BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

CANTON — A St. Lawrence County woman who has been critical of St. Lawrence County’s Department of Social Services called on the county Monday for answers regarding an investigation into a host of allegations made against the department.

The county has been bombarded with complaints about the department since last June. Allegations include alleged retaliatory actions taken against those who have spoken out against DSS practices.

Allegations also include claims that the 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 for nearly a year, 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.

St. Lawrence County has taken action to address some of the complaints by adding additional jobs to the department, but has had trouble filling. In fact the county has been without a DSS Commissioner since Cynthia Ackerman resigned the position in August amid controversy.

Additionally the county hired the Bonadio Group to look into the complaints made against the department. At the time of the hiring, officials said the group would give public updates throughout the investigation, however no such updates have been given.

Additionally the county quietly hired Hancock and Estabrook, a law firm, to assist with the investigation. That same law firm is representing the county in a lawsuit involving the city of Ogdensburg.

Griffin said she was made aware of the law firm's involvement after she was contacted by them for an interview, but was wary of meeting with an attorney on the matter without her own representation. She also questioned the county’s reasoning for hiring the law firm, as it has not been discussed publicly.

Griffin said she was contacted by attorneys from Estabrook and asked to meet with them. She said she brought two people with her, because she didn’t want to meet with a “super attorney” alone, but said her colleagues were asked to leave.

“In the end he asked if he could speak with my attorney, and I said yes, and the meeting was over,” she said.

She says the attorney told her that Bonadio is doing audit type work, including procedures, regulations and recommendations.

She was told that the law firm was handling interviews in regards to complaints as part of the investigation.

She questioned who would be receiving the information collected in the interviews and was told it would be going to County Administrator Ruth Doyle and ultimately the board of legislators.

Griffin fears the investigation may be being used to help the county defend itself against potential lawsuits, rather than investigate complaints against DSS.

“They want us to talk to super attorneys alone. I’ll tell you one thing. I’m not going to meet with a super attorney alone, not without attorney representation,” she said.

She said that she does not believe the investigation is independent since Hancock and Estabrook have represented the county in the past.

“They know DSS employees and county employees,” she said.

She said she’s filed a complaint with the inspector general’s office regarding how the investigation is being handled.

St. Lawrence County Administrator Ruth Doyle did not immediately respond to request for comment regarding Griffin’s comments or how the investigation is being handled.

No discussion on the matter occurred publicly at the meeting Monday.