Fraudulently billing Medicaid?
Why, I never heard of such a thing!
The entire part that really gets me is that this investigation and its administrative responses is that utterly anything dealing with Medicaid fraud, or the children and families lost in the system has been omitted from reporting.
These are humans, not statistics.
There is no room for statistical error.
Dead kids are statistical errors.
A Contact 5/Palm Beach Post investigation uncovers what many investigators are calling "a crisis" inside the Department of Children and Families. Large caseloads, high turnover, low pay, voluminous paperwork, and pressure to meet performance goals - make the job impossible, child protective investigators say, and put children in a dangerous position.
Even more dangerous? Cutting corners and falsifying records. It’s something former and current investigators inside DCF admit they sometimes feel forced to do, just to get the job done.
DCF’s own records show this does happen.
Ana Rubirosa of Boynton Beach said she lied about several home visits, because she was "overwhelmed with personal problems and a high caseload and was unable to do what was required as a CPI."
Rubirosa was arrested, pleaded guilty to falsifying records and was placed on probation.
Matt Wilcox had 28 open cases when he resigned from DCF in January 2015. He says 28 cases could mean handling 200-250 people. “Talking to relatives, talking to neighbors, school professionals, medical doctors."
“That's when I realized that I didn't have, there wasn't enough time in the day to do this job,” said Wilcox.
So Wilcox admits, he lied.
“I backed up a time. I had to see a child at West Palm hospital by 8 in the morning on a certain day. I didn't get there until 11 that morning,” says Wilcox. “You have 24 hours to see the child.”
Wilcox never visited the medical center or spoke with the child at the center of the allegations, officials allege. Wilcox was arrested two years after resigning. He also pleaded guilty to falsifying records and received probation.
A Contact 5 and Palm Beach Post joint investigation into the Department of Children and Families uncovered deep- rooted problems that may be putting children at risk.
Those problems include high caseloads, even higher turnover, and in some cases, the falsification of documents.
So what now? DCF Secretary Mike Carroll says he’s putting a plan in place to ensure better care but is that enough?
“I’ve had so many families call me, crying on the phone, begging for help and there are times when my supervisor would say, 'Well, they can deal with on their own,' ” one DCF child protective investigator said.
“When you have a caseload of 20, 25, 30, 35, you are bound to not just fail, but the families you are charged with overseeing and helping are going to fail,” another investigator admitted.
Those confessions led us to Representative Gayle Harrell of Stuart. Harrell has spent the last 8 years on Florida’s Children, Families and Seniors Subcommittee.
“This is a high-stress job. My heart goes out to CPIs. This is about as stressful as you can get,” says Harrell.
Harrell is waiting to see if she will re-appointed as chairwoman in the upcoming legislative session. The committee oversees DCF.
“The legislature’s responsibility is to fund and set policy,” says Harrell. “I think we, on the policy level have done a good job of increasing the numbers to be hired and also on the funding side,
increasing the dollars to go into it. I think we need to address and continue that; I don't think we're finished. We've made major changes in child welfare over the last 5 years."
increasing the dollars to go into it. I think we need to address and continue that; I don't think we're finished. We've made major changes in child welfare over the last 5 years."
For 5 years straight, the state legislature has put more money into child protection issues.
In 2014, the legislature gave millions to the agency, to hire 270 additional child protective investigators to help reduce caseloads.
“And I can tell you the legislature is absolutely determined to bring down those caseloads, to make sure we are hiring the right people,” said Harrell. “When you look at what's driving those high caseloads, it's the turnover.”
Since January, at least 198 workers across the state have quit.
“Well, I think that comes down to hiring. And are we getting the right people, and that’s part of the problem.”
Harrell says State Senate Bill 1666, passed in 2014, helps address the problem.
"What we did in 1666, was to set the goal by 2019, if we could have 50% of our CPIs with a social work degree, I think you would see this caseload drop. You come out of school with at least a social work degree, you know what you’re going to get. You know they’ve had some experience, they’ve had the training,” said Harrell.
Finding new child protective investigators is tough. Keeping them is even harder.
The starting salary for a CPI is $35,600 and jumps to more than $39,000 after a year.
Harrell thinks the state is moving in the right direction when it comes to salary: “Let's look at that realistically. A full CPI salary is 39,600. Starting salary, full CPI. The first 3 months you start in a classroom. That's the starting salary for the education you are receiving. So we're actually training you, you're getting an education. You're being paid to be educated. $35,000 a year. Then you go to that probationary period where you're being mentored and you have one or two cases, maybe move up to 4 cases, 6 cases, so you are being mentored along. This is the internship kind of education you're receiving. At that point, you're going to $37,000. When you become a CPI, with a caseload, full caseload, you're at $39,600. Every worker in 2014 received an additional $1,400 a year. This year as of October, they'll receive an additional $1,400 increase a year in salary,” says Harrell.
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