democrats said they have lost faith in Kearney's ability to manage the mammoth agency, and some Republicans have expressed only lukewarm support for the embattled DCF chief.
"This is the tip of the iceberg," said Rep. Nan Rich, D-Weston, a member of a special House committee appointed to look into problems at DCF before the Rilya Wilson case became public. "Until we address the systemic issues, things like this will keep happening."
"I think the public has lost confidence in DCF, and I have serious questions about the leadership of the department at this point," Rich said.
Murman, who is chairing a House committee and budget-negotiation panel that will come up with a final budget for social-service and health agencies, said she will push to fund an independent panel to audit DCF.
"The legislative oversight is going to be a critical part of making sure we get at the problems in the department," Murman said, adding that while she wants to work with Kearney, "there is a systemic attitudinal problem in that organization."
"I like [Kearney] a lot, and she's been a friend," Murman said. "She needs us to help her."
Child advocates argue that Kearney and DCF hardly need the kind of help the Legislature is offering. Tougher criminal penalties only divert attention away from the real problem, said David Bazerman, a Broward lawyer who represents foster children.
"That's not going to accomplish anything," Bazerman said. "If you really have good management, and good people who understand acceptable practice, and know how to manage a system, then you don't have to criminalize your employees' performance."
Staff writer Megan O'Matz of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel contributed to this report. Karla Schuster is a reporter for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, a Tribune Publishing newspaper.
Since more and more news stories mention agency personnel just coming and taking children away, what are the procedures parents can take to ensure that these people are who they claim to be? (Other than being thrown in jail if they are legit?)
It's kind of a sad testament to the current state of affairs that such a law would need to be passed. And why should this law only apply to child welfare cases?
We should think that falsifying, altering, hiding or destroying any government document by any government employee would be a felony.
It should also qualify as an aggrevating circumstance that escalates any other crime to which it is ancillary. For example, obstruction of justice might potentially carry an extra ten years if justice were impeded by a deputy who discarded police records sought by detectives investigating a crime.
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