Trouble at Developmental Services
AUGUST 25, 2010
By ANTHONY PIGNATARO
This should sound familiar to many people. “(T)here is not really any communication between staff and upper management,” one employee said. “A lot of us are angry and hurt about the way the management seems to be unscathed by the budget, and yet they tell us to ‘hang in there,’ and they are ‘sorry’ we can’t have a raise.”
Those are strong, disheartening sentiments for any organization, but in this case the employee is a retired staffer from one of the 21 regional centers operated by the state Department of Developmental Services (DDS). The centers provide care and services for an estimated 240,000 developmentally disabled people across the state – nearly 60 percent of which aren’t yet 21. And according to a new report from the California State Auditor (which included the above quote), relations between management and staff at the clinics are about as dysfunctional as you can get.
“Almost half of the roughly 400 regional center employees who responded to our survey do not feel safe to report suspected improprieties,” the Aug. 24 Auditor’s report noted. “Also, many indicated that the regional centers do not create an atmosphere of mutual trust or establish open communication.”
This is apparently not a new problem. In fact, for Robert Hazard – a past president of the Parents’ Coordinating Council at the DDS’ Lanterman Developmental Center in Pomona – such criticism brings back a fairly distant memory.
“That was what happened to my daughter-in-law about 12 years ago,” Hazard, who also has a 51-year-old developmentally disabled sister, said. “She worked at a group home for developmentally disabled young people in the Bay Area. She was there about a year, but she realized that she needed more intense training. ‘I’m just a babysitter,’ she told me. ‘I can’t accommodate their needs.’ But no one listened to her, and she quit in frustration. And she was hesitant to report it because of retaliation.”
The California Disabilities Services Association, a lobbying group for a hundred developmentally disabled service providers statewide, also had a harsh reaction to the Auditor’s report. “Even more disturbing, the report found a large number of Regional Center employees are afraid to speak up when they see improper activities or abuses,” CDSA executive director Christopher Rice said in an Aug. 24 statement. “That fear fosters a dangerous culture in a system that is responsible for administering critically needed services for Californians with disabilities. CDSA strongly urges the State Legislature to strengthen whistleblower protections and take immediate steps to reduce bureaucratic waste by implementing more transparency and stricter oversight within the Department.”
The DDS, which has a $4 billion budget, dates back to the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Act of 1969 (named for Frank D. Lanterman, the Republican senator from Pasadena who pushed hard for the legislation). That act set up 21 “regional centers” – non-profit, private entities spread across the state that provided care for those suffering mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism and other similar conditions. On paper, at least, such decentralization – allowing patients to live in their own neighborhoods, rather than giant hospitals – was and remains somewhat revolutionary, especially for a public agency. “Together these services are meant to meet the unique needs and choices of each consumer so that he or she may live as independently as possible and participate in the mainstream life of the community in which he or she resides,” the state Auditor reported.
But the auditor also found that a number of the centers were not adhering to proper contracting and vendor procedures. Where expenditures were concerned, the auditor found “they did not always maintain documentation of their processes.” Rates for services seemed to vary widely, in some instances giving the appearance of “favoritism or fiscal irresponsibility.” Many centers award contracts without competitive processes. Written policies concerning contracts and rate agreements were also rare: “One regional center paid a vendor almost $1 million through a rate agreement without adequately specifying the deliverables to be received,” the auditor noted.
For the most part, the DDS generally agreed with the auditor’s recommendations. But in its official response to the report the department insisted that the Lanterman Act restricted its ability to control the actions of the regional centers.
“While DDS provides oversight through a variety of monitoring and auditing functions, its ability to direct the service delivery activities of the 21 contracted not-for-profit regional centers is limited by statute and court order,” department Director Terri Delgadillo wrote in an Aug. 16 letter to Chief Deputy State Auditor Doug Cordiner. Delgadillo said there are “separate and distinct roles and responsibilities” for the DDS and the centers. “This distinction is best summarized in an Attorney General opinion that concluded the responsibility of DDS is ‘basically limited to promoting the cost effectiveness of the operations of the regional centers, and does not extend to the control of the manner in which the regional centers provide services or in general operate their programs.’”
As for the management-staff problems at the regional centers, Delgadillo also noted that stress caused by recent budget cuts is taking its toll. “(T)he budget for developmental services since 2008-09 has remained relatively flat, while caseload in the community has increased by over 6 percent in the same period,” she noted in her Aug. 16 letter.
Budget cuts and increased caseload are certainly part of the problem, but don’t explain the underlying conflict in the numerous instances of actual management-staff strife uncovered by the auditor’s office. In fact, the auditor’s office went so far as to single out two centers – Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino and Valley Mountain Regional Center in Stockton as being especially problematic. “These two regional centers have internal complaint processes, but most employees do not feel secure using them,” the auditor noted.
In fact, one troubling incident at Inland – sourced to an unnamed officer at the center – describes serious attempts by management to intimidate staff and deserves to be quoted at length:
“(C)ertain employees had their laptops stolen and the police were called in to investigate. The police set up a confidential hotline for employees to call and share anything about the incident they might know. In a meeting with the chiefs, the former director laid an envelope on the table and stated that the envelope contained records of all the Inland employees that used the Inland phone system to call the confidential hotline. I felt at the time that this was an inappropriate display of intimidation and should not have been said. Further, if such a phone-call review was performed, I believe it undermined the police’s efforts to establish a communication channel that was confidential.”
