DCF client got preferential treatment, paper reports
By Associated Press
Published August 17, 2004
TALLAHASSEE - After a Department of Children and Families supervisor and House Speaker Johnnie Byrd's office pressured department officials, a client was put at the top of a 15,500-person waiting list and offered services, a newspaper reported Monday.
An inspector general's report said DCF disability bureau chief Susan Kaempfer "abused her authority" and violated DCF rules by approving services for the client after other department officials denied the request.
The other officials determined that the disabled person was not "in crisis," and therefore not eligible for immediate services, according to the report. The client was not identified in the report obtained by the Miami Herald.
The inspector general said the client "received special consideration" over others on the list.
The community-based services were created to help people with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, autism and other genetic disorders.
The report recommended that the DCF "take appropriate corrective personnel actions."
"We are currently formulating disciplinary actions," DCF spokesman Bob Brooks said Monday.
A legislative aide in Byrd's office made routine calls to DCF for a constituent, but Byrd never contacted the agency, said Wayne Garcia, Byrd's campaign manager.
