TO:

FROM:

MEMORANDUMTEXAS DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES

Barbara McDanielCPS Investigation SupervisorAbilene

Geneva SchroederCPS Program AdministratorAbilene

SUBJECT: Level 2 Reminder

DATE: October 8, 2012

This is to notify you that in accordance with Human Resources Manual, Chapter10, Positive Performance (Second-Level Reminder), you are being issued aSecond Level Reminder (the second level of formal corrective action), which isbased the fact that you did not closely track Claudia Gonzalez’s work on the

‘investigation. Your lack of follow-up and supervision resulted in Ms.Gonzalez not having regular contact with the family and ensuring the children’ssafety. One of your most important roles as a Supervisor is to ensure children’ssafety.

The HHSC work rule violations are as follows:

Chapter 4, Employee Conduct, Section B., Work RulesHHS employees must:

1. be familiar with and follow all HHS policies and procedures relating to jobperformance and work rules;

2. perform their job duties, meet HHS standards for job performance, andfollow job-related instructions from HHS Supervisors.

On September 5, 2012 Program Director, Gretchen Denny, and I conducted aconference with you concerning the case. This conference was heldsince there was a recent child death in thb famiEy, which occurred only6 days after Claudia Gonzalez, (a CPS Investigator under your supervision),closed an investigation on this family. Claudia’s investigation on the :family had been open for 11 months.

We discussed that on September 29, 2011 an intake was received on thefamily. Claudia was assigned to investigate the allegations of physical

and medical neglect. At the beginning of the case Claudia staffed the case with

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

reporter, children, and parents has been made to ensure safety of thechildren. You will then staff with the workers after collateral contacts havebeen made, and when they are ready to decide upon the disposition anddiscuss if risk factors are controlled, if family-based safety services orneeded, or if a removal is warranted. Numerous staff ings are neededthroughout every investigation.You will need to constantly remind your workers the importance of seeingchildren timely at the beginning of each investigation and frequentlyThroughout the life of the case to ensure their safety. Although you need tofocus on all children, you must pay extra close attention to the children onyour staff’s workloads that are under the age of five years old, since wefeel that these are the most vulnerable children. If at any time you haveconcerning situations arise on the cases in your unit where you do not feelthat children are safe, you need to discuss this with your Program Directoror with me.

(3) In order to keep track of all case activities you will use a tracking log. Thislog will help you to track the date of the intake, the case name, the type ofabuse/neglect alleged, when the initial, safety, risk, and dispositionalstaftings are held, when the initial contact is made on each case, when ongoing contact with children is made, and the date the case is closed. Youwill enter all staffings on cases in IMPACT the same day that the staffingoccurs to ensure accuracy. At each staffing you will list tasks assigned toyour workers that are needed to complete their investigations. You willgive timeframes for all tasks assigned. When you have the next staffingyou will review the prior staffing to ensure that all action items have beencompleted. You will hold your staff accountable when they do not followyour direction.

As you are aware, each employee is expected to maintain an acceptable levelof performance and follow the Agency’s policies, procedures, and Standardsof Conduct. If you are able to provide adequate supervision to ,iour staff,know the status of their cases, and ensure child safety at all times, and noother problems arise, this Level 2 Reminder will become inactive at the end ofsix months, on April 8, 2013. However, if you fail to correct the problem or areunable to maintain acceptable performance during the next six months, youmay face more serious corrective or disciplinary action, up to and includingdismissal.

During this six month period you will not be eligible f&h• Educational leave,• Leave form the sick leave pool,a A merit salary increase,• A one-time merit payment,• Extended sick leave,• Administrative leave for performance awards,

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER