CHARISSE STINSON KILLS 2 YR-OLD SON IN COLD BLOOD (BLAME DSS)

CHARISSE STINSON 21, KILLS 2 YR-OLD SON JORDAN IN COLD BLOOD (BLAME DSS):

WHAT WAS CHARISSE’S MOTIVE??

WHY DID DSS/CPS RETURN THE CHILD TO CHARISSE AFTER CLEAR EVIDENCE OF ABUSE??

DSS CHILD ABUSE & ELDER ABUSE OFFICES IN FLORIDA, NORTH CAROLINA & SOUTH CAROLINA DO NOT PROTECT ABUSED CHILDREN, NOR ABUSED SENIOR CITIZENS.

ESPECIALLY DSS OFFICES IN CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA.

MOST DSS OFFICES ARE NOTHING MORE THAN SOCIAL CLUBS TO HIRE BLACK GREEK SORORITY SISTERS & FRAT BROTHERS.

WHY ISN’T THE FEDERAL OFFICE OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES DOING ANYTHING?

DON’T LET LITTLE JORDAN HAVE DIED IN VAIN.

CONGRESS NEEDS TO IMMEDIATELY ORDER AUDITS OF ALL DSS/ CPS/ ELDER ABUSE OFFICES.


Post Sources: ABC News, Fox News, Youtube


**** Charisse Stinson: Mother of missing 2-year-old Largo boy admits to causing son's death, report says


LARGO, Fla. — The mother of a 2-year-old Largo boy, who was the center of a statewide Amber Alert, has been charged with murder in the death of her son.

Officers arrested 21-year-old Charisse Stinson and charged her with First Degree Murder in the death of Jordan Belliveau.

Jordan was found dead in the wooded area of Lake Avenue and McMullen Road in Largo on Tuesday afternoon.

According to an arrest affidavit written by Largo Police, Stinson admitted to causing the death of her son.

The report alleges Stinson, "in a moment of frustration," struck Jordan in the face with the back of her hand "which in turn caused the back of his head to strike an interior wall of her home. After the blow to the head, the victim suffered seizures during the night, which lead to further decline [in his health], resulting in his death."

The report goes on to state that Stinson did not seek medical help, but rather took her son to a wooded area and left him to die. Authorities say Jordan's body had injuries matching what Stinson told them happened.

According to police, initially Stinson told them that she was walking on East Bay Drive with Jordan around 9:30 p.m. Saturday when they were offered a ride in a white Toyota Camry by someone they did not know who told them his name was Antwan.

She then told police that once inside the car, "Antwan" struck her in the face multiple times, causing her to lose consciousness. She claimed that she didn’t regain consciousness until around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, when she awoke in a wooded area at Largo Central Park to find Jordan missing.

Her story prompted a statewide Amber Alert. Investigators even released a composite sketch of the alleged suspect, based on Stinson's description.

When asked why she took the ride from "Antwan," Stinson told police it was because Jordan was kind of heavy and she didn't want to have to carry him all the way to her destination.

As the search for Jordan continued, ABC Action News learned authorities were at the Stinson's apartment on Sunday picking up evidence and trying to determine when was the last time Jordan was there.

Police later told ABC Action News they discovered bloody children’s items inside of the apartment. On Monday, they took those items into evidence but said they were not certain if they were connected to Jordan’s disappearance.

Jordan’s mother told investigators her son cut his chin and recently received stitches for the injury. Detectives also took a few items of children’s clothing into evidence Tuesday which were found rolled up in a rug outside of Jordan’s mother’s apartment.

Stinson was arrested shortly after 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and charged with First Degree Murder in the death of Jordan. She is expected to make a first appearance in court Wednesday afternoon.

ABC Action News reached out to Jordan’s father, who was too distraught to speak with us.

"I can't speak on how my brother feels because I never lost a child. I just know my brother is devoted right now," said Stephon Davis, the child's uncle. "I just want my nephew to be laid in peace and his mama and whoever involved in this, justice.”

Digging into court documents, ABC Action News discovered that Stinson and Jordan's father had a history of domestic battery. A Largo arrest report from July stated that Jordan's father drove the boy to Stinson's home, to exchange custody of Jordan. According to the report, Stinson "did not want the child yet," which caused an argument that became physical when the father punched Stinson.

The Department of Children and Families could not release any information on the case, saying in part, “The loss of this child is profoundly saddening. We are actively working with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and the Largo Police Department during the course of their criminal investigation. Pinellas County Sheriff's Office conducts all child protective investigations in Pinellas County, not DCF.”

South Carolina Doesn't Care About BLACK Children! Returns Child To Bad Parent Twice (Keely Samone Tinnin)

Rock Hill, SC woman Arrested after son, 3, found nude in apartment parking lot

ROCK HILL Police arrested a Rock Hill woman Tuesday morning after neighbors found her 3-year-old son alone and completely nude in an apartment complex parking lot.

Keely Samone Tinnin, 25, of 1117 Springdale Road, Apt. 101, is charged with cruelty to children, according to a Rock Hill police report.

At 3:06 a.m., two neighbors told police that they heard someone in the parking lot of Wildwood Springs Apartments.

They looked outside and saw a little boy without any clothes, the report states.

One of the neighbors said she recognized the boy from a similar, previous incident. The other neighbor told police he knew where the boy came from and tried to take him back home but found that the door was locked and no one came to the door.

The neighbor took the boy to his own mother’s house, clothed him and then called police while his mother fed the child, the report states.

Police took the boy back to his residence and made contact with Tinnin, who said she was unaware that her son was out of the house. She also said the boy sometimes unlocks the door and leaves, the report states.

Authorities arrested Tinnin and released the child to his father, the report states.

Outside of the Rock Hill Police Department, Tinnin’s family waited for her after a magistrate released her on a personal recognizance bond.

Latasha Tinnin, Tinnin’s sister, said the family plans to test Tinnin’s son for hyperactivity and sleepwalking, insisting that the boy is capable of getting out the house by himself.

After a previous incident in April, Latasha Tinnin said her sister installed locks on doors. The next day, the boy learned how to unlock the door.

“He’s going to catch on quicker than most kids,” she said. “If he figured that out, what are you going to do then? Kids nowadays can do more than you think they can do.”

Police also arrested Tinnin on April 10 after her 3-year-old son and another 4-year-old son were found at the apartment complex’s playground without clothes on and parental supervision. Both children told officers that their mother was home asleep, according to a Rock Hill police report.

When police made contact with Tinnin, she said the boys often leave the house without her knowing about it, the report states.

“She’s not a bad person,” Latasha Tinnin said of her sister on Tuesday.

The only reason police arrested Tinnin a second time is because a neighbor found the boy outside in his underwear, Latasha Tinnin said. She also said the boy awoke in the middle of the night, thought his sister was outside and left the apartment to join her.

“She doesn’t let him go outside with his brothers and sisters,” making the boy eager to play outside, Latasha Tinnin said.

Latasha said her sister is upset and hasn’t stopped crying about the situation since her arrest.

A records check with the State Law Enforcement Division shows that Tinnin doesn’t have any prior criminal history prior to her cruelty to children arrests this year.


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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, WCNC, Google Maps

Jeremiah Swafford's Killer, Dwight Justice Not Guilty Of Murder Only Abuse! WHITE Justice!

Dwight Justice, Jeremiah Swafford's Killer Found Only Guilty of Child Abuse, Not 1st-Degree Murder


A Cleveland County jury this morning found Dwight Justice guilty of felony child abuse, but not guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his 2-year-old stepson.

Justice, 45, was charged with first-degree murder and felony child abuse in Jeremiah Swafford's beating death. A medical examiner has testified that the boy died Feb. 14, 2009, from blunt-force trauma to his head.

His wife, Kathy Lynn Swafford, was also charged with first-degree murder and felony child abuse and will be tried in March.

A former jail inmate testifying for the defense last week in Justice's trial said that Swafford had admitted behind bars she'd caused the fatal injuries to the toddler.

