BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

St. Lawrence County Administrator Ruth Doyle and County Attorney Stephen Button say Hancock Estabrook was hired specifically to review complaints made by citizens regarding the Department of Social Services.

For months the county has been working to address issues within the department following complaints raised by foster and biological parents who say they’ve been mistreated in a variety of ways.

Because of the sensitive nature of complaints the barrage of allegations made against the county at nearly every full board meeting since last June have largely been one sided.

For its part, the county has responded to the complaints by reforming the Department of Social Services legal representation, hiring more caseworkers, and launching an independent investigation into the complaints being made.

Since the complaints first came the department has seen several employees resign, including the commissioner.

However, progress has been made in several areas including a massive improvement in emergency safety check responses and a reduction in the county’s children in care which was brought below 300 recently for the first time in years.

Despite the improvements, many of those who levied complaints against the department believe they aren’t getting a fair shake. Most recently questions have been raised regarding the county’s decision to hire Hancock and Estabrook to assist with the ongoing investigation.

“The County has committed resources to carefully review the allegations brought forward by members of the public, who have interacted with the Employees in the Department of Social Services. We sought guidance from the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) to ensure that an approach would be taken to have all of the information reviewed carefully. The Board supported my recommendation to go one step further and conduct an agency review. As you know, that work is underway now,” Doyle said in a prepared statement. “We are dedicated to working through all of the areas of concern.”

Estabrook’s Role

At recent county meetings, the legislature came under fire from complainants who had been approached for interviews by the law firm.

In a lengthy interview, Doyle and Button answered several questions raised by citizens regarding the law firm’s involvement in an attempt to alleviate concerns and set the record straight about the investigation.

Initially the county had hired the Bonadio Group to investigate complaints, the group has been reviewing cases and auditing the department to ensure cases were handled legally and properly. Their review process as explained in a report from Bonadio recently released by the county, used samplings from random cases similar to the process used by the Office of Children and Family Services.

However, many complainants raised concerns that they had not been involved in the investigation, despite the fact it was centered on complaints they raised.

The county decided to expand the investigation beyond the work the Bonadio Group was capable of performing, to include interviews with complainants.

Button said that in a situation like this the County Attorney would normally be the one to handle such interviews, but outside counsel was sought in the interest in making the investigation independent of the county.

He noted that while he had no conflict, the county did not want to give the air of impropriety as they wanted to ensure the investigation was independent of county influence, or even the perception of such.

Button said the attorneys will work to identify if Social Services Laws, Family Court Laws or Labor Laws were violated among other issues that may be identified during the investigation.

Attorneys allowed

One of the major concerns raised by complainants approached by attorneys for interviews was in regard to representation. Francine Griffin, a Madrid woman who has alleged a host of complaints against DSS, and others said they were not allowed to have someone accompany them during the interview process.

Doyle said that’s not true, at least not entirely.

She said the complainants can have an attorney present for their interviews, but that they couldn’t bring in other guests for interviews, which is where the confusion may have stemmed from.

“Allegations that attorneys were denied are not true. Everyone has the absolute right to have an attorney present,” Doyle said.

Doyle said Hancock and Estabrook reached out to Michael Phillips, who is representing some of the complainants, including Griffin, to notify them that he could be present but had not received a response as of March 31.

The letter provided to North Country This Week dated March 7 confirms the law firm was notified.

Button explained that having additional people present for interviews has the potential to create issues. Specifically he pointed out that having others who had alleged complaints against DSS involved with each other’s interviews has the potential to impact the investigation itself.

It’s been reported to North Country This Week that couples who filed complaints jointly are being interviewed together.

Conflict disputed

Another issue raised by Griffin and others is the fact that Hancock Estabrook is currently representing the county in a lawsuit involving DSS. The case is in regard to an incident that alleged to have occurred at Canton Central School in the 70s involving a school staff member who is accused of sexual abuse.

Some of the complainants, including Courtney Fantone, who leads the organization Citizens Helping Individuals in Distress (CHILD), believe there is a potential conflict there.

Button disagrees.

He said outside counsel was sought for this case because he attended Canton School and was familiar with the person accused and allegations. He said in such cases outside counsel is brought in to avoid conflicts that could compromise a case. He said that the attorneys available statewide to handle such a case number around 10 and that Hancock was chosen because they had been hired in the past and were familiar with the county.

He said that the lawsuit has no bearing on the investigation and he doesn’t believe it raises any ethical concerns.

He said the attorney was hired to perform a neutral independent investigation of the complaints and he expects that they will do that.

Complainants also expressed fear that the law firm doing the interviews could be hired to represent the county should a lawsuit move forward.

Button said that if the county were to be sued it would be his job to defend the county in court. He said that while outside counsel could be brought in should there be a conflict, he believes that scenario is unlikely.

He said it couldn’t be completely ruled out, but both Doyle and Button said it would be unlikely.

What’s next?

Griffin and others have also questioned what the information gathered from the interviews will be used for and to whom it will be given.

Button explained that the information will be used by the law firm to investigate any potential wrongdoing by DSS. The information will be provided to the County Attorney, County Administrator and County Legislators.

He said if wrongdoing has occurred the county will act based on recommendations made by the investigators and notify the proper oversight authorities as necessary.

Doyle said that the process has been a struggle for the county, but the legislator remains focused on fixing any existing problems within the department. She said the primary goal is to ensure positive outcomes for children. She said the county remains silent on many of the allegations in the interest of complying with the law and protecting the privacy of those involved.

“The case specific information included cannot be discussed publicly in order to protect the children who are involved. The activities of our employees will not be discussed individually as they are protected as personnel matters. The goal of pursuing a review and to have the meetings with individuals was to look carefully at what has occurred, in concert with the concerns raised to ensure that Employees are upholding the regulations and the law while taking care of children entrusted to the care of the County. We will address any issues of wrongdoing, identifying what is being done to correct the issue, while also noting areas where cases were handled well and in accordance with the law.”