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| Tonya Boga
Georgia - Tonya Boga has resigned as Director of the Office of the Child Advocate. An attorney in her own right, perhaps Ms. Boga will return to practice, as her license to practice law is active.
In 2012, Ms. Boga stated in an interview with Channel 2 News investigative reporter Aaron Diamant, "I see us as a voice for the children of the state of Georgia." Ms. Boga went on to say, "I think there needs to be more training, and DFCS is working on that training." [1] [2]
These statements indicate more smoke and mirrors. Blame the work force, not the upper echelon of supervisors and directors. How proactive is it to train more DFCS/CPS investigators/agents, if it is the supervisors, who are afforded carte blanche in subjective editing of final survey reports?
In a 2011 interview, a DFCS/CPS/ORCC investigator disclosed, off the record for fear of reprisal, that a report the investigator submitted was ignored, and this was not the first time. "You stay in line. You don't ask questions; not if you wish to keep your job." There was no question the fear factor was overwhelming.
As 'real' child advocates, we found that several of our complaints filed with the ORCC under DHS, including DFCS and the subsequent finalized survey reports generated by those entities, were either missing in the final survey report, changed, or the original complaint was not addressed in the final survey report with coinciding complaint identifiers.
As 'real' child advocates, we met with Tonya Boga in the Fall of 2011. On our own time, we went to the Governor's Office. We offered documented evidence and testimony to the Governor's Office, along with Ms. Boga and her entourage at the OCA -- including recommended oversight reforms and regulations based on our experience with the "kid gloves" handling of a facility. We found nepotism, ineptitude, and apparent corruption-rampant. All of which, indicated the problems are systemic as other facilities generate reports with the same failures and 'nothing' is done. "We are not in the business to shut these facilities down," as one Director stated.
"We the People" thought the creed for agencies under the arm of DHS, such as DFCS, the ORCC, and CPS, was to protect the children, not the facility. Think again.
We found the directors to be incompetent, not the investigators/agents. If the directors and supervisors are not incompetent, then their plight of containment, an insular quest, shines a worse light toward their embracement of corruption.
Governor Deal: “It is one of those oversight areas, where I think any time we have an extra set of eyes that are looking at a situation, perhaps we can avoid bad things happening,” he said of the office. [1] Governor Deal's politics and rhetoric aside, in our advocacy for the safety of children and transparency, obviously his 'blanket' statement did not apply. "DEAL would not deal with Ryan and Dunne and get the deal done," retorts a child advocate.
When the Georgia Bureau of Investigation raided the Muscogee County DFCS alleging "false statements and writings, concealment of facts, fraudulent documents in matters within jurisdiction of state or political subdivisions, and subornation of false swearing," industry people were shocked. Georgia goes after one of their own? Why Muscogee? Our postion, "they raided the wrong office." [3]
Two years later, "We are still investigating." Now, Ms. Boga is gone.
If one is hopeful that a new Director of the Office of the Child Advocate will be a visionary, do not hold ones breath.
Oversight with no accountability, simply will not work. [1] http://wabe.org/post/deal-expand-office-child-advocate-agency-head-resgines
[2] http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/child-advocate-puts-pressure-dfcs-over-child-cruel/nLMfC/
[3] http://www.wtvm.com/story/19460720/2012/09/05/dfcs-employees-arrested-for-allegedly-falsifying-child-abuse-reports DHS - Department of Human Services DFCS - Department of Family and Children's Services CPS - Child Protective Services ORCC - Office of Regulatory Child Care OCA - Office of the Child Advocate
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Showing posts with label Georgia ORCC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Georgia ORCC. Show all posts
Thursday, December 5, 2013
TONYA BOGA RESIGNS AS GEORGIA'S DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF THE CHILD ADVOCATE
Monday, August 26, 2013
GEORGIA - DHS AND DFCS - CHANGING OF THE GUARD DOES NOT EXACTLY CLEAN HOUSE
Georgia - The summer brought changes to the hierarchy at Georgia's Department of Human Services and the Department of Family and Children's Services.
Clyde Reese - Out as DHS Commissioner - In as Commissioner at the Department of Community Health (DCH)
No tears here... Our dealings as parents and advocates with former DHS Commissioner Clyde Reese were less than stellar, actually non-existent, although repeatedly attempted by advocates, during the Ridge Creek School fiasco. DHS/ORCC lack of accountability, lack of oversight, and lack of transparency allowed the debacle to continue. However, moving Mr. Reese to the DCH is not exactly proactive, nor progressive in an administrative attempt to fix the problems repeatedly cited in reports such as Kenny A., the Children's Rights Org, and the Georgia Advocacy Office.