Jeanette Bonner of Shelby testified Swafford described how she'd picked Jeremiah up by his feet and slammed his head into a wooden part of a couch.

"She asked me, 'What do you think they'll do with me?' " Bonner testified. "When I told her she'd probably spend the rest of her life in prison, she said if she was going to spend the rest of her in prison so was he (Justice.)"

Thirty minutes later, Bonner said Swafford came up with another story - this time that her husband had killed the toddler.

Outside the presence of the jury, Swafford was called to the witness stand by Justice's attorney. After her attorney, Fred Flowers of Shelby, and Superior Court Judge Robert Ervin provided reminders of her Fifth Amendment rights, Swafford said she didn't want to testify.

During closing arguments on Wednesday, Cleveland County Assistant District Attorney Bill Young told the jury that under the law Justice is guilty of aiding and abetting even if he didn't physically harm Jeremiah.

Young told the jury Justice has "never got his story straight."

Young played audio clips to illustrate Justice's inconsistencies in interviews with law enforcement officers.

Young reminded the jury Justice had said he was awakened by his wife around noon on Feb. 13 and found Jeremiah unresponsive in bed. But the 911 call wasn't made until 1:17 p.m.

"What was going on?" Young asked. "The cleanup. The coverup."

The jury began its deliberations late Wednesday.

On Thursday afternoon, the foreman told the judge the jury was divided 8-4. Throughout the afternoon the jury came back asking for more instruction, clarifications on points of law and transcripts of interviews with Justice that had been introduced into evidence. They also asked to see a transcript of a statement made by Jeanette Bonner.

Shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday, Superior Court Judge Robert Ervin called the jury back and explained he couldn't be in court on Friday because of a prior commitment. He gave the panel the choice of continuing deliberations then, taking a short break for food and coming back or recessing until Monday. The jury picked the last option.




Trial continues for man accused of murdering 2-year-old step-son

Testimony continued Thursday in the murder case of 2-year-old Jeremiah Swafford.

Police say his stepfather, Dwight Justice, beat him to death in February 2009.

"I'm still numb…He's gone, but he's not forgotten," said Jeremiah’s aunt, Patty Crotts. "I think he was beat to death.”

Crotts and Swafford’s other aunt, Donna Willis, say sitting through the trial of his accused murderer brings all the pain back.

“He don't have no look of remorse, no look of nothing," said Willis.

Justice, Jeremiah's stepfather, is on trial for murder and child abuse after the state claimed the toddler was beaten to death in February of 2009 while at home with Justice and Jeremiah's mother, Kathy Swafford, who is still in jail awaiting her trial.

Swafford told emergency workers Justice fell out of bed earlier in the day and then became unresponsive later, but the state presented medical professionals who treated Jeremiah and say he had severe internal bleeding.

"Kids fall out of bed every day, but this child's injuries were consistent to much greater force, much greater trauma than to fall out of bed," said Dr. Paul Pindell with Shelby Emergency Associates.

The defense spent the day cross-examining each witness, trying to poke holes in the state's case that Jeremiah suffered bruises and trauma by the defendant, not a fall from the bed.

"They want to make the doctors and lawyers out to be not telling the truth. The paramedics are the ones who responded on the scene, they know what went on," added Crotts.

The state will continue its case Friday morning. Swafford is awaiting her trial in a Cleveland County jail. She is expected to testify at some point in Justice's trial.


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Sources: ABC News, McClatchy Newspapers, WCNC, WRAL, Google Maps

North Carolina's Eugenics Victims Forced To Accept $50,000. After Being Illegally Sterilized! Not Enough!

$50,000 will not make up for forced Sterilization, woman says

Elaine Riddick was a confused and frightened 14-year-old. She was poor and black, the daughter of alcoholic parents in a segregated North Carolina town. And she was pregnant after being raped by a man from her neighborhood.

Riddick's miserable circumstances attracted the attention of social workers, who referred her case to the state's Eugenics Board. In an office building in Raleigh, five men met to consider her fate.

Board members concluded that the girl was "feebleminded" and doomed to "promiscuity." They recommended sterilization. Riddick's illiterate grandmother, Maggie Woodard, known as Miss Peaches, marked an "X" on a consent form.

Hours after Riddick gave birth to a son in Edenton, N.C., on March 5, 1968, a doctor sliced through her fallopian tubes and cauterized them.

"They butchered me like a hog," recalls Riddick, now 57.

Nearly 44 years later, the State of North Carolina has proposed paying $50,000 each to compensate Riddick and other victims of its eugenics program.

It's the first state to consider compensation for victims of forced sterilization -- up to 65,000 in at least 30 states, according to most estimates.

Between 1929 and 1974, nearly 7,600 people were sterilized under orders from North Carolina's Eugenics Board. Nearly 85% were women or girls, some as young as 10. The state estimates that 1,500-2,000 of the victims are still alive.

The board's declared goal was to purify the state's population by weeding out mentally ill, diseased, "feebleminded" and other people deemed undesirable.

In a 1950 pamphlet, the Human Betterment League of North Carolina said the board was protecting "the children of future generations and the community at large," adding that "you wouldn't expect a moron to run a train or a feebleminded woman to teach school."

Life of Humiliation

Riddick has endured a lifetime of humiliation and regret. She can barely control her outrage when she discusses what the state did to her -- and what the state proposes by way of compensation and apology.

"Fifty thousand dollars?" she says, her voice rising. "Is that what they think my life is worth? How much are the kids I never had worth? How much?"

The $50,000 compensation recommended Jan. 10 by the Governor's Eugenics Compensation Task Force must be approved by the state Legislature. If so, Riddick said, she will refuse it.

"Fifty thousand dollars isn't nearly enough to bury my pain," she says. "It's shut-up-and-go-away money."

Dirt poor and pregnant, she dropped out of school in the eighth grade. After she gave birth, her son was put in her grandmother's care, and Riddick was sent to live with an aunt in New York.

At 18, she married a man she met there. When he discovered she had been sterilized, Riddick says, he abused her. They later divorced.

Riddick struggled for years to shed the "feebleminded" label stamped on her records. She earned a high school equivalency and a degree in human services from a technical school in New York. For years, she was an office manager for a tax preparation company.

She traveled regularly to North Carolina to visit her son, Tony, and the boy went to New York every summer to spend time with his mother.

But the stigma of her forced sterilization still clings to her. Now remarried and living in Atlanta, she dreads returning to Perquimans County in eastern North Carolina, where everyone knows the details of her wrecked childhood.

"What must they think, reading what the state wrote about me?" she asks.

Legal Action

Between 1929 and 1960, twice as many white people as black were sterilized in North Carolina, according to Eugenics Board records. But between 1960 and 1968, when Riddick was sterilized, twice as many black people as white were sterilized.

Riddick was 19 when she discovered, during a medical examination, what had happened to her. She was devastated, for she had always intended to have several children.

Outraged, she contacted the American Civil Liberties Union in North Carolina, which filed a lawsuit on her behalf in 1974. The suit accused the Eugenics Board, social workers and the local hospital of unlawfully depriving Riddick of her right to bear children.

Riddick became one of the state's first sterilization victims to go public. "Nobody knows the pain and humiliation I had to go through," she says.

In 1983, a jury ruled in favor of the defendants. The following year, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Riddick's appeal.

In 2010, North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue established the Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation. In June, Riddick testified before the task force.

"I am not feebleminded -- I have never been feebleminded," she told the task force. “They slandered me,” she said of the Eugenics Board, which put her IQ at 75. “They ridiculed me and they harassed me.”

A social worker threatened to take away her grandmother’s state food rations if she did not sign the consent form, Riddick says.

Tony Riddick, now 43 and an entrepreneur in the eastern North Carolina county where he was born, says what the state did to his mother is a crime. “This is not sterilization,” he told the task force in December. “This is genocide.”

In a recent interview, Tony Riddick said he supports his mother’s intention to refuse $50,000 in compensation.

