FRANKFORT KENTUCKY:
House Bill 148
Yesterday House Representative Mike Cherry and Attorney General Jack Conway appeared stunned when the US Justice Watch spoke before the Senate Judiciary Committee about HB 148. That bill which is sponsored by Representative Cherry above in the yellow sports coat was written in a combined effort from Legislative Research Staff [LRC], Office of Attorney General [OAG], and Cabinet for Health and Family Services [CHFS].
The Bill purports to be a mere reorganization plan of the OAG in order to legalize the law enforcement agency formerly known as the KBI, renamed by Conway as the Department of Criminal Investigations [DCI]. However, near the end of Bill 148 lays Section 34 (4) which states that any Cabinet employee “when a parent who fails to support a child is not obligated to provide child support by court order . . . . may establish a child support obligation . . . . . based on child support guidelines”. In addition, if that Social Worker determines (6) that “[w]hen in the best interest of the child, the cabinet may review and adjust a parent’s child support obligation” beyond the standard guidelines.
Kentucky’s Disgrace: The Cabinet for Health and Family Services
CHFS has a history of fraud, neglect, waste and refusal to hold accountable its employees. Former Deputy Secretary Steven Nunn has in the past month been convicted of domestic violence. He was put on notice by members of the US Justice Watch in January of 08 at a blue Ribbon Panel of the fraud taking place within the Department of Protection and Permanency. Deputy Nunn promised that CHFS general counsel would speak to address the issues raised. CFHS general counsel refused to meet with the US Justice Watch member, and former Deputy Steve Nunn upon notice refused to order the meeting he had promised. However, CHFS Cabinet officials have long been aware of the problems ongoing before 2008.
In January 2007 Inspector General Robert J. Benvenuti III issued a report that Kentucky social workers in Kentucky intentionally and in violation of state and federal laws committed fraud and civil rights violations. Many entries into the TWIST computer system utilized by child protective services [DPP] were knowingly false entries by state social workers. Often this culture of fraud was encouraged by social worker supervisors to retaliate against private citizens who spoke out publicly against social workers or their supervisors.
The Inspector General went further to outline the intentional constitutional due process violations by social workers placing private citizens on a secret child abuser database known as CAN without giving any notice. It is believed to be hundreds to thousands of Kentucky citizens are listed as child abusers on the Kentucky CAN database and have no knowledge that the state has done so. The inflated numbers allows the CFHS to obtain additional funding from the federal government to “solve” the child abuse problem. Often, the only notice that a citizen has that they have been placed on the CAN database is when they are turned down for a job working with children. Though by law state, social workers are required to send a certified letter as due process notice. However because of the states financial crisis social workers are simply not giving any due process notice of placing individuals on CAN.
Inspector General Benvenuti issued recommendations to the CHFS Secretary and the legislature on how to correct the culture of fraud inside of DPP; No announcements have been made that those recommendations have been enacted.
Still, it is not only within DPP that CHFS has fallen short. Since May 2008 CHFS failures have cost the Commonwealth of Kentucky sixty eight million dollars from the federal government concerning the Oakwood Facility in Somerset Kentucky. Oakwood, a nursing home for severely mentally handicapped Kentucky Citizens has been at the center of allegations for over thirty years. Those allegations include physical and sexual abuse of patients by staff members. The final straw which caused the Federal Government to withdraw its financial reimbursement to Kentucky for Oakwood was when a staff member intentionally left a patient alone in a bathtub to drown. CHFS has sued the Federal Government in Federal Court to return payments. The suit was filed in February 2009 in the Kentucky Eastern District.
CHFS problems exist even within its Inspector Generals Office. Former Assistant Director of Nursing Home Regulations Moses Young, whose was located within the Inspector General office, was reportedly fired after it was revealed that he had an inappropriate relationship with nursing home owner Ralph Stacey, Jr. The allegations included that Young was living rent free in a house owned by Stacey.
In addition, even the Drug Enforcement and Professional Practices Branch of the CFHS of the Inspector Generals Office has admitted that it failed to identify and stop law enforcement officials from abusing the KASPER system; it has also lost confidential files. Those files contained not only which law enforcement officials obtained KASPER reports on private citizens, but the actual drug prescriptions those citizens may have been taking.
No Accountability
Deputy Secretary Nunn resigned as he should have. Moses Young supposedly was fired only after a federal investigation took place. Nonetheless, losing a job due to misconduct is the exception not the rule in CHFS especially when it comes to the Department of Protection and Permanency. From Pikeville’s DPP employee Shereena Hamilton to Russell County’s Eric Pickett; these individuals have committed felonies under the color of state law. Moreover, their supervisors and local prosecutors have been noticed of the criminal acts. However, neither Hamilton nor Pickett have received any formal type of discipline nor have they been criminally prosecuted.
If House Bill 148 is passed by the Senate into law, individuals such as Hamilton and Pickett will be allowed to determine whether it is in the best interests for children to have more child support than the standard guidelines. It will always be the child’s best interest to have more money. Further, if a judge chooses not to order child support or a parents does not request it in a court of law; House Bill 148 is simply the backdoor method for a parent to “stick it to their ex” especially in cases where the vindictive custodial parent has a social or professional relationship to individuals employed within DPP, CHFS, and OAG.
House Bill 148 has no provisions on how a non-custodial can appeal a child support order by CHFS or even if discovery will be allowed for the non-custodial parent to obtain the other parents tax information.
Blindsided
Representative Mike Cherry, Attorney General Jack Conway and indeed the entire Senate Judiciary Committee were caught unaware that someone within the OAG, LRC, and CHFS had placed such a vague and outrageous section within the OAG reorganization bill. Moreover the US Justice Watch seriously doubts whether even anyone within the House of Representatives were aware of the provision which would allow social workers to set child support obligations above the standard guidelines when the house voted on Bill 148. Kentucky is in dire financial straits. Giving more power to a corrupt unaccountable CFHS will only result in more lawsuits. The USJW will keep updated as Bill 148 hits the Senate Floor.
