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Teen under DHS care: A fugitive
A caseworker told the agency she saw the youth regularly. Police said he was on the run part of that time, sought in two slayings.
The MultiEthnic progress report, which covers the period from May 8 to Aug. 7, lists two DHS employees who were overseeing the case - caseworker James Butler and supervisor Jeanette Pringle. Butler did not return a voice mail left at the office.
Arthur C. Evans Jr., acting DHS commissioner, called the matter "very troubling."
He said the agency would look at this and other cases as part of an internal review of how it monitors contractors. A separate city-state panel will review DHS operations.
MultiEthnic's billings will be audited by the state Department of Public Welfare, officials said.
Evans noted that his predecessor, Cheryl Ransom-Garner, who was forced to resign Oct. 20, had terminated the contract and had begun moving the children to other providers. And when Evans took over, he moved 109 children who were still supervised by MultiEthnic to other providers, he said.
In an interview Friday, Ransom-Garner said that after the Kelly death she reviewed all active cases handled by MultiEthnic."We had concerns about several," she said, including both the Kelly and Burke cases.
Evans said he had not seen that review. He declined to discuss what other specific issues had arisen with MultiEthnic.
Contact staff writer Ken Dilanian at 215-854-4779 or kdilanian@phillynews.com.
Inquirer staff writer Vernon Clark contributed to this article.