“It’s a political game, and it’s an insult,” he said.
North Carolina is one of about half a dozen states to acknowledge or apologize for sterilizations.

Dr. Laura Gerald, a pediatrician who heads the eugenics task force, said the five-person body sought to strike “a fair balance” between victims’ rights and political realities when it approved the $50,000 figure on a 3-2 vote. (Two members voted for a $20,000 payment.)

Several victims requested $1 million in compensation, Gerald said in an interview. “On the other hand,” she said, “there has been little political will for anything other than an apology.”

Then-Gov. Mike Easley issued a one-sentence apology in 2002. He called sterilization a “regrettable episode” and assured victims that “we will not forget what they have endured.”

Elaine Riddick says no apology can erase the fact that the Eugenics Board treated a 14-year-old rape victim like a criminal. She says she was provided no explanation and no follow-up care.

“Because of Elaine’s inability to control herself, and her promiscuity — there are community reports of her ’running around’ and out late at night unchaperoned — the physician has advised sterilization,” the board reported, according to minutes unearthed by the Winston-Salem Journal in 2002.

The board went on: “This will at least prevent additional children from being born to this child who cannot care for herself, and can never function in any way as a parent.”

The words still stab at Riddick. “I was just a child who was raped,” she says, “and then the state raped me all over again.”


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Sources: Free Republic, USA Today, WCNC, Google Maps

North Carolina's "Human Baby Factories" Crisis: Babies For Federal Dollars

Does North Carolina Have A SERIOUS Problem With Teen Pregnancies?

Are Low Income, Unwed Black Women Being Used As Human "Baby Factories" To Procure More Federal Funding For The State Of North Carolina?

Should Birth Control Be Categorized As A Form Of Preventive Medicine Requiring Health Insurance Companies To Include It In Premiums?

Read On & Then Arrive At Your Own Conclusion.

Many Of You Know That I Personally Oppose Abortion.

Just For The Record Abortion Is NOT An Appropriate Form Of Birth Control & Should NOT Be Used As Such!

I Don't Judge People Who Do Endorse Terminating Pregnancies But I Would NEVER Do It Because Its Against My Faith.

However I'm Also Opposed To Women Having & Rearing Children At The Government's Expense, In Most Cases Minus Child Support!

Unless You (Women) Can Independently Afford To Properly Care For Children Don't Reproduce! Period!

After All We're Human Beings NOT Rabbits!

Here's My Next Thought On This Sensitive Subject.

In My Family I Have A Niece Currently Residing In North Carolina Who Could Most Certainly Benefit From The Use Of BIRTH CONTROL & Some SELF-CONTROL!

I Love My Niece Dearly So What's The Problem?

She's A 25 Years Old, Low Income, Unwed Mother Of 4 Beautiful Children!!

Wait A Minute!

Who Paid For Her To Have Those 4 Beautiful Children?

TAXPAYERS!

Who's Helping To Care For Those 4 Beautiful Children Even As We Speak?

That's Right TAXPAYERS!

And Yet....

She Won't Properly Use Birth Control, Nor Have Her Fallopian Tubes Tied Because She Wants To Keep Having Babies!

Since All Of Her Children Were Born Via Cesarean Sections (C-Sections) Not Only Is My Niece Being SELFISH & FOOLISH Regarding Her Health, But Her Children Are Suffering Due To Each Of Them Being So Young. (Ages 6, 4, 3, Infant)

Why Were Her Children Delivered Via Cesarean Section Versus Natural Birth, A Less Expensive Method Of Birth?

My Niece Is Physically Able To Reproduce But NOT Medically Able To Have Children Via Natural Birth.

She Tried & Almost Died! Literally!

Forcing My Niece To Have Babies Naturally Would Result In Her Death, Which Would Create A Whole New Chain Of Circumstances & Despair For Her 4 Beautiful Children.

North Carolina Social Workers Are Well Aware Of This Situation But Yet They Allow My Niece To Continue Having Babies At Taxpayers'& The Federal Government's Expense!

How Convenient I Must Say.

Despite What Anyone Else Says Or Thinks, A 25 Year-Old, Low Income, Unwed Mother With 4 Children Can NOT Properly Nurture Her Children!!

At Least NOT Emotionally!

In Fact More Often Than Not Such Circumstances Often Sets The Tone For Women Like My Niece To Commit Acts Of Child Abuse & Neglect, Either Intentionally Or Unintentionally.

(No My Niece Does NOT Physically Abuse Her Children. Thank God!)

Observing My Low Income, Unwed Niece NOT Being Able To Properly Care For Her Young Children Both Frustrates & Hurts Me Because Her Decision To Continue Having Babies Minus A Husband, Minus An Education & Minus Adequate Finances, Creates An Environment Lacking In Emotionally Stability For All Of Them.

In Most Cases Poverty Adversely Affects Young Children, Thereby Hindering Their Chances For Future Academic Success.

I Truly Love Children With All My Heart.

Especially My Niece's Children.

But A Woman's Right To Choose Should NOT Mean That Women Have The Right To Keep Having Children They Can NOT Properly Care For Via Government Assistance!!

Due To The Southern States Illegally Using Eugenics On Black Women & Mentally Retarded Women Against Their Will, Its Now Illegal For Any State To Force Any Woman To Use Birth Control Or Allow Physicians To Tie Her Fallopian Tubes.

However I Don't Agree!!

I Firmly Believe That If An Unwed, Normally Healthy Woman Living In Poverty & Receiving Government Assistance i.e., Welfare Checks (TANF), Food Stamps, Medicaid, Child Care Assistance, Section 8, etc., Refuses To Remain On Birth Control Or Get Her Fallopian Tubes Tied After 2 Or 3 Children Then Either Cut Off Their Assistance!!

Especially If Its Obvious Those Unwed, Normally Healthy Women Want To Continue Having Children To Keep A Boyfriend Or To Use As Pawns For More Food Stamps, Section 8 Housing, Welfare Payments, etc.,

Unfortunately North Carolina Is A State That Appears To Encourage Low Income, Unwed Mothers To Continue Having Children.

i.e., Human "Baby Factories"

Why?

For 2 Reasons:

Reason No. 1) To Procure Large Sums Of Federal Dollars Of Which Only A Very Small Amount Is Distributed To Those Low Income, Unwed Mothers Being Used As "Breeders".

i.e., Slave Chattel "Breeders"

The Rest Is Used By Our Governor & State Legislators To Provide A Higher Mode Of Living For North Carolina's Wealthy WHITE Citizens.

i.e., Better Roads & Highways, Nice Neighborhood Parks, Nice Business Establishments Versus Chicken Joints & ABC Stores, Nice, NEW Public Schools, NEW City Transit Buses, etc.,

So Instead Of Using Federal Funding (TANF) Allocated Specifically To Help Educate & Train Low Income, Unwed Mothers So They Can Become Productive, Self-Sufficient Residents Of North Carolina (Mostly BLACK) State Officials Award Wealthy White Citizens Who Pay Very Little State Income Taxes But That's Another Story For Another Day.

Reason No. 2) To Place THOUSANDS Of BLACK Children From Low Income Homes Headed By Single Mothers In FOSTER CARE Until They Are 21 For The Sole Purpose Of Getting Even More Federal Dollars To Spend On North Carolina's Wealthy WHITE Citizens.

Requiring Low Income, Unwed Mothers Who Rely On Government Assistance To Use Birth Control Or Lose Access To Government Assistance Would Prohibit States Like North Carolina From Profiteering Via Using Such Women As Human "Baby Factories", Thereby Eliminating The Horrible Practice Of Trading Babies For Federal Dollars.

Mainly BLACK Babies!

If You Think I Am Exaggerating About North Carolina's "Human Baby Factories" Crisis, Upon Reading The First Article Below You Will Learn That North Carolina Has One Of The HIGHEST Teen Pregnancy Rates In America!

Thus I Do Agree W/ The Obama Administration's Medical Advisory Panel's Recommendation That Contraceptives SHOULD Be Covered By Health Insurance Companies.

