Page | of 1 Gavin, Edward (ACS) From: Mattingly, John (ACS) Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 6:00 PM To: (cs) Ce: Gavin, Edward (ACS) ‘Subject: Adoption Funds So | could use a one-page summary of how we could change our operations in such a way that, once checks start and people re-up each year, we can stil avoid the Fla case being replicated, John B. Mattingly ‘Commissioner ‘New York Administration for Children’s Services 150 William Street - 18th Floor New York, NY 10038 212-341-0903 Give the gift of Family. Become a Foster or Adoptive Parent. Call 311 or log onto wuw.nye.govfoster 7/20/2007Page 1 of 2 Gavin, Edward (ACS) From: Gavin, Edward (ACS) Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2007 12:21 AM To: Mattingly, John (ACS) ‘Subject: RE: Adoption Funds 1. -Appoint an Integrity Control Director at central office (fiscal ) to oversee all adoption subsidies paid through the client payment system. Foster parents receiving more than $ 3000.00 per month should be called periodically by the director or his/her designee to check on the status of payments made, to ensure that the individual is ttiizing the subsidy to promote the welfare of the adopted child(ren) and to verify the address of the adopted child (ren), and the direct deposit information / location of the bank etc. All those moving out of state shall be called ‘every six months. Particular attention should be paid to children in level 2 (special) and 3 (exceptional), as they are difficult to parent and may not be able to communicate effectively should problems arise. The Saint Lucie Police investigation revealed that one witness stated that the perpetrator in the case said that “New York never checks out the kids once the adoption is completed”. 2.-Insalve-scan fingerprint technology in every borough and assign support staf to fngeprint each prospective ter parent. 3.-Install a corresponding computer data base at each live scan site and take a digital color photo of every prospective foster parent and assign a computer generated case number to each individual parent and create a case fle. The fle should include all required pedigree information, such as: name, address, marital status, aliases, dob, soc.sec # etc. This system should mirror the computer system that we currently maintain for our employees. During this process, the prospective parents should be informed that they must notify ACS. immediately should their address or marital status change. ALL FOSTER PARENTS RECEIVING A SUBSIDY SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN A HARD -LINE TELEPHONE NUMBER IN THEIR HOME AT ALL TIMES. This is important as it can assist ACS in the future, should we have to locate the parents! children. Having a harddine creates an automatic paper tral 4-Install (5 ) e-justice computer terminals in the office of the integrity control director ( pending state approval) and requite said director to run criminal history checks annually on every in-state foster parent receiving a ‘subsidy. If the criminal history check reveals any post-adoption arrest history, this information shall be immediately brought to the attention of the Deputy Commissioner for Child Protection, who shall commence an investigation. Approximately 30% of our foster parents move out of state with their adopted children. Out of state parents should be checked in e-justice every six months. Additionally, if any parent or couple has adopted child (en), in level 2 or 3, they shall be required to send a 4x6 color photo of each child to the integrity control director every year. The photo should be labeled on the back and include the child's name, dob and the date that the photo was taken. ACS could design the label and perhaps we can contract with vendors throughout the country such as CVS, WAL-MART, ECKERD, WALGREENS, etc to provide a photo service, 5.- Due diligence searches for liens, judgments and bankruptcies should be conducted on every prospective foster parent. People who have bankruptcies, liens and judgments in their history are usually more susceptible to corruption. ACS employees assigned to the office of the integrity control director should be trained in the use of ‘our various investigative search engines. These search engines can also be used post - adoption as well, to locate people throughout the United States and check for motor vehicle and home purchases. 6.-As a first step in quality assurance, the Assistant Commissioner for Fiscal Control shall immediately produce a list of all people living out of state and receiving a subsidy of $ 5000.00 or more per month. We should then randomly contact said individuals and check to see where they are residing and if they are using the subsidy to provide adequate care for the children. Due diligence searches as.outlined in recommendation 5 above could be conducted to evaluate current circumstances. 7.- Establish stricter identification criteria for foster parents leaving New York State with their children. Require these people to provide official documentation of their new address within a specified time, by obtaining the appropriate drivers license or non driver id from the state that they move to, Additional proof such as a utlity bill, telephone bill, high school id, or school report card could also be submitted. 7/21/2007Page 2 of 2 8.- Create a special CPS unit to conduct random unannounced inspections at the homes of all foster parents living in and out of state. Inform all prospective parents that itis ACS policy to conduct such inspections. if this is done routinely, the word will get out that we are checking up on the kids and eventually people will think twice about defrauding the government. This must be done to let people now that we are serious about child welfare and our 4 key commitments. This will require air travel and overnight accommodations, rental car etc. A ‘manifest could be created and home visits could be conducted by region. We have to start somewhere! We also need to determine which states people relocate to most frequently and concentrate on them first. Based on what saw in the Port Saint Lucie case, | believe that its reasonable to assume that there may be other cases like it. Some foster parents adopt children solely for the money. Then, they move out of state with the kids and a guaranteed NYC subsidy. Some think that they can subject children to abuse, neglect and maltreatment and that