DSS sees jump in protection orders for city kids
The city audit has caught another potential red flag. Now it appears a sudden change has been made to the way cases involving abused children are being handled. Link
View ArticleReviews of city’s Social Services department set
A review of Richmond’s Social Services Department that begins this month will be conducted by 26 state workers who will examine 200 case files and interview local judges, parents, police, lawyers,...
View ArticleReview of city social services agency reveals 37 missing case files
Third District City Councilman Chris A. Hilbert, one of two council members who led the push for an inquiry into the Social Services Department amid widespread concern that it was putting children at...
View ArticleInept city department puts clients at risk, providers say
More than two dozen operators of Richmond-area assisted living facilities say an inept city Department of Social Services takes months to cut checks and process paperwork for their clients, in some...
View ArticleToday’s top opinion: Despicable
The latest report represents by far the worst, but hardly the only, revelation about mismanagement in the Social Services Department during the past few years. Richmond residents deserve thorough...
View ArticleNot so ‘immediate’ action; DSS director’s retirement date announced
It’s been a week since Mayor Dwight Jones told CBS 6 he was taking immediate corrective action to repair the city’s Department of Social Services, an agency under heavy fire for returning children to...
View ArticleOusted Social Services manager fires back
Ousted Richmond Social Services Deputy Director Gayle L. Turner fired back at a jarring report released last week that says the department endangered children’s health and safety in an effort to shrink...
View ArticleState report sheds more light on city Social Services dysfunction
The 82-page report by the Virginia Department of Social Services — the second of three that are to be released on the city agency — underscored what a damning investigation by the city auditor first...
View ArticleReport claims ‘total lack of leadership’ at Social Services department
The latest report about Richmond’s embattled Department of Social Services (DSS) claims the agency is dysfunctional from top to bottom. Link
View ArticleSocial Services Review report
Quality Management Review of the CHILD WELFARE DIVISION RICHMOND CITY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES June 2013 Link to PDF file (3.45MB)
View ArticleRichmond Social Services headaches persist for assisted-living operators
Standing in front of more than a half dozen of the mentally ill and severely disabled clients he houses at the Palace Rest Home on Chamberlayne Avenue, Russell blasted the city Department of Social...
View ArticleMore problems found in Richmond social services
A months-long investigation of the Richmond Department of Social Services, the third examination in recent months, has found further problems in the agency’s care of children and a lack of even basic...
View ArticleNot hard enough
Earlier this year City Auditor Umesh Dalal released a horrifying report about the Richmond agency tasked with protecting children. By now it should be abundantly clear that on this issue, nobody is...
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DSS employees stole gift cards, trashed thousands in resources
Now new allegations have developed this time involving theft and even workers throwing away thousands of dollars of items meant to help families in need. Link
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Audit finds more problems in Richmond Social Services
“It appears that in order to reduce the number of open cases that were out of compliance with the state policy, the program manager made decisions that may have compromised safety of children,” the...
View ArticleStatement from City of Richmond following Investigation
…Caseloads were high, morale was low, and training and supervision were limited…. –Office of the Press Secretary
View ArticleCity employees commended for [too] rapid closures of child-abuse complaints
As Richmond’s Department of Social Services rushed to clear a backlog of reports of child abuse and neglect, certificates of recognition were presented to those who closed the most cases, workers were...
View ArticleAuditor: Social Services review could tie up office for 18 months
A comprehensive audit of the Richmond Department of Social Services would take up all of the internal auditor’s resources for a year or more and would cost about $1.5 million, according to City...
View Article13 laptops for Richmond foster youths idle after a year
But the 108 recipients on the city’s list were not pre-qualified to receive the technology as required under state policy…. Link
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