In Fact HIV Testing, HPV Vaccinations & Birth Control Should ALL Be Covered Because They Are Forms Of Preventive Medicine.

i.e., FREE! Completely Covered By Health Insurers!

This Includes MEDICAID Not Just Private Health Insurers.

If Health Insurance Companies & Medicaid Were To Allow Their Plan Premiums To Include Birth Control As Preventive Medicine For Female Patients, States Like North Carolina Would NOT Be Able To Encourage Low Income, Unwed BLACK Women To Breed Babies Like Animals.

Breeding Babies Like Animals To Obtain FAT Checks From The Federal Government!!

I Repeat: A Woman's Right To Choose Should NOT Mean That Women Have The Right To Keep Having Children They Can NOT Properly Care For Via Government Assistance And....

Abortion Is NOT An Appropriate Form Of Birth Control!

So Should Birth Control Be Categorized As A Form Of Preventive Medicine Requiring Health Insurance Companies To Include It In Premiums?

Yes!

Just My Opinion.




N.C. teen birth rate above national average

U.S. teen birth rates rose sharply in 2006, according to figures released Wednesday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ending a 14-year decline.

While U.S. teen birth rates remained the highest in the industrialized world, the long decline had amounted to a 45 percent reduction since 1991.

According to the figures for 2006, the latest year for which data are available, birth rates for teens ages 15-19 rose by 3.5 percent. This increase marks the largest growth in teen birth rates since 1989-90.

Analysts at liberal and conservative teen-pregnancy awareness groups had begun to notice the declines leveling off in recent years. Though dismayed, they weren't surprised by the upward spike.

The 2006 increase for teens 15-19 was from 40.5 per 1,000 to 41.9. The increases were greatest through the South and Southwest, and lowest in the Northeast.

Mississippi had the highest birth rate: 68.4 births per 1,000 teens ages 15-19. New Mexico and Texas trailed close behind.

New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts had the lowest birth rates. The only states with declines in teen birth rates from 2005 to 2006 were North Dakota, Rhode Island and New York.

North Carolina's rate was nearly 19 percent higher than the national average, according to the report. Like most states, North Carolina's teen pregnancy rate dropped from 1991 to 2005. But the number did grow 2 percent between 2005 and 2006 to 50 births per 1,000 teenage girls in the state.

North Carolina's 2007 official vital statistics showed even higher rates than the CDC report.

Statewide there were about 19,615 teen pregnancies, or 63 per 1,000 girls, according to the North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics.

That snapshot put the teen pregnancy rate for New Hanover County at 49, Brunswick County at 67 and Pender County at 51.

"It's a large number that we see throughout the year," Ellen Harrison, New Hanover County's school health supervisor, told members of the county's health board Wednesday.

Michael Carrera, the director of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs at the Children's Aid Foundation in New York City, blamed economic stagnation among low-income families, which, he said, led to indifference about contraception.

"It is one thing to know about contraception, but to want to use it, you must also have knowledge of a good life," he said.

Carrera and other teen-welfare specialists who favor sex education and contraception also think the hundreds of millions of dollars that the Bush administration invested in abstinence-only programs would have been better spent on their approach.

The school systems in Brunswick and Pender counties offer abstinence-only curriculums.

New Hanover County's schools have an abstinence-only curriculum as well as a more comprehensive sex education program, which includes discussion about birth control, as an elective for middle school students.

Janice Crouse, executive director of the Beverly LaHaye Institute, an alliance of conservative women, faulted an atmosphere of sexual tolerance, especially on campuses, where teens are "under the influence of peers, and under pressure to drink."









Panel Recommends Coverage for Contraception

A leading medical advisory panel recommended on Tuesday that all insurers be required to cover contraceptives for women free of charge as one of several preventive services under the new health care law.

Obama administration officials said that they were inclined to accept the panel’s advice and that the new requirements could take effect for many plans at the beginning of 2013. The administration signaled its intentions in January when Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, unveiled a 10-year program to improve the nation’s health. One goal was to “increase the proportion of health insurance plans that cover contraceptive supplies and services.”

Administration officials, who say they hope to act on the recommendations by Aug. 1, are receptive to the idea of removing cost as a barrier to birth control — a longtime goal of advocates for women’s rights and experts on women’s health.

But the recommendations immediately reignited debate over the government’s role in reproductive health. Women’s groups and medical professionals applauded the recommendations while the Roman Catholic Church raised strenuous objections.

The recommendations came in a report submitted to Ms. Sebelius by the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. The new health care law says insurers must cover “preventive health services” and cannot charge for them. Ms. Sebelius will decide on a minimum package of essential health benefits, and her decision will not require further action by Congress.

The panel said insurers should be forbidden to charge co-payments for contraceptives and other preventive services because even small charges could deter their use. The recommendation would not help women without insurance.

The administration asked the Institute of Medicine, a nonpartisan, nongovernmental arm of the National Academy of Sciences, to help identify the specific services that must be covered for women.

“This report is historic,” Ms. Sebelius said on Tuesday in accepting the document. “Before today, guidelines regarding women’s health and preventive care did not exist. These recommendations are based on science and existing literature.”

In addition to contraceptive services for women, the panel recommended that the government require health plans to cover screening to detect domestic violence; screening for H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS; and counseling and equipment to promote breastfeeding, including the free rental of breast pumps.

The panel also said all insurers should be required to cover screening for gestational diabetes in pregnant women; DNA testing for the human papillomavirus as part of cervical cancer screening; and annual preventive-care visits. Such visits could include prenatal care and preconception care, to make sure women are healthy when they become pregnant.

Defending its recommendations on contraceptive coverage, the panel said that nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States were unintended, and that about 40 percent of unintended pregnancies ended in abortion. Thus, it said, greater use of contraception would reduce the rates of unintended pregnancy, teenage pregnancy and abortion.

The chairwoman of the panel, Dr. Linda Rosenstock, dean of the School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles, said, “We did not consider cost or cost-effectiveness in our deliberations.”

But the panel’s report says that “contraception is highly cost-effective,” averting unintended pregnancies that would be far more expensive than contraception.

To reduce unintended pregnancies, the panel said, insurers should cover the full range of contraceptive methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration, as well as sterilization procedures and “education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity.”

This recommendation would require coverage of emergency contraceptives including pills like ella and Plan B, panel members said.

Under rules issued last year, many health plans are already required to cover numerous preventive services like blood pressure and cholesterol tests, colonoscopies and other cancer screenings, and routine vaccinations. A provision of the law drafted by Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, requires coverage of “additional preventive care and screenings” for women.

Most private insurance provides contraceptive coverage, but co-payments have increased in recent years, the panel said.

The report touched off a fierce debate Tuesday. Obstetricians, gynecologists, public health experts and Democratic women in Congress hailed the recommendations.

“We are one step closer to saying goodbye to an era when simply being a woman is treated as a pre-existing condition,” Ms. Mikulski said. “We are saying hello to an era where decisions about preventive care and screenings are made by a woman and her doctor, not by an insurance company.”

Representative Lois Capps, Democrat of California, said the recommendations would remove cost as a barrier to birth control — and in hard economic times like these, she said, cost can be a formidable barrier.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and some conservative groups, including the Family Research Council, denounced the recommendation on birth control.

“Pregnancy is not a disease, and fertility is not a pathological condition to be suppressed,” said Deirdre A. McQuade, a spokeswoman for the bishops’ Pro-Life Secretariat. “But the Institute of Medicine report treats them as such.”

Ms. McQuade expressed deep concern about requiring coverage of surgical sterilizations and contraceptive drugs and devices.

Jeanne Monahan, the director of the Center for Human Dignity at the Family Research Council, said: “Some people have moral or ethical objections to contraceptives. They should not be forced to violate their conscience by paying premiums to health plans that cover these items and services.”

One panel member, Prof. Anthony Lo Sasso, a health economist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, filed a dissent, saying the committee did not have enough time to conduct “a serious and systematic review” of the evidence.