Asked for more detail on how the department will address such problems issues, DDS Deputy Director Rita Walker insisted that the department is “very open to receiving complaints” and is pushing a new policy of openness and transparency when dealing with staff concerns.
“We formalized that process,” she said. “We’re putting our whistleblower complaint process in writing on our Web site. And we sent a directive out to the regional centers saying to post it on their Web sites.”
When asked why the auditor’s office might have singled out the two centers in their report, Walker didn’t really have an answer. “I can’t really speak to that,” she said. “But by having our policy formalized and posted, we believe it will remedy this issue.”
Of course, even the new DDS emphasis on openness has its limits. When asked if the auditor’s report surprised anyone at the department, Walker responded with a terse “no comment.”
96 comments
Write a commentRelated Articles
L.A. Controller’s audit reveals overtime pay abuse
Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin released an audit on Tuesday outlining excessive overtime use in the Department of Transportation. The
In reform showdown, who does Obama administration target? Disabled CA students
During the budget theater of recent months, the Obama administration’s ruthless determination to make cuts hurt the public was on
Worst-case scenarios for CalSTRS and CalPERS
Sometimes it’s good to consider worst-case scenarios. Maybe they won’t even happen, but it can help to look at every possibility.
Inland Regional is being singled out because it is the most egregious. As a parent of a disabled child in the “Inland” vicinity, I have first hand experience with the Inland staff and its upper echelons are as corrupt as can be. They need to completely clean house or shut them down. Tax payers this is YOUR money they are misusing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My sister has my 51 yr old niece enrolled in a day program and we’ve experienced nothing but covert attempts to take possession of our niece by convincing her she’s missing out by not living in a group home (basically an orphanage)in place of a loving family. Do to extensive thought manipulation She’s become the family tyrant,expecting instant gratification of all unreasonable demands because VMRC has ONLY HER in mind and the family is treated with contempt. we’ve all begun to feel she’s a member of the Red Brigade looking for opportunities to report any paranoid disrespect. She no longer takes the trash out, empty’s the dish washer or cleans the hoarded trash and biodegrading items out of her bedroom ( for her allowance,and the once beautiful bedroom now stinks) because she’s been told she doesn’t have to do ANYTHING SHE DOESN”T WANT TO. When I complained she’s gained 50 lbs on her 200lb frame being driven to eat around town all day (donuts, desserts, and restaurant meals, tax payers expense) I was told she can eat what she wants, when she wants, where she wants. “Even if it kills her?” I exclaimed. The answer was basically PROVE IT! I replied “Oh, I get it, we need to pay out of OUR pocket for a doctors letter”. I’d never use VMRC people they have vested interest as well as many conflict of interest issues. Where’s the checks and balances for this evil parasitic organization (my personal opinion only)? I’m certain they have many wonderful programs, however, this isn’t one of them! Isn’t it grand that they have freedom to self debauch in any way they see fit? Even thought they are considered to be about 8 yrs of age!
Inland is only one of several corrupt regional centers. Did you know that the new scam is to purchase homes, lease them to careproviders at $6,000-10,000 and then to allow them to afford these homes, negotiate specialized rates for each client. Question is: what is happening to all the extra money being paid for these homes. Who benefits from the purchase of these homes. One Southern California regional center has been doing this for years under the non-profit name “Hope.” What a joke. The regional center system needs a total overhaul. When directors have been running a regional center for 25+ years, doesn’t anyone get suspicious.
Californias system serving disabled is in complete shambles. The corruption within the upper management of these places is worse than in Washington. The only agencies that have the power to confront chronic abuse and corruption within regional centers is Protection and Advocacy and Disability Right’s groups. Probably some of the worst offenders are behavioral specialists and program managers. Behavioral specialists are mostly ineffective in everything they do for the most severely afflicted populations within disabled. Program managers don’t do anything but deny services while they go to 4 star power lunches and travel the state attending seminars and workshops.
Can you refer me to help?
I can attest to the outrageous behavior of the IRC, particularly the program managers. Basically, they are a joke. Few if any have enough experiential or theoretical training, to be effective managers. Many were crummy CSC’s, who got placed in a position of authority, because they were effective at one thing…ingratiating themselves with other less than qualified managers, who have done an equally lousy job, by driving this social service agency into the toilet! Many of them, don’t even possess the most rudimentary clinical skills, yet they throw their title and status around, like they are “big-shots” and not just dime-a-dozen “civil service functionaries”, that are as common as “spokes on a wheel”. LOL! One, particularly obnoxious “blow-hard” comes to mind…he used to swagger around, throwing his title and prodigious girth around, for all to sicken at. This PM, was bloated not only in size, but in ego as well. Sacramento needs to clean house, and purge the IRC of it’s incompetent program managers. The reason they( program managers)retaliate against their subordinates, is because they are interested in preserving the status quo and the imaginary power, they think they possess. Some though, are just flat out vengeful. It was brought to my attention, that a particularly odious psychologist, who worked at the IRC,and now retired, had an unaccredited PhD. He was despised by many at the IRC as well. His interpersonal skills were a little less than wonderful to say the least, and I’m being charitable. Laughable and pathetic, are words, far to mundane too adequately describe the “boob-catchers”, that run the IRC.
