State welfare chief says D.A. office willing to 'cuss, scream, threaten' social workers

WICHITA, Kansas - June 9, 2008 - A parental rights advocacy group in Kansas was "floored" when the state child welfare chief admitted that his social workers were being "bullied" into falsifying the reports that lead to children being taken out of their homes and placed in foster care.

In a meeting with Citizens for Change, Don Jordan, secretary of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, had his comments recorded on tape: "In Sedgwick County, oftentimes we end up writing things because it's what our social workers get bullied by the District Attorney's Office into writing."

Later in the meeting Jordan said, "I am working on our staff that we do our assessments properly and we not get bullied into writing things we don't believe. But then the reality comes down to, you send a 25-year-old social worker into a room with a 15-year county A.D.A. (assistant district attorney) who is willing to yell at them, cuss at them, scream at them and threaten them."

The reports Jordan was referring to, called affidavits, are official permanent records of a child abuse investigation, containing a social worker's summary of circumstances and interviews with parents, children and others who may have evidence of abuse.

Judges rely on the affidavits to determine the level of a child's risk and the potential necessity for removal into temporary custody or foster care.

Marlene Jones, a Wichita resident who contends her family lost custody of her grandson based on false information in an affidavit, was at the meeting where Jordan spoke. "I was so floored at what he said," she told The Wichita Eagle, "that this man acknowledged… he was aware of what was going on."