help
collapse
Press one of the expand buttons to see the full text of an article. Later press collapse to revert to the original form. The buttons below expand or collapse all articles.
expand
collapse
False Records
May 13, 2013 permalink
Florida child-welfare caseworker Sashelle Alamo-Rios falsely recorded visits to foster homes that never happened.
expand
collapse
Caseworker didn't check on children, arrested for falsifying records
Sashelle Alamo-Rios charged with 11 counts of falsifying records.
A child-welfare caseworker was arrested Wednesday, charged with not visiting children for scheduled appointments and falsifying records to cover it up, court documents show.
Sashelle Alamo-Rios, 27, was working as a case manager for the Children's Home Society of Florida, which has a contract with the Florida Department of Children and Families to provide services to foster children, a CHSF spokesperson said.
Alamo-Rios is facing 11 counts of falsifying records between Jan. 20 and March 22 of 2012 after a foster caregiver told the chief investigator for DCF that she did not see Alamo-Rios on several scheduled appointments, court records show.
The foster mom "recorded DCF's visitations on a calendar and Alamo-Rios did not keep the face-to-face meetings," despite turning in records for travel reimbursements, according to investigate documents filed by the Orange-Osceola Ninth Circuit State Attorney's Office.
An initial tip was reported to CHSF in March 2012. Officials from that agency contacted DCF's Office of Inspector General with the tip and the investigation ensued.
"We take our responsibility for keeping kids safe seriously," CHSF Central Florida Executive Director Tara Hormell said. "We have a zero tolerance policy on falsification."
Alamo-Rios worked for CHSF for 22 months with children who are victims of abuse and neglect before being put on suspension, Hormell said.
She was put on suspension when the investigation started, but quit before CHSF could fire her, according to Hormell.
According to court documents, investigators determined that "none of the children were placed at risk or harmed."
CHSF has 89 locations throughout the state and helps about 90,000 children annually, Hormell said.
Source: Orlando Sentinel