There’s several program managers at Southern Californai Regional Centers who are clueless pathological liars. Vindictive. Evil. Karma should be coming soon for these pig though. Nobody has to bother to investigate because that’s the beauty of Karma. It handles it without human intervention. The negligence of some of these program managers, case mangers at these regional centers has resulted in people dying. There are some very sick and evil people working in these regional centers. Always found at the top to keep the funding for their lavish travel and dining expenses. And stupid government just believes everything they tell them. Oh, look at us, we work with disabled, aren’t we swell? Meanwhile, they’ve funneled 50,000 to themselves. It’s a wonderful wonderful life, aint it? Aint it swell? Where’s that next charity ball we go to? Oh my. Darrrrling…..those families with disabled kids are just soooo annoying,always asking for services, ughly smulgly, oh buffy pass me my La Jolla House wine. Sad
Imaginary power. HA HA.. so true. We’ve personally witnessed these bummeling fool Program and Case Managers fondling their egos during meetings. BARF CITY. Nepotism over the top. Really gross. Hookers on traveling time when they’re supposedly going on seminars to learn more how to help disabled. Workplace Affairs bathroom exchanges…ya know.. Drinking on the job. Coming to work high on drugs. The best people at these regional centers are never at the top. Always below. Truly disgusting what’s been caught on tape. They should truly think about their choices.
The most disturbing thing to me is that I have read numerous blogs and reviews about the corruption within Regional Centers. They have included the exact same types of complaints for more than two decades. Take this blog for a perfect example. Multiple comments in 2012 and now I find that I am not alone in 2018, with the same experiences. Although all of these comments are validation that I am not paranoid, I keep wondering how to get a real investigation going. Reaching out to people on blogs like this are difficult because it isn’t likely that I can get in contact with anyone. The only way this system will ever change is when a large number of people, like those on this site, both who have worked for or received services from any of these organizations; take a stand and speak out.
join our Facebook group “inland regional center ( from a clients perspective) ” contact teri the administrator. lets speak out! IRC needs to be investigated by washington.
Yes we need a class action and investigation! Go to Facebook groups and look up the “inland regional center from the clients perspective”. Make sure you fill out the questions make sure you mention the same name you’re under here.
I worked at IRC for a number of years and believe me, they have some real charmers that work in this social service agency. While employed their,I spoke with a man, who is now a PM, who dropped out of high school and never got a GED…kinda strange, considering you have to have a masters degree in order to become a PM. How does one get a masters degree without even completing a GED? I guess it’s not what you know, it’s who you know…LOL!
I also used to work with a man, since retired who was constantly telling sexual jokes,loaded with the most base,disgusting content! Instead of firing this turd, they “pinned medals” on him and extolled his virtues. When thinking of this agency, two words come quickly to mind… “incongruent and paradoxical”. The agency would harp on sexual harassment and disclose through memos, how an employee would be punished or fired if “presenting” this type of objectionable material, while at work…You than become shocked and dismayed listening to certain “program managers” discussing the very thing that would get a subordinate terminated, if they even laughed at such innuendo! I found out a certain “program manager” actually brought porn films to work and passed them out to males in his unit, in the hopes of ingratiating himself with them! This guy was a true cockroach and wound up blubbering in terror, that he thought he was going to get canned, if his superior found out what he had done(words to that effect). This is an organization comprised of the dregs of social service personnel. especially the program managers.
I hope this agency is ultimately shut down. The California tax payers have been getting screwed by this agency for years! The money is supposed to help and assist the developmentally disabled in the community, instead it goes to favored vendors who provide crummy services for those so desperately in need. A few fat-cats at the top also parasitize this governmental agency with huge bonuses and yearly COLA’s they don’t even deserve…not to mention obscenely robust pensions, that few, if any, even deserve.
They opened a new IRC office building a couple of years ago, that makes the Taj Mahal look like a run down strip mall! Who Payed for this monstrosity?…they couldn’t even pay off their last piece of real estate, that has been rented out to some art school!
The various counties within the state of California, should handle all developmental services for the states developmentally disabled population. That is how other states operate and they don’t have the scandalous regional center to contend with. A number of regional centers have gone wrong…this is just the most flagrantly corrupt and inept.
IRC is the most venal of all the regional centers in the state. This agency has a history of some pretty outrageous behavior, which is an outgrowth of the lousy management which has been pervasive for far to long. Sacramento should find alternative ways to successfully meet the needs of the developmentally disabled in our “fair state.”
All of these resources and forms of economic funding for the DD, should be allocated to the individual counties and social service agencies in California. Every other state does it this way…high time California did the same.
San Diego Regional Center has had quite a few problems as well. Extremely corrupt agency.
IRC is still on probation…probably will be in perpetuity. I hear that a local union may be representing the employees of IRC, because of the continued harassment and retaliation of the Program Managers. Let’s start by terminating the lion’s share of these incompetent “program managers”…I just heard another manager was installed without a college degree! One program manager has no GED and is a high school dropout!…somebody better check his employee file and find out if he actually has a degree of any KIND! (ROTFLMAO!)
IRC should be closed, due to the venal nature of it’s management and the inept and unethical way it has continued to function as a governmental outgrowth of the DDS. In fact, all the Regional Centers should be shut down, and these funds should all be allocated to the various county social service agencies in the state. They would undoubtedly do a better job than Regional Center in providing advocacy and services to the disabled, as well as providing mature, ethical and educated management to the staff. IRC is a pathetic joke…
Did i forget to mention the CSC at IRC, who stabbed her husband? She was convicted of misdemeanor assault, which is rather odd…in the state of California, assault with a weapon e.g. knife, bat, black-jack usually constitutes felony assault! Guess the judge must have taken mercy on this violent indiscretion. As far as I can ascertain, this individual continues to ply her trade as a case manager at the IRC. Apparently her superiors are aware of this and had a laissez-faire attitude in dealing with this perpetrator. Just another shocking, scandalous story emanating from the bowels of the Inland Regional Center.
