Tag: Erie County government

Jul 23

2015

Child abuse unit still struggling

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Kim Henderson lasted a year as a caseworker investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect. She was assigned more cases than she felt she could handle. Many of the cases she inherited were poorly documented. And many of the families she was assigned to work with hadn’t seen a caseworker in months. Henderson quit her job with Erie County Child Protective Services two weeks ago, worried that too many families with children at risk weren’t getting the help they needed. “Sometimes the kids hadn’t been seen for months on end – it was terrible,” she said. Henderson’s experience is not[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Feb 26

2015

Urban League hits back at whistleblowers

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The Buffalo Urban League, accused of submitting inflated bills for social services to Erie County, is retaliating against whistleblowers and impeding an investigation by the county comptroller, numerous sources have told Investigative Post. Some of these sources said whistleblowers have nevertheless provided investigators with evidence of “blatantly fraudulent billing” that buttresses their original claims that the Urban League was bilking the county. They’ve provided the comptroller documents purporting to show, among other things, 15 instances of double-billing and a one-day bill from a single employee that claimed 170 hours of work, sources said. Despite public statements to the contrary, internal[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Nov 26

2014

Troubled families, troubled services?

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Seven social workers on the front lines of dealing with troubled families have taken the unusual step of accusing their employer of cheating both taxpayers and the families they are tasked with helping. The social workers – who are employed by the Buffalo Urban League – sent a letter to the Erie County Comptroller’s office Nov. 14 expressing “extreme concern” that their organization was failing to live up to the standards agreed upon in its county contract. Their letter outlines a number of problems, including short staffing, inflated billing and a failure to store client information securely or train staff[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Apr 24

2014

Erie County’s lackluster lawmakers

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An Investigative Post report, co-produced with WGRZ, finds Erie County legislators pass few laws, make few budget amendments but pass hundreds of resolutions honoring residents, both dead and alive, that have nothing to do with the operation of county government. All this, at a cost of $3.2 million a year. A report Friday on WGRZ examines the track record of the Buffalo Common Council. For more, listen to Jim Heaney’s interview with Shredd & Ragan of 103.3, The Edge.

Posted 10 years ago
Investigative Post

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