Ron Scroggy - Out as DFCS Director - In as Executive Director of Georgia Association of Homes and Services for Children (GAHSC)
Ron Scroggy heralded from Inner Harbour Youth Villages as the former CEO, where ORCC survey reports on Youth Villages provided egregious incidents of non-compliance. Hiring Mr. Scroggy as Director of DFCS appeared to be a conflict of interest to begin with, offering up just another avenue for the "fox to guard the henhouse." Mr.Scroggy is now at GAHSC, which is far from comforting.Both gentlemen appeared to do a remarkable job insulating Georgia's DHS and DFCS from any transparency and accountability. Under Mr. Scroggy's tenure, DFCS offices were raided by the FBI and charges were brought against underlings. Advocate's general opinion - the FBI raided the wrong offices.
Do not bang the drums quite yet... Governor Deal just shifted the players around to different departments providing each player with a different venue for the same apparent inepitude, lack of integrity, and complicit behavior.
Dave Statton, former Director of the ORCC, who abruptly cleaned out his desk in 2011, the morning after our parent/advocate conference call, holds the trump cards relating to his immediate exit - among other issues. Were you really given a RIFF? Perhaps it is time to release the conference call... what say you Mr. Statton?
How do you really feel about subjectively changing survey reports before release?
http://www.childrensrights.org/news-events/press/metro-atlanta-backslides-on-protecting-kids-in-foster-care/
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
RIDGE CREEK SCHOOL FACILITY - CONCERNED EMPLOYEE'S ALARMING LETTER DISREGARDED BY GEORGIA' S DHS COMMISSIONER ET AL
(see below), the letter was 'mailed' to
five parties in
January of 2011, including Georgia's DHS Commissioner Clyde Reese who oversees the Office of Residential Child Care (ORCC), and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Director John Pickleman, in hopes that an investigation into the Ridge Creek School facility would commence.
Advanc-Ed- SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) accredited the Ridge Creek School facility in February of 2011. In April of 2011, Advanc-Ed Assistant Director stated in a telephone conversation that he had never heard of complaints ...
Interesting. Emails and letters over the years clearly indicate that prior to and during Advanc-Ed's "take-over" of SACS, there were numerous complaints to the accrediting board regarding this facility and it's accreditation.
I spoke with the party that drafted this letter. He/she did not know whom to write, so he/she decided to pull the list of agencies off the Ridge Creek School's own website. This is obvious in that the party sent the letter to NATSAP. Although well-intentioned, he/she did not know that the owner of the facility co-founded NATSAP. NATSAP, like IECA, Lon Woodbury, and his educational consultant colleagues would never risk their livelihood in search of the truth, least of all exposing it.
What hit home, as with many former employees and parents, was the clear message that they were frightened to come forth; this fear, was not of the agencies response.
What is more frightening is the lack of agency response. To clarify, complainants may submit complaint reports to the ORCC anonymously. If one is using the ORCC website to file a complaint, it cannot be filed anonymously, although the ORCC states the complainants name will remain anonymous.
https://services.georgia.gov/dhr/reportfiling/searchFacility.do?action=constituentComplaint
The letter submitted to "jilliestake" with permission given to publish, appalling as it is:
Department of Human Services
Commissioner’s Office
Commissioner Clyde L. Reese, III, Esq.
2 Peachtree Street, N.W. Suite 29 -
250
RE: Ridge Creek School
Gentlemen:
Unfortunately, I must send this letter without an identifying signature as I have no interest in becoming involved in a lawsuit with Ridge Creek School
Since the fall of 2010 the following incidents have occurred:
- A thirteen-year-old girl with a history of suicidal gestures (if not attempts), sexual promiscuity and self-abuse (cutting, purging, etc.) was allowed to leave a classroom unmonitored for upwards of 50 minutes. During this time she had a pre-arranged sexual encounter with a fourteen-year-old male student in a bathroom stall. This was only discovered when she told other students about the instance and they voiced their concern to staff. The male student then attempted suicide, and was taken to a local mental hospital and (apparently) he now has rape charges pending against him. The female student then attempted suicide which was also unsuccessful.