They had a psychologist (that’s a good one)….who used to work at IRC a few years ago. He had an “unaccredited PHD” (big surprise)…and everyone thought he was a complete jerk! Despised by many, I thought he was an incompetent, woefully uneducated poseur. To this day his name is “MUD” at the Inland Regional Center. Another “charmer”…who plied his “laughable” trade at the IRC..
Chickens come home to roost at Inland Regional….the karmic wheel is a tough nut to crack!
Laughingstock of governmental agencies. No joke!
“Unaccredited psychologist” diagnosing and assessing clients…”program manager” who was passing out porn-flicks to his subordinates… a case manager who violently stabbed her spouse…this organization is so scandalous, it would make Heidi Fleiss blush!…LOL!
Regional centers are not governmental agencies. They are private non-profit quasi governmental agencies that have a monopoly on a contract guaranteed by title 17. The regional center contacts should be put up for competitive bid every few years!
California Regional Centers are riddled with inside corruption. Upper management is only concerned with one thing only: saving money. Often parents are given the lowest bidder who contracts with Regional Centers, so the respite services provided are bottom of the trough. For example, nurses supplied come from only vendor approved Regional Center contracts, where the nursing agency is reimbursed at the Medi-cal rate, which is far lower than what other nursing agencies receive who aren’t regional center vendors. Sadly, it’s the disabled person and their families who then are supplied with the agencies and subsequent workers in these agencies, who receive the lowest pay and are therefore often the workers who couldn’t find jobs in higher paying agencies with higher standards of hiring good workers.
This organization is rife with incompetent managers, who get their jollies abusing the pathetic little title they possess. This whole agency is a tragic joke that should have been shut down years ago for malfeasance and gross incompetence. I spoke with a former employee who knows the woman who stabbed her husband…this whack-job was running around like a “huntress”…hitting on men when she was still married, and was found gloating about her cuckolding, while at work!
HA HA!! Yes! What is the obsession with sending every email and letter with the M.Ed or MA, or wtf cares? Seriously? I mean, do you really have to send your TITLE of your degree in every email? Who does this? Not even teachers or principals do this. It shows you what a narcissitic setting this is. Regional Centers have way too much power and do whatever they want with money and hide behind these idiotic titles. Nobody cares if you have a Masters or BA degree, okay? We are asking for services for our children. Geez. Get over yourselves. Yawn.
The obese, loud-mouthed program manager at the IRC who was passing out pornography to his male co-workers was never fired either!…This “slime-ball” is still waddling around in the bowels of the “regional center”… seething with hubris…LOL!
The IRC also had on it’s payroll some years ago, a psychologist who graduated from a “diploma mill”…he had an “unaccredited” doctorate in psychology…I guess they payed this “phony shrink” the big bucks to assess clients at the IRC…rotflmao! He used to sport a haircut that appeared as if someone put a “cereal bowl” around his head… this charmer looked like an oriental version of Moe from the “Three Stooges”…LOL!…no joke!
Triplecrown forgot to mention the “title 19” fraud that was going on “full-tilt”, for a number of years. I’m sure the same amount of chicanery and fraud is going on at the IRC, as in days past. It’s pretty difficult to conceal this activity, when the program manager’s are “riding herd” over their case managers, to pump-up the units in order to generate more “lettuce” for this cesspool of an agency.
IRC has been in bad shape for years. The management is to blame for this, pure and simple. The state needs to reevaluate the role and performance of this organization and see if it is time for a serious change,in the way it’s serves the disabled in the state. Mismanage is more like it
The case manager who stabber her husband was convicted years ago I heard that she was actually convicted of felony assault, after she stabber her husband…I didn’t realize you could work for the state government with a criminal record?
Also, HR should contact the “national student clearinghouse”…this organization will confirm if your staff has the “said” necessary academic credentials in order to justify employment. This organization (IRC) has program managers without college degrees…one guy didn’t even finish high school!…this guy dropped out…yet, he’s a program manager…somebody is really asleep at the wheel, in this organization…guess it’s not what you know, it’s who you know..
The HR dept. should periodically review the employee files to ensure that the staff actually possess the necessary and minimum qualifications academically, to fulfill the obligations of the regional center and it’s mission. I realize that all program managers need to possess a masters degree, in order to be promoted to this position. The high school dropout that is a program manager must have slithered through the cracks…he’s just one of many…
Also, the woman who stabbed her husband, committed this crime after she was hired by the regional center, and was working for a number of years. I thought she only had a misdemeanor assault conviction on her record, I was wrong, it’s a felony conviction, for stabbing her husband…can you believe this?
I heard that one case manager…actually two, used to gamble on IRC time! They each ran into each other at San Manuel casino….WOW!…what a shock that must have been, playing poker in the same pit!…what a gravy train job this is…one guy used to go to soccer matches and head for home 2-3 hours before quitting time…he was just one of many with a “sense of entitlement”…these types of state employees are the “toe jam” of civil servants in our wonderful state. It’s no wonder this agency is riddled with incompetence and favoritism… why, you even have program managers who dropped out of high school…case managers who knifed their spouse and were convicted of assault, others passed out pornography to subordinates and one was even caught stealing from a board and care home many years ago.. she, pilfered money from some of her developmentally disabled clients! Ain’t life grand!…yet many of these bad actors continue to ply their trade in this out of control agency…I hear that the new director is outstanding and makes sure that these lazy “functionaries” do their job and cut out the 2 hour lunches and knocking off at least 2-3 hours with regularity. No wonder this agency is faced with ongoing problems…bad karma baby!
