BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

St. Lawrence County has selected a firm to investigate complaints, review policies and answer questions about the problems facing St. Lawrence County Department of Social Services.

The county will hire the Bonadio Group, a firm that specializes in audits, risk management, wealth management consulting and other other services.

The resolution came after more than 20 people attended the meeting, with several raising complaints about the county’s Department of Social Services.

Complaints included stories from foster parents who say they were stripped of their children for speaking out against DSS and its agents or stories about DSS workers receiving better treatment because of their positions. Some speakers discussed problems occurring at local schools. One man said three complaints had been filed with the state education department against a local school employee who was still teaching as a substitute.

Another woman shared the story of her experience in a local court room in which she said her phone was taken without good reason and her rights violated.

A DSS employee also spoke at the meeting to highlight some of the positive work done by case workers. She also spoke about the difficulty of the job and the limitations of what case workers are able to do to help children in some cases.

A letter from Cedric Summerville, father of Treyanna Summerville, who was murdered last year said that St. Lawrence County DSS failed his daughter.

One speaker, Francine Griffin, of Madrid, raised concerns about the Bonadio Group, she questioned why a group that specializes on finances was being brought in to investigate serious allegations against the department.

St. Lawrence County Legislator Joseph Lightfoot sought answers to that question later in the meeting.

He was assured by St. Lawrence County Administrator Ruth Doyle that the company has completed similar investigations in the past and has received specialized training from the State Office of Children and Family Services. She said they’ve performed 11 similar investigations.

Lightfoot sought an amendment in the resolution to hire the firm that would require monthly updates from the firm regarding its findings. It also called on the company to investigate specific complaints made against the department and called for interviews with those making them.

Lightfoot said he wanted to ensure that if any wrong doing was going on, that the county did not need to wait until the end of the investigation to take action.

Doyle said that the investigation could start as soon as next week.

The investigation was prompted by a host of complaints against the department that have been growing over the past several months. It will also attempt to shine light on the county’s unusually high rate of children in care.