The report, he said, includes “a mix of objective and subjective determinations filtered through a lens of advocacy.”


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Sources: CNN, Dr. Phil, MSNBC, NY Times, Star News Online, Wikipedia, Youtube, Google Maps

Harold Cogdell Humbles Jennifer Roberts: He's "Damn Tired Of Partisan Politics!"

Jennifer Roberts Remains Charlotte-Mecklenburg Co. Board Of County Commissioners Chair In Surprise Vote; Pendergraph Still Vice-Chair


Jennifer Roberts was unanimously re-elected as Mecklenburg County commissioners' chairman on Monday, overcoming a surprising effort to oust her from the position.

And in an unusual split in the leadership roles, Republican Jim Pendergraph was elected as Vice-Chairman of the county board.

The votes - which occurred during a swearing-in ceremony for the new nine-member board - came hours after Democrat Harold Cogdell told some commissioners that he thought he had enough votes to become chair instead of Roberts. Some said he struck a deal with the four GOP commissioners that would have also made Pendergraph the vice chair.

The apparent deal raised eyebrows because - with few exceptions - the chairmanship of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners has been held by the member of the majority party who received the most votes in the at-large race.

Roberts finished first in November's election, followed by Pendergraph and Cogdell.

On Monday, however, Republican Karen Bentley nominated Cogdell as chair.

Democrat George Dunlap was critical of the nomination and the reported deal between Cogdell and Republicans. At one point he said he would only vote for Cogdell as chair if he "denounced the Democrat party... and declare that he is a Republican."

But Cogdell said there was no deal-making and took himself out of the race. He then said he'd be willing to support Roberts as chair and Pendergraph for the number two leadership role.

Cogdell said the issue had never been about him being chair, and suggested he was only trying to send a message about how partisanship can hurt decision-making.

"Everything comes down to Partisan Politics," he said. "I'm sick and damned tired of Partisan Politics because what has happened is people aren't communicating anymore... No party has a monopoly on good decisions."

The discussion Monday night was at times heated and often confusing. At one point it was unclear if commissioners could continue debating on the chairmanship.

"And you wonder why I don't want to be chair," Cogdell said, drawing laughter.

Replied fellow Democrat Vilma Leake: "We don't want you, either."

Roberts, who earlier voiced concerns that board members had not approached her about any issues they had with her leadership, later thanked her colleagues for selecting her as chair.

"There is no one more surprised than I at this moment," Roberts said.

She also told Cogdell that if he had a point he wanted to make in the future, to give her a call.

Monday's swearing-in formally kicked off what will undoubtedly be another challenging year for the county.

Mecklenburg, as well as many other local governments, is still struggling with lingering effects from a recession that led to layoffs of county workers and deep cuts to services like schools and libraries.

Some have said it could be years before the county's tax revenues return to the levels of a few years ago. On top of that, the county in 2011 is resetting property values for the first time since 2003, with many homeowners worried about the impact on their tax bills.

Many commissioners said Monday that the board generally reaches bipartisan - and often unanimous - consensus on issues. But the board split along party lines this summer in approving the 2010-11 budget, and next year's budget also could be divisive.

During this year's elections, many Republican candidates said they wanted to find more ways to cut spending while setting a "revenue neutral" tax rate, where the county collects the same amount of money through property taxes as this year - even if tax valuations change.

But Democrats were leery of committing to any budget decisions, saying it could be months before the county gets numbers on property tax values and sales taxes.

On Monday, all commissioners forecast tough decisions for the board. Republican Neil Cooksey said the county had gotten rid of a lot of "low-hanging fruit" in the past two budgets, and said he'd like to do a department-by-department look at expenses.

Another issue looming in the next year will be how to redraw local election districts once the results of the 2010 Census come in.




Roberts "Mysteriously" Re-elected Commission Chair, Pendergraph Named Vice-Chair


Jennifer Roberts was unanimously elected chairman of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners tonight, overcoming an effort to nominate fellow Democrat Harold Cogdell to the post.

Also tonight, Republican Jim Pendergraph was elected vice chairman of the county board. This is Pendergraph's first term as commissioner.

Roberts admitted her re-election tonight came as a surprise, because Cogdell was believed to be making a run for the top leadership role on the board. Some commissioners said Cogdell had agreed to support Pendergraph as vice chair if the board's four Republicans backed him as chair. But Cogdell said tonight there was no deal made.

Cogdell was nominated for chair tonight by Republican Karen Bentley, but asked that his name be withdrawn.

Republican Neil Cooksey then nominated Roberts as chair, Pendergraph as vice chair.




Cogdell To Colleagues: "I Have Votes To Unseat Roberts"


Hours before tonight's vote on who will lead Mecklenburg County commissioners, commissioner Harold Cogdell Jr. has told two colleagues that he appears to have the votes to unseat chairman - and fellow Democrat - Jennifer Roberts.

"He has decided that he's going to seek the chairmanship ... and he thinks he has the votes for it," Democratic commissioner Dumont Clarke told the Observer.

Cogdell, who previously served as commissioners' vice chair, could not be reached.

On a board that will have five Democrats and four Republicans, Cogdell has apparently been trying to line up the GOP votes in a deal that would make Republican Jim Pendergraph vice chair.

Commissioner George Dunlap said Cogdell told him today he would vote for Pendergraph if the board Republicans back Cogdell as chair.

Pendergraph said today he expects Cogdell to win.

"I'm probably going to vote for Harold," he said. "We're all smart enough we can add to five. No one's going to challenge someone unless they feel they can win. And I'd be surprised if he doesn't."

Roberts said this afternoon she still hadn't heard from Cogdell, despite having left several messages.

"It's all up to Harold," she said when asked about her chances of re-election.

Roberts, the leading vote-getter in last month's election, is trying to win a third term as chair. It was unclear today how the votes will fall.

Democrat Vilma Leake, who said she was "still praying" over the decision, said she's "going to do what's right."

On her Facebook page, Roberts has said she hoped Cogdell would not give in to "a personal power play."

In a Sunday post, she added: "I have been re-reading Julius Caesar to remind myself that ambition is as old as mankind. I will continue to stay strong no matter what happens, and to know that there is a higher power than any of this earthly stuff."





Jennifer Roberts, Part Of The Problem


I think I’m done cutting Roberts any slack on this DSS mess. For her to obstruct and slam the attempts of other commissioners to find out what is going on with county’s massive, $200m. DSS operation is too much.

And for Roberts to suggest that a closed session airing of DSS’s dirty laundry is not her preferred way to go is an insult to the intelligence of all Mecklenburg County taxpayers.

The only reason Commissioner Bill James and the other GOPers are suggesting the closed session route is in response the “disclosure” stonewall County Manager Harry Jones has erected around the investigation — a construction effort aided and abetted by Jennifer Roberts. Fine. Let’s hear DSS chief Mary Wilson answer questions in open session. Super. Next.

It will also be interesting to see if Commissioner George Dunlap’s confirmation that a federal grand jury probe is underway of DSS shakes anything new loose. Why it took a full month for the probe’s existence to be reported remains a mystery, but at least everyone in town has caught up to the story.

However, it would be wrong to assume that the probe will result in any indictments, both as a matter of fairness and institutional inertia. Prosecutors are political animals and will require some slam-dunk, smoking gun type evidence of wrongdoing for them to move on a DSS devoid, until very recently, of adult supervision of its funds.

On the third hand, not all gross mismanagement rises to the level of criminality. This is why the county commission must itself reestablish public trust in one of its largest ongoing budget expenses. Jennifer Roberts needs to help that process or get out of the way.




Jennifer Roberts Warns Harold Cogdell Of "Implications" If He Tries To Take Her Seat

In a surprise move, Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Commissioner Harold Cogdell is apparently trying to unseat fellow Democrat Jennifer Roberts as board chair by striking a deal with Republicans.

The maneuvering carries implications beyond the chairman title. Roberts sent commissioners an e-mail this week asking them to avoid "back room" negotiations in which they would support board members for a leadership post in exchange for votes on budget spending priorities.