I know who the woman is that stabbed her husband and got arrested. I wonder why they didn’t fire her? Everyone knows who she is and what she did. She is scandalous and nobody likes her that much.
One of the case managers was also working as a stripper in Culver City or West Los Angeles on the weekends…..charming….just charming….strippers, psychologists with unaccredited paper doing assessments, program manager who passed out pornographic films to males in his unit…not to mention a high school dropout posing as a professional in the community…you can’t make this stuff up, it’s so outrageous! oh, I almost forgot about the woman case manager who violently stabber her husband some years ago…sweet…
I heard that the IRC has recently hired another unqualified program manager, to go along with the bevy of hapless managers at this laughingstock of an organization. It staggers the mind that the person who committed felony assault while employed as a CSC, is still working at this agency, ( the woman stabbed her husband with a knife) not to mention the high school dropout, who slithered into a management position (zero credentials,of any kind)…this quasi-governmental agency is riddled with incompetence and lacks professionalism in the way it comports itself in the community.
The DDS doesn’t even consider “program managers” at the Inland Regional Center as “management”…they only recognize the “Chiefs” as managers….the chiefs oversee the program managers and various units that comprise the Inland Regional Center. PM’s are nothing more than glorified case managers…the majority of whom are incompetent and less qualified than many of their subordinates. This organization even hired a “high school dropout” as a program manager,truth be told, he wasn’t even qualified to be a case manager… he doesn’t have the academic qualifications for either of these positions! The state must really be “asleep at the wheel”, when dealing with this rogue organization. Pathetic man…
Unless something radical has taken place here in the last 4-5 years, the status quo has not changed. As a former employee, I can attest to much of the bad behavior that became a “hallmark” of this agency. The program managers were a joke, they acted as if the “rinky-dink” title they had, gave them the authority to abuse their co-workers and case managers. Clearly, this is an agency that needed to be overhauled, by hiring competent, qualified management. The majority of these program managers would have a difficult time making it anywhere but at the IRC. I knew the psychologist that had a cracker-jack box diploma…in fact I think he found the school off the back of a matchbook cover…if he was a licensed psychologist, I’m an astrophysicist, with a doctorate from the University of Chicago. I also knew the “looney” program manager who dropped out of high school. This guy is just one of many, who were hired because they excelled at “brown-nosing” their superiors. In this guys case, it didn’t narrow the field much…
Uh…well I was going to contribute something about the IRC…these statements pretty much cover the “lion’s share” of the negative…ROTFLMAO!…it’s karma dude!
California is one of the few states in the union where a person can graduate from an unaccredited college/university e.g.(diploma mill)…and still stand for licensure as a psychologist. This is the case at Inland Regional Center…the former shrink that worked their, had an unaccredited PhD. No wonder that place has gone down the tubes. Case managers who “stab their husband”, program managers who “flunk out of high school”…a real group of charmers….rotflmao!
Only two words come to mind when reflecting on the Inland Regional Center…duplicity and chicanery…that is all…
The reason a “union” has been striving to get it’s foot in the door at IRC for years, is due to the abuse of the incompetent, petty program managers! These pathetic little tyrants, who are drunk with imaginary power, swagger around abusing their subordinates and creating a climate of fear, because “they” feel they were abused when they were case managers. These program managers are not even recognized as “actual” management, by the state of California. One “program manager”, used to intimidate case managers by throwing his “fat” belly around, along with his rinky-dink title. He was the same “bounder” that used to pass out pornographic dvd’s and tapes to the males in his unit! Do we really need these types of “parasitic dirtbags”, flushing our tax dollars down the drain?
The case manager who stabbed her husband some years ago was also acting in a very scandalous manner at the IRC. She was hitting on guys when she was married and parading it in everyone’s face, nobody likes her at the regional center and everyone knows who she is. I agree, I am dumbfounded that they have not fired her, you can google her on the internet and find her arrest record and everything.
I guess the attorney who represented the IRC was also “fired”, when she ran afoul of one of the “chiefs”…a power struggle ensued and the lawyer was “canned”…one malcontent doing the “dirty” on another malcontent…ain’t life grand!
I ran into a few IRC employees in the middle of the afternoon recently…shopping at the grocery store…buying candy, soda and snacks… what a gravy boat this job is, you can even shop on “state” time…this is what the California taxpayers are getting fed up with…this type of abuse is just an outgrowth of the rotten management that is rife at this social service agency.
IRC ran a campaign for an entire year to strengthen ties with the community and it was a pretty good PR move in that regard. However, on the flip-side, the inner turmoil there was incredible. So many people left, there was bad management, the union threat, etc. IRC hired people to fill several vacant 96K a year salary “Director” positions and it turned out that was a mistake since one of them really didn’t know anything about the Regional Center system and in the process of trying to make himself look good he promoted numerous people all the while one of the units he was in charge of fell apart and many people left it and IRC. He was eventually canned for harassment. Go figure.
I heard one of the former employees (she was married to one of the “chief’s” brothers)…bought a “HOUSE” with IRC money!…my-oh-my!…pretty sweet deal, somebody is really asleep at the wheel in Sacramento, when fraud like this is perpetrated
i recently spoke with a current IRC empolyee…she stated that the “program manager’s” are a united front of bullies against their own case manager’s! These petty little nobodies, who are not even recognized as part of the management of the regional center’s in the “state”, are drunk with imaginary power. Hopefully, Sacramento will get it right and close down the IRC, and allocate these resources to competent, professional case workers and managers, who have the interest of the client at heart…not the vested interest of their vainglorious ego. The IRC has become a pathetic joke in the community…
Program managers are in the trenches with consumers. Case managers are frauds who alter IPPs and-are often [email protected]$$ puppets who do the Executive Director’s under the radar-passive aggressive biddings. Just wanted to clarify that.
