BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

Nearly 50 formal complaints have been submitted to St. Lawrence County Administrator Ruth Doyle in regard to the Department of Social Services.

This is in addition to the dozen letters submitted to the county in June.

The letters have not fallen on deaf ears as the county has launched an investigation into the complaints as well as other matters raised by the public in recent months.

Courtney Fantone, who runs the advocacy group Citizens Helping Individuals in Distress, submitted the latest round of complaints. She said the complaints were also forwarded to state officials, including the state attorney general.

The group has partnered with the Law Offices of Michael Phillips to help families who believed they’ve been mistreated by SLC DSS and its agents.

Allegations include alleged retaliatory actions taken against those who have spoken out against DSS practices. Allegations also include claims that county has wrongfully removed children from foster parents and wrongfully placed children under dangerous care providers. Claims have also been made that DSS employees and its agents have ignored medical recommendations made by doctors and failed to make timely safety checks, which was verified in a report issued by the Office of Children and Family Services.

DSS has been under fire in recent months, with public comment often filled with foster care related complaints and calls for action. The county has taken some action to address the matters and has vastly improved its safety check compliance issues.

Despite the actions taken, Fantone says many problems still exist.

She said CHILD is currently in the process of organizing the second round of submissions, however at this time, “we have not selected a submission date as calls continue to come in.”

Fantone says each complaint is specific to the complainant’s personal experiences and most complaints contain the names of more than one employee.

She said some contain as many as 13 employees.

“Each complaint takes a significant amount of time to compile as they have to be thoroughly vetted and investigated by CHILD, thus, there is evidence and collateral contacts that exist to corroborate the allegations contained within the complaints.,” she said.

“In addition, these complaints were also mailed to the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) Regional Office, as well as the Attorney General Public Integrity Bureau. The purpose of these complaints is to bring attention to the employees who are working outside of the scope of their employment, disregarding procedures and protocols, and acting in a way that is in direct conflict with the best interest of the children.”

Fantone says this is vital step to ensure that the workplace environment within the Department is healthy.

“It is important to note that it is not only victims who are coming forward, CHILD has been contacted by some of the most trusted members of the community including teachers, principals, medical professionals, attorneys and counselors, as well as past and present DSS employees, all voicing their frustrations with SLCDSS, alleging corruption and wrongdoing, and noting that the very system set up to protect children, is inflicting trauma and cashing them irreversible harm,” she said.

CHILD encourages members of the community to contact the agency regarding any concerns that they may have at childhelp.director@gmail.com . They can also leave a voicemail or text message at (518) 572-8169.