On Friday, Roberts said Cogdell has promised Republicans he would vote to make Republican Jim Pendergraph vice chair if they support his bid for chairman. Democrats hold a 5-4 majority on the panel.



"Harold Cogdell will come round to realize that now is not the time for a personal power play," Roberts said on her Facebook page. "It is not time to be divisive and to succumb to personal ambition and backroom deal making that does not serve those who elected us."

Cogdell declined comment. Pendergraph, Mecklenburg's former sheriff who won his seat in November, also refused to discuss the matter.

"We'll have to see how it plays out," Pendergraph said before declining further comment.

Commissioners will reorganize the board, electing a chair and vice chair, during a meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the Government Center, 600 E. Fourth St.

The commission chair, typically the most visible leader of the majority party, will help set Mecklenburg's agenda as the county confronts budget deficits and resets property values for the first time since 2003. The position pays $27,962, about $5,000 more than pay for other commissioners.

Cogdell's challenge represents a potential setback for Roberts, who has been board chair for four years. On Thursday, she said she had met recently with the board Democrats and all of them - including Cogdell - pledged to reappoint her. But Roberts said neither Cogdell nor board Republicans have returned phone calls.

She said if Cogdell wins, it would serve as a distraction to commissioners and erode trust with the public, since Roberts was the top vote-getter in the November general election. Cogdell finished third behind Pendergraph.

Historically, Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Commissioners have selected the candidate receiving the most votes as chair and the second-place finisher from the majority party as vice chair.

But a break with tradition is not unprecedented. In 1997, commissioner Hoyle Martin helped oust fellow Democrat Parks Helms as chairman and won the vice chair post for himself. Republican Tom Bush replaced Helms.

Four years ago, Helms said he wanted to serve as board chair, despite Roberts' winning the most votes in the at-large race. Roberts said she met twice with Helms before he withdrew from consideration.

An attorney and former Charlotte city councilman, Cogdell won his seat on the board of commissioners in 2008, and served as board vice chair, even though fellow Democrat Dan Murrey finished with more votes.

On Monday, Roberts sent an e-mail to commissioners saying she would vote for Cogdell to remain vice chair. "We trust and understand each other," Roberts wrote. She also said Pendergraph wants to claim the post.

Her e-mail also warned commissioners against secret deal-making.

"I understand there has been back room conversation about Vice Chair," Roberts wrote. "There may be promises being made but I would encourage everyone to remain flexible on any budget promises, as there is so much we do not know yet about our challenges ahead."

On Friday, Roberts said she was "disappointed" Cogdell would challenge her for the chair position.

"There will be implications he has not considered," she said. "I am hoping he will change his mind."





The DSS Mystery: Where Did Money Go?


Internal e-mails reveal new allegations of misspending at the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services, raising more unanswered questions about what happened to money intended to help needy children.

Some of the more than 1,000 e-mails the Observer obtained through a public records request provide the most detailed account to date about the agency's accounting fiasco.

E-mails show:

Officials suspected an employee wrote $80,000 in checks to herself from donations.

An administrator questioned why other donations were used to buy $340 diamond earrings, leather coats and a $300 DVD player.

A top executive complained that a senior fiscal administrator frustrated co-workers with her "inability to explain the simplest concepts of revenue and expenses."

After nearly a year, officials have never said who was at fault for $162,000 that disappeared or whether anyone was disciplined.

No one has been charged in an ongoing police investigation and a county report says officials cannot be certain where the money went.

Meanwhile, donors are left to wonder whether their generosity ever helped buy Christmas gifts for those in need.

In one e-mail, a woman describes calling the county in 2007 to give $900 for single mothers at Christmas. The person who answered the phone told her to make a check payable to the worker's sister.

The donor said she grew suspicious and made the check out to the county, but the idea that it may still have been misused is "like a kick in the stomach."

In another e-mail, a founder of Second String Santa said he was concerned whether kids received the more than 50,000 toys his group had donated since 1989.

Will Miller said he believes some of the toys reached children, but he's not sure about the rest.

"Will we ever know? Probably not," he said.

Two commissioners said they have asked county administrators for a full accounting of what went wrong at DSS but have yet to receive answers. County officials have never explained who was responsible, they said.

"To fix it, you have to admit all the stuff that is messed up," Commissioner Bill James said. "They don't want to do too much digging."

County administrators declined interview requests. Instead, a county spokesman released a prepared statement saying appropriate fiscal controls have been installed in response to an outside audit and an internal investigation.

"Our review of the e-mails we provided and your follow up questions did not reveal any new information that would suggest any change in the audit findings or in management's response to those findings," the statement said.

Some commissioners said they have been told that the employees involved have either left county government or been placed in new positions.

Unusual spending patterns

DSS spends $176 million annually and employs 1,200 workers to assist Mecklenburg's poor and neglected. The agency administers everything from food stamps to foster care and child protection services.

Last spring, DSS Director Mary Wilson ordered financial audits following reports of suspicious spending.

Auditors looked at multiple spending programs and financial practices in the agency. They found a $10,000 check made out to an employee, missing and altered receipts and money for kids spent on office supplies.

County leaders responded by suspending the programs, putting DSS finance under direct county control, training workers on accounting procedures and ordering a review of financial procedures in each county agency.

The Observer reviewed e-mails dating from December 2008 to July 2009 for seven current and former county administrators, including Wilson, County Manager Harry Jones, County Finance Director Dena Diorio and Internal Auditor Cornita Spears.

E-mails show county officials noticed unusual spending patterns as early as last December but did not disclose problems to the public until March.

On New Year's Eve, Wilson told staff she had suspended a voucher program the agency used to purchase clothes and other items for clients at local stores. She wrote that officials were worried about a lack of oversight and a spike in spending.

One monthly retail bill leapt from between $5,000 and $6,000 to more than $20,000 in October 2008, the e-mail says. Employees turned in receipts only 30 to 35 percent of the time, she wrote.

At one time or another, workers possessed or had access to numerous credit cards and gift cards, including some to Bath & Body Works, Bass Pro Shops, Macy's, the Cheesecake Factory and Outback Steakhouse.

Outside auditors verified for county administrators that DSS workers possessed county-issued credit cards, including 10 credit cards for Sam's Club, three for Harris Teeter and an online charge account with amazon.com.

In February, county officials asked internal auditors to look into questionable spending, including purchases of diamond earrings, leather coats and a DVD player.

An e-mail to one of the auditors from a human resources consultant said the purchases raise "many questions and concerns."

According to the county's statement, most gifts were typical children's items such as toys, clothes and books. More expensive items such as diamond earrings and leather coats were approved purchases for foster children who reached special milestones like high school graduation, the statement says.

"Receiving a gift of some significant value was viewed as an incentive for other children who were in foster care to set goals and accomplish them," the statement said.

Commissioner Harold Cogdell said he spent part of his early childhood in foster care and believes the gifts are a good idea.

"It makes sense to me to show the kids some love," Cogdell said.

A new accountant

DSS has endured multiple management shakeups in recent years. The latest came when Wilson reorganized the agency after she was hired in July 2008.

She laid out the reasons to hire a new finance director in a February e-mail.

Wilson wrote that the senior fiscal administrator who managed DSS finances failed to provide reports about oversight, alienated staff and lacked the ability to conduct productive discussions with senior county executives. The e-mail does not name the senior fiscal administrator.

DSS later hired accountant Angela Hurlburt to oversee its finances.

James, the commissioner, said he has asked for the names and background information on Hurlburt's predecessors. He wants them to answer questions from the Board of Commissioners' Audit Review Committee, which investigated accounting lapses at DSS.

He said administrators have failed to respond to his requests and complained that officials "keep us in the dark."

Other commissioners disagreed.

Chairman Jennifer Roberts and Commissioner Dumont Clarke said county leaders have already put in place reforms that will protect taxpayer and donor money.

"The highest priority" is implementing new financial controls, Clarke said.