San Diego Regional Center is one of the most corrupt of the 21 agencies. Retaliation against anyone who tries to expose them is constant.
The IRC has a very sinister reputation in social service circles. Many of the program manager’s are absolutely unprofessional in the way they work with staff. One program manager had her “chest size” reduced, and this surgery was payed for by California taxpayer dollars. I was told by a case manager, that this particular program manager had “back issues” due to her grotesquely over-sized chest, that was causing her ongoing back and posture problems…she stuck it to the California taxpayers alright… by using “IRC funds” to pay for her “botched boob-job”!…YES… IRC funds were used to pay for her chest surgery, that minimized her breast size! The grave malfeasance that this organization is guilty is at times incomprehensible…the scope of this misconduct is still being analyzed by people in authority, who may bring further sanction’s for this type of impropriety…
One “program manager” started out as a maintenance man/janitor…he later was hired as a CSC, (case manager)…then installed as a “program manager”, not based on his skills or acumen, (he basically had none, except for cleaning the toilets)rather, because his step-dad was a cherished “vendor” for the IRC…I heard this obese, unqualified “program manager” doesn’t strike a lick of work!…guess it’s not what you know, it’s who you know…LOL!
My bad…the case manager who “stabbed” her husband, was convicted of “felony assault”…only at the IRC do you have this kind of outrageous conduct, that goes on unchallenged. Any other government agency or private sector corporation would have “fired” this “nutjob” a loooong time ago.
The IRC should look into the academic credentials of all of it’s employees…especially the “program managers”…word on the street is that more then a few are operating without college degrees, let alone master’s degree’s…it is common knowledge that 1-2, maybe more, have no degree at all!…one guy, is a high school dropout, without his GED! I mean, even janitor’s and ex-handymen, even make the grade and become program manager’s at the IRC…brown-nosing does have it’s advantages…
One Program Manager, when he was working out of the Ontario office, of the IRC, used to hand out “hardcore”, triple x-rated porno films to the guys in his unit. This was his sick and depraved attempt at bonding with the guys in his unit, who for the most part thought he was pretty revolting. I personally know this obese man, and he is a disgusting pervert, who should have been fired by the IRC many, many years ago…
One other thing, if an employee of the IRC plans to “blow the whistle” on rotten behavior and misconduct, they had better be “squeaky” clean themselves, if they plan to collect a settlement. Whistle-blowers who seek a “reward” sometimes don’t get one, other then a “thank-you” or pat on the back, for their disclosure of impropriety…why?…because they may have been “fired” for cause and been caught doing a whole host of “less then wonderful things” on company time!…remember, just because the IRC is rife with misconduct and malfeasance, doesn’t mean an employee should “fly south”, and not expect to be canned by their superiors if they do a crummy job as a case manager. Squeaky clean whistle-blowers who are terminated for retaliation, DUE to whistle-blowing, are the ones who have a valid law-suit and should expect to collect…and only those model employees, who do their job, come to work on time and don’t “play in the casino” on state time, or decide that they want to wile away half the work day, by playing on the internet and turning in a bumper crop of lousy reports, month after month, with the expectation that “THEY” deserve some ginormous settlement!…
I spoke with a friend…she told me that the “high school dropout” who was installed as program manager basically has “ZERO” credentials of any kind… actually he might possess a trade school certificate…ROTFLOL!
The “shrink” that retired some years ago was an absolute menace at the regional center. This nightmare, graduated from a an “unaccredited school”, that provided a Ph.D in psychology!…his “good buddy” told me that “the good doctor” had a graduate degree from a “DIPLOMA MILL”! Ain’t life grand folks? This type of malfeasance has become a hallmark of “less then wonderful behavior”, exhibited time and time again by this wayward agency…
The psychologist, a.k.a., the “oriental nightmare” who retired 5-6 years ago, had a phony PhD in psychology, it was from an UNACCREDITED SCHOOL! His “best-est” buddy in the whole wide world disclosed that to me, and much more… This type of malfeasance has become a “hallmark” at the IRC. This is just one example of the “bad eggs” they hire and retain, to bilk taxpayers out of their hard earned dollar. Inland regional…the gift that keep’s on giving…LOL!
The IRC management is deplorable. A true joke.
REAL psychologist’s actually disclose the “curriculum vitae”…when they are fronting themselves on the internet. If you will notice a “REAL” psychologist will publish the academic institutions they graduated from, e.g., USC, Michigan UCLA, Stanford…all of these outstanding academic institutions, which any REAL psychologist would prominently display on “linked in”, or another internet site, which advertises their vocation and education…if the education is missing, ask yourself why?…could it be because they are embarrassed by the crummy school’s they attended, such as a DIPLOMA MILL…ROTFLOL!…chicken’s come home to roost.