- Two other students have had to be cut down by other students in hanging attempts. To the best of my knowledge this issue of student suicide attempts has never been discussed or otherwise brought up in any staff meeting nor has any specialized training or education been provided to any of the staff despite repeated requests for such training by concerned and upset staff.
- A thirteen-year-old male student (who had turned thirteen only a few days before this incident) told other students that he had been “sexually assaulted” by another male student, age fourteen. This allegedly occurred in the dorm room which they shared and was only learned when, again, other concerned students told staff. Although the thirteen-year-old student had a lengthy history of exaggeration and of lying, and his story changed at least five times during the staff investigation, the fourteen-year-old student was charged with sodomy by the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office and he was expelled from
Ridge Creek School - Since the Christmas holidays the students have “rioted” in the parking lot, destroying property and generally out of control. The reason given by the students was that so many staff members had either quit or been fired there was no consistency in the Counseling or Recreation departments as regards their treatment and they had no one to talk to or confide in. In the last three months three counselors have been fired. Two of them were fired after giving their notice of intention of finding other employment to Ridge Creek School and the Director of Counseling was fired when the Administration learned that he intended to leave the school as soon as possible as he feared the potential loss of his license due to the events that were routinely happening.
- Staff has been routinely and frequently assaulted by the students. Their automobiles have been broken into and personal items stolen. The Director of Counseling had the window of his Lincoln SUV smashed with a brick by an angry student.
- A student was released to go home with his father over the Christmas holidays and, later that day, his clothes were found neatly folded with the withdrawal paper on top of the clothes. When the child’s withdrawal was then more closely examined it was learned that the child’s mother had sole custody and orders had been given to the school to, under no circumstances, release the child to his father. At this time phone calls to both the child’s father and mother have gone unanswered and he has not been returned to the school at the agreed upon date. His whereabouts are unknown.
There are many, many more instances where children and staff have been put in troubling and dangerous situations but I hope that the few instances I have given you have been sufficient to put you on notice that you need to sincerely question your involvement with Ridge Creek School
Please feel free to initiate your own investigation so that you know what appropriate steps you need to take next. To ignore this situation it to put your organization and it’s’ reputation in peril. I also hope that you have a sincere interest in your organizations inherent duty to protect the troubled youth that attend a residential boarding school such as Ridge Creek.
I sincerely hope that this letter has sufficiently alerted you to the dangers involved to the children domiciled at Ridge Creek School and that you will quickly take appropriate steps to help insure their safety.
A Concerned Employee
cc:
National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs
Craig LaMont, President, Board of Directors
The Georgia
Carvin Brown, Ed.D., Executive Director
Carvin Brown, Ed.D., Executive Director
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
John Pickleman, Chairman
Dr. Jeff Jackson
Department of Human Services; Commissioner’s Office
Commissioner Clyde L. Reese, III, Esq.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
RIDGE CREEK SCHOOL/RIDGE CREEK WILDERNESS - TRUDGING THROUGH THE MUCK
To fully understand what murky water one must wade through, let us glance at an excerpt taken from the website of Thomas J. Croke founder of “Family Light.” Mr. Croke is an educational consultant.
Family Light Thomas J. Croke
“Ridge Creek has settled into a new identity and focus. Historically, it was a wilderness program. In 2009, it expanded into a therapeutic "College Prep [School] with a Wilderness Twist." Since then, the wilderness program has been dropped, and the therapeutic boarding school well establishcd. Ridge Creek School, took over the buildings of a former school historically located near it. However in the fall of 2011, those buildings will become the site of newly founded boarding and day school that will not have therapeutic content. Ridge Creek will return to the nearby buildings that are mostly unussd at the time this is written.”
If one is going to put their reputation on the line, one should investigate the school they recommend. It is not enough to add a disclaimer. The family pays you a fee to do your homework. Whether or not you place a disclaimer on your website, you have a moral and ethical responsibility, not to mention a fiduciary one. Before placing this drivel on your website, perhaps you should remember, a child’s life is in your hands.
There is a huge problem here. The ORCC documents state on one hand that Ridge Creek Wilderness (RCW) program was indeed active in 2009 and 2010, yet on the other hand, the ORCC documents state the RCW program was not active. Several DFCS and ORCC interviews with students and parents state that their children were sent to RCW in 2009 and 2010. More alarming, students stated that “Wilderness Intervention” was not a “program,” but a “Tavern” also known amongst insiders as “The Chalet." Several children were sent to “Wilderness Intervention” for eight days as part of behavior modification; according to DFCS, this is no longer allowed per the ORCC.
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