Shifting the finances

Auditors from Cherry, Bekaert & Holland reviewed DSS and found that Mecklenburg officials responded appropriately. The county's Audit Review Committee came to the same conclusion.

But DSS Director Wilson bristled at one of the major reforms.

Leaders put DSS finance under the direct control of the county's main finance department after allegations of misspending surfaced.

In April, Wilson sent an e-mail to County General Manager Michelle Lancaster to complain. Calling the decision "premature" and "shortsighted," Wilson said there are emergencies when DSS workers must write checks immediately, including occasions when the agency takes children in custody who need clothes, toiletries and school supplies.

"I understand the urgency at the time, but there was a reason DSS had check writing capability and I think we threw the baby out with the bathwater instead of fixing the underlying issue, which is documentation and accountability," Wilson wrote.

Donors left with questions

Past supporters of the DSS Christmas charity include Young Lawyers, employees of Wachovia and Bank of America, and Project Joy, the holiday fund drive initiated by Observer columnist Tommy Tomlinson. The Christmas charity, known as the Giving Tree, is now run by the Salvation Army.

The donor who gave $900 e-mailed the county in July after learning about accounting failures from news accounts. She attached a picture of the check copy she made around Christmas in 2007.

She wrote that she did not remember the name of the woman she spoke with on the phone.

The donor said she and her family all pitched in to raise the money so she could assist women like her who had struggled as single mothers.

When she heard there were allegations of misspending in a DSS charity program, "It's like your stomach just drops."






Federal Grand Jury Investigating Charlotte-Mecklenburg County DSS


A grand jury is investigating the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services, which has faced scrutiny over accounting practices and spending since early this year, two county commissioners said Monday.

Commissioner George Dunlap said the grand jury has been looking into whether crimes were committed by employees.

Commissioner Bill James said board members were told last month that a federal grand jury is investigating. He refused further comment on the topic, saying commissioners were instructed by a county attorney not to discuss specifics.

The county ordered an audit of the Giving Tree after a DSS employee raised questions about spending at the Christmas charity for needy children. The county discovered checks written out to a county employee who volunteered with the program, as well as money issued to the sister of another employee.

County spokesman Danny Diehl said officials cannot confirm whether a federal grand jury is involved, but said the county "is cooperating with law enforcement to complete the investigation."

The county has asked Charlotte-Mecklenburg police to investigate. A police spokesperson on Monday said their work is ongoing.

Other commissioners reached Monday would not comment on work by authorities. "I want the investigation to have the best possible outcome, said board Chair Jennifer Roberts. "So I am unable to discuss it in the interest of not impeding the work of law enforcement."

In the meantime, James and fellow Republican commissioners Karen Bentley and Neil Cooksey want the county board to meet next week to learn more about ongoing probes.

"There are facts we don't have," James said. "I am just concerned there is stuff even senior management doesn't know."

Diehl said the county will respond to any questions the board has about the DSS audits. "The board has received reports and been briefed on all aspects of the DSS audits that are available to the county manager and staff."

The developments follow Observer stories on Sunday detailing a 74-page memo from a former county employee who headed the Giving Tree. Cindy Brady, who retired from the county in August, wrote she was never given a chance to talk at length about how the charity worked, despite requests to do so.

Brady said the county advanced her as much as $198,000 since 2005 with the approval of her supervisors. Brady said she spent the money on gifts for needy children, but says she did not collect all of her receipts, and some were handwritten or lost.

County leaders say they can account for how about $162,000 was spent by the Giving Tree last year.

But audit reports acknowledge numerous problems with receipts and other documents to track expenses and cited inadequate oversight and controls of the program by management.

The county has announced a number of changes in response to the charity audit and reviews of other DSS spending, including putting department finances under control of the county finance office and re-training DSS employees in financial practices and procedures.

The agency employs about 1,200, with a current annual budget of $176 million.

Brady's memo, dated July 29 and sent to a human resources manager, criticized county investigators for not interviewing her during the audit investigation. The county's former Internal Audit Director Cornita Spears said she first read the memo last month, and it led her to revise her earlier report to include about $33,000 Brady said she returned to the county earlier this year.

County Manager Harry Jones suspended Spears last month over the error.

Why James wants meeting

James cited the Observer story in explaining his reasons for calling the new discussions on DSS. He said he wants to give disgruntled employees a venue to air grievances. For months, James said, commissioners have been deluged with anonymous complaint letters from people who only identify themselves as current and former agency workers.

Some apparently won't divulge their names because they fear retaliation from superiors, James said.

The proposal requests that the board discuss the DSS issues on Dec. 17, with portions of the meeting to be held behind closed doors. It asks that DSS Director Mary Wilson appear to the meeting, and that other department employees be made available.

It also requests that former Giving Tree employees be invited to talk, including former county general manager Janice Allen Jackson, who briefly led DSS on an interim basis until Wilson was hired last year.

Neither Jackson nor Brady could be reached for comment Monday.

The proposal also wants Jones to provide in open session a detailed list of gifts bought with Giving Tree money and information on all items from the charity now in county inventory.

It also asks for copies of all internal memos produced by internal audit and county management involving the Giving Tree.

The county publicly released a three-page report in June and a follow-up report last month. The Observer has requested a longer report by Spears multiple times since July, but the county has said personnel laws bar them from releasing the document.

In order to hold the Dec. 17 meeting, at least five commissioners would have to agree. At least two of the six Democrats would have to sign on.

Roberts, Dunlap and Vilma Leake said they want to hear more about what the commissioners are trying to accomplish in holding the meeting before they can decide whether to support it. However, Roberts questioned whether meeting in closed session was the best approach, and said she is "distressed" that the board Republicans did not talk to her before putting the item on next week's agenda.

Dumont Clarke said he's inclined "to be as transparent and public as possible about this issue and do as little as possible behind closed doors."

Commissioners Harold Cogdell and Dan Murrey did not respond to requests for comments.

Cooksey said his constituents are demanding the board take a "more active role in getting to the bottom of this."

Cooksey disagreed with commissioners who have said they county is spending too much time on the issue and should not look into anonymous complaints.

"When you have issues swirling around, you can't ignore it," Cooksey said. "We have an obligation to see if these allegations have any truth to them or not."








Memo: Money Flowed, No Questions Asked


A former Department of Social Services employee at the center of a charity probe says the county advanced her as much as $198,000 since 2005 with the approval of her supervisors.

The county checks, which she deposited in her personal bank account, were meant to provide gifts for needy children, according to an internal memo the Observer obtained. The 74-page document was written by Cindy Brady, the former DSS employee who ran the Giving Tree charity.

The document paints the defunct charity in more detail than the county has released publicly. It also raises new questions about the investigation, which the county has turned over to police.

The county has never publicly identified Brady or released the full internal audit of the Giving Tree, which the county maintains are both prohibited under personnel law.

The county also has said that all expenditures were accounted for - a fact that the former internal audit director now disputes. Cornita Spears, who was disciplined for a flawed review of the Giving Tree, says the county can't be sure of how $108,000 of $162,000 was spent in 2008.

Brady said the investigation has focused on her spending, which she defended as appropriate. But she acknowledged she fell behind in collecting receipts last year, and some were handwritten, damaged or lost.

Her memo and statements from current and former employees describe a popular Christmas charity that operated for years without accepted standards or accountability. The county has said DSS has not been audited comprehensively since 1996.

The memo, dated July 29, was sent to a county human resources manager, but it's unclear who read it and when.

County spokesman Danny Diehl would not say if County Manager Harry Jones has read it, citing personnel law. Three county commissioners listed as recipients said they have not seen it.

Former Internal Audit Director Spears said she first received the document in November, five months after she released her audit of the program.

Spears said Brady's memo had enough evidence to cause her to revise her June report, and she now says she wishes she had seen it earlier. Spears said personnel rules prevented her from interviewing Brady. Brady wrote in the memo that she wanted to talk but was "given no opportunity for input or clarification."