The IRC had an attorney some years ago, that was a vicious, brutal tyrant, who functioned as the menacing “arm” of the prior Director of the IRC, who has since expired. This “wayward attorney” who resigned/retired some 6-7 years ago (not the malcontent that was fired a couple of years ago) was so steeped in “ignominy”, that she even assisted, and cleared a path, in order that some “developmentally disabled consumers” of the IRC, could SECURE ABORTION’S!…The gravity of this shocking, scandalous, horrific behavior, eclipses anything that any former employees may have done while employed at this travesty of an agency! When this information was brought to my attention, I was so paralyzed with horror, I could not even catch my breath…shocking, positively shocking…
Every California Regional Center should be investigated by Law Enforcement. This is way out of control. Been going on for years. Regional Centers constantly retaliate against employees and family members of disabled children and adults. They embark on smear campaigns. Audit the families who complain or demand adequate supports and services. And if a Regional Center does something illegal, like fails to provide court ordered Fair Hearing services, they’ll spin it around on family and attack the family for trying to come up with creative supports. Another thing Regional Centers will do is deny payment to someone who has worked diligently with a client, by pulling the vendorization of the person under a bogus accusation that the vendor isn’t following guidelines. It’s time to do a deep cover investigation into these regional centers. You’d be shocked at what’s going on and is covered up under the cloak of “we’re here to help the disabled.”
We need a website, Anyone willing to donate their time and knowledge in building one? My # is listed on this page. We have the ability to force change.give me a call.
Has anyone started a website specific to the IRC (as to their smear campaigns, retaliation against family members, etc..). IRC is on a campaign against me and out to destroy my family. Just got off the phone with several other parents and they are afraid to speak out against the IRC. They are afraid based on what others have encountered. They have limited services and afraid they will get less. Really are all you parents that afraid? Something needs to be done based on what I am reading in these posts. Where are all of you? Something can be done about it. Any one take the Partners and Policy Training? I understand California stopped in in 2002 so the parents would not be a force here in California. Really!
I would really like to get people together. It is very hard getting people together, who are negatively affected by the “Act of Lntrmn”. A site could be stated but unfortunately, it could also be shut down. I thought about a Meetup Group but not everyone is familiar with meet up and this would also require gathering people from all over the state.
There is a movement underway. Stay tuned for additional information. It will take a village. All will be apart of a movement for a new slant on the disabled with how services are delivered. It is amazing what can be possible if all are willing. Clients and families can change a system . Are you still willing to participate? I will keep you in mind if you are. Keep checking back a Website is being developed with the assistance of others.
It is now 3-9-2014 and Regional Center is still using the same retaliation and abusive ways I am reading on all the posts here. I am a parent of a now grown adult who has been with Regional centers for over 20 years. I cn honestly say they have done pretty much nothing for my kid other than retaliation and when we asked for services we always had to go to court and then after court what was provided was not what was needed but barely justified the court orders. Child pertective services were always called at time of complaint and request for hearing and now again adult pertective services have been threatened to that if I can not care for my adult child without regional centers requested services then they will force me to place my adult child. Well guess what IRC…..Bring it on because my kid stays with me and now you can deal with all of us who you seem to take gov funds for and do not provide for. . I dont want to say who i am just yet but if IRC is reading this – it wasnt too long ago you yelled at me when I fired your mountain nursing because they couldnt staff me ( and my kid was an easy one) and when they finally did the darn nurse was doing some kind of drug ( burning tinfoil) and was so geeked out the stupid girl left it in the trash in my bathroom. And you say its my fault i didnt have nursing? Who owns mtn nursing and who are they so tightly connected to at regional center? My kid is not the problem we bare.. its agencies that take money away from the needs of our disabled loved ones and pocket it for their own good. It stops here! There are a lot of us parents who could and do do a better job at managing our loved ones services and the gov should give us the option. If anyone would like to join me in a complaint to the state or feds if the state doesnt take action, try to contact me here or i will soon post a contact way on here in the near future. Currently seeking back up legal security as I know IRC will be retaliating on this.
friend of mine is a regional center client. he gets housing through a family home agency arranged for by the regional center. the family home agency gets over 6k per month from the state for case management for each client. they pay $2500 per “consumer” to “providers” who house them, feed them, and drive them to and from medical appointments. so each year, family home agencies earn over 60k per year, providers earn 30k per year. per month. all of this $ is tax free as a stipend. they are not required to pay for clothing, shoes, give rides to buses or trains on rainy days, or give $ for meals outside the home. this violates least restrictive environment because the consumer is economically forced to take 3 meals per day inside the home. friend of mine went to college and had to use his own $ for lunch since the providers getting $2500 a month tax free would not give him $10 a day for college lunch. guess how much the disabled consumer gets? $140.00 per month. my friend was wearing shoes with holes in them because his provider, making 30k tax free per year, was not obligated or wiling to buy him shoes. i bought him some. the system is completely corrupt.
shoebuyer , give me a call 949-249-0629.
Please Join us on Face Book _ Inland Regional Center from a clients point of view
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1496589600644241/
I just found this website. I am somewhat new to California IRC. The IRC laughs at me and thinks they are above the law. I filed for conservatorship over my disabled son. I have cared for him for over 40 yrs. The IRC without any conversation or communication with me filed for conservatorship over my son. They have not provide the court papers or anything to me? I am in the dark as to the process? I called supervisor at the IRC and she stated IRC never files for conservatorship unless there is no family or friends. Well my son has not only me but his brother, aunts, uncles, friends etc… and still they are fighting to get conservatorship. My last court appearance the truth came out. My ex-husband the father of my son who has the disability is paying the IRC to block the conservatorship. My ex-husband abandoned his son for most of his life. Ex-Husband has not seen him for the past three years. Ex-husband went 26 years without seeing his son. Now he is back in the picture? The attorney for the IRC even slipped in court and stated my ex-husband was his client. Has anyone ever taken on the IRC and won? BTW – I am looking for a great medical mal attorney to sue the facility and IRC for medical malpractice, neglect, mistreatment, abuse, etc… since the IRC placed my son he has injuries, bruises, lacerations found on his person every week. My son can not speak. yet when I ask him if someone is injuring him he shakes his head yes. Animals have more rights than the disabled population here in CA. How sad. Please if anyone can make suggestions I am all ears. Please I am desperate, my family is desperate for help.
