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State begins investigating Pasco agency
By RYAN DAVIS
© St. Petersburg Times, A local agency that helps investigate child abuse complaints has become the subject of a state investigation. The Department of Health is investigating two complaints of wrongdoing at the Pasco Family Protection Team, health officials have confirmed. The complaints were made by former employees, protection team officials said. The social service agency's board of directors has hired an unnamed outside person to investigate the allegations, said board president Jennifer Smith, who works for the Pasco school district. Much of the turmoil within the agency remains shrouded in secrecy. Neither Smith nor executive director Rick Hess would divulge the content of the allegations. "I can't really say right now," Hess said. "I'm confident things will come out fine and we'll be able to move forward. "I feel like we're proceeding down a very responsible path here. We're going to do everything we can to get these allegations behind us." The Department of Health rejected a public records request by the St. Petersburg Times, stating that letters and information concerning the allegation aren't public because they are part of an ongoing investigation by the Department of Health's Inspector General's Office. Michael Haney, of Children's Medical Services in the Health Department, said a variety of concerns were raised. "Raising the concern doesn't necessarily make it a fact, so we are doing a thorough review," he said. Health officials will try to determine if the protection team's contract with the department has been violated, Haney said. The Pasco Family Protection Team consists of two sections: Healthy Families and the child protection team. Healthy Families provides support and parenting lessons for new parents. The Department of Health contracts with the child protection team. The team provides medical assessments and case management for children who are alleged to be abused and neglected. Those investigations determine whether a child should enter the foster care system. "We have not had any interruption in service," Hess said. A third complaint, which Smith said was made informally, from former employee Millie Jacobs alleged that Hess had a practice of releasing employees' home addresses and phone numbers and would not keep her information private despite her urging. Jacobs, a former domestic violence victim, did not want her personal information released, she told the Times. She says she was fired because of that. Hess said that's not true, and that because of her request he no longer releases employee information. Hess and Smith also said the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has dismissed complaints by the same two former protection team employees. The EEOC does not comment on cases unless it files a lawsuit and would not confirm this statement. Those EEOC complaints make up just part of the employee allegations being investigated by the Health Department, Hess said. The commission was created as a result of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and determines whether there is reasonable cause to believe workplace discrimination has occurred. - Ryan Davis covers higher education and social services in Pasco. He can be reached toll-free at 1-800-333-7505 ext. 3452 or by e-mail at rdavis@sptimes.com.
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