they can get away with it, and that nobody is watching. We must not be naive. We must critically evaluate the motives of anyone who adopts level 2 and 3 children and moves out of state. We need to take a closer look at our records to see if there are other cases similar to the tragedy we saw in Port Saint Lucie, ‘Special Advisor to the Executive Deputy Commissioner Clty of New York Administration for Children's Services Child Welfare Programs 4150 Wiliam Street, 18th Floor New York, NY 10038 212-341-0008 Fax, 212-361-2046 emai: edward.gavin@eta.stale.ny.us From: Mattingly, John (ACS) Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 6:00 PM To: (acs) Cc: Gavin, Edward (ACS) ‘Subject: Adoption Funds So | could use a one-page summary of how we could change our operations in such a way that, once checks start land people re-up each year, we can still avoid the Fla case being replicated. John B. Mattingly Commissioner New York Administration for Children's Services 150 William Street - 18th Floor New York, NY 10038 212-341-0903 Give the gift of Family. Become a Foster or Adoptive Parent. Call 311 or log onto www.nyc.govioster 7/21/2007Page 1 of 4 Gavin, Edward (ACS) From: — Stainback, Sheila (ACS) Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 12:40 PM To: Chahine, Zeinab (ACS); Gavin, Edward (ACS); Morley, Susan (ACS); Stephens, Lorraine (ACS); Cardieri, Joseph (ACS); Roth, Jackie (ACS); Bieber, Steven (ACS) Ce: Stein, Sharman (ACS) ‘Subject: a litle more detail in this FL story PalmBeachPost.com 2s PRINTTHIS (Click to Print Police arrest abuse suspect By PAUL QUINLAN Palm Beach Post Staff Writer re etary Cee From Lo Dee Friday, July 20, 2007 PORT ST. LUCIE — A 62-year-old woman who police say held four malnourished teenagers and five mentally-handicapped adults in her home, at times binding them in handcuffs and zip-ties, has turned herself into authorities. Aas Judith Leckin of 114 S.W. Hawthorne Circle now faces five counts of aggravated child abuse, one count of tampering with a witness and one count of possession of a fictitious driver license. Leekin, who turned herself in Wednesday, is being held at the St. Lucie County Jail in lieu of $435,000 bail More crime coverage Most recent headlines Fugitives | Sex offenders crime blog 7/20/2007Page 2 of4 TBA enlarge Judith Leekin, 62, of Port St. Lucie, tumed herself into authorities Wednesday and is accused of hiding four malnourished, underdeveloped teenagers in her home at 114 S.W. Hawthorne Cir., binding them with handcuffs and zip ties More local news Latest breaking news, photos and all of today's Post stories. Share This Story day after authorities found an 18-year-old girl at a Publix in St. Petersburg. She said her "adoptive mothe had abandoned her, police said. ‘The woman began to share details of abuse that led police and Department of Children and Families inve across the state to a pink, two-story home in Port St. Lucie. According to a court record, Leekin told inve girl had a left a year ago and denied allegations of abuse, saying she lived in the home with her son. At fi investigators saw nothing unusual. But on a second walk-through, police say they found four teenagers h upstairs bedroom. Investigators say they found a surveillance system in the house, used to alert Leekin about authorities cor door, and a bow! with handcuffs and zip ties, which Leekin told investigators she used to keep the teens { damaging the home. When investigators later retumed to conduct medical exams and interviews with the teens, the home was shuttered and empty. Inside police say they found signs that Leekin and the others in the home had left qt Closets were open with clothes removed and walls were scuffed where pictures once hung. Police in Sanford, where Leekin has a second home, discovered her, with the four teens and four adults it Medical exams and interviews of the four teens - ages 15, 16, 16 and 17 - found numerous problems, aco court record. The children were undersized and undernourished, with scars, bums, dental problems and 0 problems and signs of abuse. One had marks on the wrist. Two were evaluated as having a less than four! 7/20/2007Page 3 of 4 education. Another, believed to be illiterate, could not stand up straight, walking with a hunch. "We are very saddened by the situation," said Lorrene Egan, district 15 operations manager for the Department of Children and Families, who appeared Thursday in a news conference alongside Port St. Lucie Police Department Capt. Scott Bartal. ‘The children, whom she described as "subdued and quiet" and have yet to be positively identified, are “all in a safe place and doing well at this time," she said. Egan would not comment in detail on this case or the 1999 case, citing the open investigation. But Bartal said investigators are working with the FBI in following a trail leading to New York, where police believe the children obtained false birth certificates. Even Leekin's identity was unclear, police said, as she has two driver licenses showing different last names, Social Security numbers and countries of origin: Venezuela and Trinidad-Tobago. Police say immigration authorities show no record of Leekin's name or another name believed to be an alias or married name, Johnson. Investigators said the children have not said how they came into Leekin's care. "We had difficulty getting the truth from these children," Bartal said. Investigators heard the oldest child in the bathroom coaching the youngest on what to tell examiners, a report said. Leekin's attorney, Mario Garcia Jr. of Miami, said he was retained this week and instructed her to turn herself in. He said it would be premature to comment on the case. "We are doing our own investigation to determine what is and is not true," he said. "We don't have any ‘comment because we don't have any information at this point.” Find this article at: Iitp:/www.paimbeachpost comfecalnews/contenttcoastepaper/2007/07/20/m1c_SLARREST_0720.him! (© Click to Print ‘SAVE THIS | EMAIL THIS | Close TF Check the box to include the list of links referenced in the article. 7/20/2007Page 4 of 4 Sheila Stainback Press Secretary Administration for Children's Services 150 William Street, 18th Floor New York, NY 10038 212-341-0999, office 646-413-3842, cell/BlackBerry 212-341-0942, fax There's no place like your home. To become a foster or adoptive parent, call 3-1-1 or go to www.nyc.gov/acs 7/20/2007