She said in her memo that some receipts were either lost in a rainstorm or shredded by her dog. Original receipts also remain missing, including some for more than $2,200 spent for the charity at an Old Navy store, the document says.

The county has asked the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police to investigate the Giving Tree and help retrieve receipts from vendors.

Contacted by the Observer, current and former DSS administrators named in the memo supported Brady's description of how the program operated, though one former director said fiscal controls were appropriate under his watch.

Brady's attorney has said Brady is cooperating with a police investigation. Brady, a 20-year county social worker who retired in August, declined to comment for this story.

Suspicious spending

Organizers launched the Giving Tree nearly two decades ago to provide toys, clothing and other gifts to foster children.

The program relied on donations of money and gifts. Past supporters include Second String Santa, Young Lawyers, employees of Wachovia and Bank of America and Project Joy, a fundraiser set up by Observer columnist Tommy Tomlinson. Brady said financial contributions began to grow after Tomlinson became involved.

Officials collected more than 8,400 gifts last Christmas.

But Department of Social Services Director Mary Wilson got a tip earlier this year about suspicious spending and ordered financial audits of the Giving Tree and other programs. Wilson declined to comment through a spokesperson.

E-mails previously obtained by the Observer have shown officials suspected an employee received $80,000 in checks from Giving Tree donations.

Officials also investigated whether an employee's sister got money to buy gifts. Questions were also raised over purchases of diamond earrings, leather coats and a DVD player.

Auditors found numerous accounting failures across the department. County officials suspended some programs and put the agency's finances under direct county control. Officials retrained workers on accounting rules, including the use of restricted purchasing cards.

More oversight

County records show the Department of Social Services wrote checks to Brady totaling more than $176,000 during a three-year period that ended in June 2009. Brady's memo reflects that about $126,000 was for the Christmas program last year, but the county records didn't say how much of the remaining money was for the charity.

The agency also gave another woman about $8,000, records show. Brady's memo identifies her as the sister of an administrator who helped oversee the Giving Tree.

The administrator's sister used her employee discount at Belk Department Store in Brevard, in Western North Carolina, to purchase gifts for the charity, according to the memo and an accompanying letter from the store's manager.

The woman could not be reached for comment.

Jones said officials have strengthened supervisory oversight and clarified employee rules, responsibilities and requirements.

Ward Simmons is a citizen member of the county commission's Audit Review Committee, which investigated accounting failures in DSS. He said that regardless of whether the county explicitly spells out procedures for handling donations, employees have a responsibility to remain diligent in bookkeeping.

"There exist certain standards of prudent behavior that any employee who handles money should adhere to," Simmons said. "If someone else is not using good judgment it's not a license for a second person to do the same."

Lost, damaged receipts

Brady's report contains photocopies of checks she returned to the county, pictures of torn store receipts, a detailed accounting of more than 40 transactions, and her positive performance evaluations.

Her memo says 10 bags of clothing were purchased at an Old Navy store for $2,222. The clothes were put in a room with donated toys, but the original receipts are lost, she said.

Brady wrote that receipts were lost or damaged on hundreds of dollars worth of items from Belk, Coldwater Creek, Target and Kohl's.

Brady also wrote that for years workers did not inventory donated items individually. Storage rooms contained jewelry, music players, a home theater system and toys. She defended purchasing expensive items, saying some children overcame obstacles to graduate from high school, college or find a job.

Brady said she asked the county in February to do an inventory of the items stored at Walton Plaza, a government building on the edge of uptown.

But she said she received a phone call days later from another social worker who told her a county auditor looked at a room of clothing and said she wasn't going to inventory the items because there was "too much stuff," the memo states.

Diehl said items bought with Giving Tree donations are secure and DSS staff conducted an inventory after the audit.

Brady said after a February meeting where she was first questioned about Giving Tree spending, she was told to bring in receipts showing how money advanced to her was spent.

In the following weeks, she said she kept updating the information, and returned $33,000 in money that she hadn't spent.

Internal audit

Spears, the former internal audit director, recently said her June report on the Giving Tree failed to account for money returned by Brady. Spears was suspended last month after acknowledging the error. At the time, Jones said the auditor failed to consider information that had been available before the June report.

Spears said she discovered the oversight after receiving the Brady memo on Nov. 11 from someone in the county manager's office who asked her to review it.

There are "inconsistencies" between the information used to conduct the audit and statements contained in Brady's memo, Spears said.

One example, she said, involves an $11,000 check Brady wrote to the county. Spears said in an interview she was informed that the check was for repayment of personal purchases.

But Brady's memo states that $10,000 of the amount was unspent money from the program, Spears said.

She said she performed a thorough investigation, given the circumstances. It would have been helpful, Spears said, to interview Brady for "clarification" on some issues.

Brady said she was placed on nondisciplinary suspension in February. On March 9, she was placed on medical leave and remained on leave until she retired.

Diehl, the county spokesman, said the county typically tries to contact workers involved in internal audits or human resources investigations.

But he said exceptions may be granted in some cases, such as if an employee is on leave. "Requiring an employee on leave to participate in work-related functions, including investigation interviews, would constitute a county violation of the employee's leave status," Diehl wrote in the county statement.

In recent weeks, Jones and some county commissioners have said the Giving Tree investigation has been handled appropriately.

County commission chairman Jennifer Roberts said she is confident in Jones' assessment that the county knows how last year's donations were spent. She said the county has receipts, possession of items purchased, and returned checks.

But Roberts acknowledged that some receipts may have been altered and have missing dates and store names.

Commissioner Bill James said statements in Spears' audit report about the poor condition of receipts or other documentation makes it inaccurate to say the county has accounted for all of the expenditures. "The central question I have asked since this started was how much of the $162,000 made it to the children or needy," James said. "That question hasn't been answered."

Asked about questions that the county can account for all of last year's donations, Spears said: "From an auditing standpoint, it's not accounted for. You have to have reliable documentation."

Scapegoat?

The Observer sought comment from the roughly two dozen current and former DSS employees named in the memo. Most declined to comment or could not be reached.

Five corroborated Brady's account. None said they witnessed any wrongdoing in the program.

Polly Needham, a former DSS administrator who helped oversee the Giving Tree, said she anticipates that police will interview her. In her eight years with the program, Needham said DSS finance administrators always approved how Brady and others handled donations.

"Cindy is an honest person," Needham said. "We tried to follow the rules."

Robert McCarter, a former DSS attorney and volunteer for the Christmas charity, said he believes DSS is trying to cover up how little oversight the agency provided the program.

"There was no accounting," McCarter said. "This is the county finding a scapegoat and it is Cindy."

Darryl German, an administrative assistant for DSS who volunteered with the Giving Tree program for five years, said Brady still has broad support in the agency and many people are angry over her departure.

"I have never seen anything at all" that would be considered inappropriate, German said. "It's all been blown out of proportion."

For years, he said the program operated without any complaints about how donations and money were handled. German said it was "common" for employees to receive advance money to purchase items for clients and then submit receipts.

The county no longer runs the program, which has been taken over by the Salvation Army, but he said residents still call to inquire about donating items.

Donald Bynum, who led the Giving Tree program in the early 1990s, said he is sure Brady handled donations appropriately, but disagreed with her description of lax accounting.

In 1992, members of Second String Santa, a nonprofit that holds an annual fundraiser benefiting the program, questioned how donations were handled and feared they did not reach foster children, Bynum said. The group threatened to stop giving donations to the program, he said.

Bynum said he responded by implementing a new inventory system and making sure gifts were placed in a secure area. Organizers then compiled a report each year to show Second String Santa how donations were used, he said.

"I was proud of how we handled the program," Bynum said.

Brady wrote that she was also proud of her work. She cited a passage from a performance evaluation that said "she is an excellent ambassador for the agency."

"My job was to do what I could to get the most we could for our children with the money we had to spend," Brady wrote. "It was someone else's job to monitor the financial end of the process."


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Sources: Charmeck.org, John Locke Foundation, McClatchy Newspapers, Meck Deck Blog, WCNC, Google Maps