The agencies that I have called so far do not have any answers or direction. IRC refuses to speak to me. I have no idea why other than the rich ex-husband who is funding them. Please help my son Tim. I am afraid for his life at the hands of the IRC and a father that does not even know Tim let alone his medical needs. Please give us some directions through this nightmare.
I am very sorry you are going thru this and very disgusted that your son is being abused. I see that your post is several months old, has the situation changed?
No I am not allowed to see my son the situation has gotten worse. My son is asking for me in his sign language and when he is given his communication computer but he is being ignored by the court appointed attorney, guardian ad litem and the IRC. I came to find out there is further abuse going on and I am helpless. The judge has admonished me several times in the court room. I have attempted to speak and told if I utter a word I will be banned from the court room. My name is not allowed to be spoken around my son as if I have died. My due process rights under the law are being violated and I have no recourse. If anyone is reading this do not bring your disabled family member to San Bernardino County to live and expect to get conservatorship of them. IRC will fight you and gain custody to control their funds and see the money funnel toward the family members who own the ICF H, bard and cares and ICF N facilities. I will accept any help or direction. Thank you for being willing to comment.
Why are California’s Regional Center Executive Directors being paid over 200,000 a year? Aren’t they always complaining about a budget crisis and being “cost effective”? How about start with your laughable inflated not well earned salaries. Please. No executive director at this joints is worth over 200,000 a year. http://sdrc.org/wordpress/wp-content/media/2016/11/Audit990FY2014-20151.pdf
Go to page 8 to see what an executive director of one of these agencies makes.
can you please provide what the article said? It doesn’t exist for some reason! Maybe got deleted. we have to get to know each other and ban together.
Inland Regional Center does nothing for our Children. State law requires at least 4 visits a year but Izvestia only got Evaluations for services that are not even offered to us. I have a worker name of Aldo who has to be the biggest pussy he refuses to go IEP because he doesn’t want to be in bad standings my son was being verbally abused no one especially his worker refused to help. I’m glad I know the truth now. Let’s make a petition and bring these parasites hiding behide the innocent
I am glad to see everyone speaking out about the coup inland regional center. california sees the disabled as mine drains and as thy hate to give money to the disabled they like to give it to the regional center to which the funding rarely sees the client but pays for employees who got a degree and can’t get a job in that area so they work for regional center and lie cheat and ruin the lives of the disabled all for a pay check but california gov is glad they aren’t in the unemploymrn line and glad the money isn’t going to the disabled,, cal gov knows about IRC and gave the RC’s full control over SSDevelopmentally disabled social services . After posting your story here please join the group on Facebook ” inland regional center ( from a clients perspective). we need to get to the president about this,, forget the state its a waste of time
I am also so glad that this site is catching the eye of others who would like to have a voice and speak out. The only way to fill a bucket is one drop at a time. I am beginning to believe the bucket is just about fill. Come and continue to voice your thoughts and be the voice for those who don’t have one due to their degree of disability. Go to the facebook page listed above and make some more statements. The Federal Government NEEDS to know just how evil the IRC is to the disabled. Civil Rights are being violated, Human Rights are being violated, ADA laws are being violated everday – the disabled don’t have the legal funds to litigate to protect themselves. The state courts don’t protect the disabled. The court investigators, court appointed attorneys and the court appointed guardian ad litems attorneys never interview the disabled. These individuals don’t have a clue how to communicate with the nonverbal disabled. There is no protection for the disabled especially in San Bernardino Court house. The group is too ignorant to bother to get an interrupter for the disabled. The voiceless have no voice. So start a movement and make some noise so we can be heard!!! Remember it takes a village.
I agree with you. Please provide me your info.
Please add any comment here, if you are reading and following this page.
Does anyone know if Rita Walker, who is currently serving as the Board President at Alta California Regional Center, is the former Deputy Director of Community Operations Division at DDS.
Ms. Walker was elected the Board President for Alta’s Board of Directors in 2020.
If a whistleblower complaint is filed with the Board of Directors about long-term client abuse by regional center staff that was ignored by senior management, and the complaint is ignored by the Board, is this unlawful and considered a crime?
Does anyone know if Rita Walker, who is currently serving as the Board President at Alta California Regional Center, is the former Deputy Director of Community Operations Division at DDS.
Ms. Walker was elected the Board President for Alta’s Board of Directors in 2020.
If a whistleblower complaint is filed with the Board of Directors about long-term client abuse by regional center staff that was ignored by senior management, and the complaint is ignored by the Board, is this unlawful and considered a crime?
Can’t believe this agency is still up and running. The program manager who dropped out of high school was promoted further. The IRC created a formerly non existent position with a grandiose title, which pays 150-160 K annually. This miscreant NEVER finished high school, he’s a DROPOUT 🤨
Someone should contact the California Department of Consumer Affairs, and have this guy and many others checked for fraud and film-flam…he’s one of many
I know this guy…and he never finished high school, he slithered through the door years ago and he charmed and ingratiated his way almost to the top now. He’s a con man who should never have been hired as he has no academic credentials of any kind. And YES! Someone needs to contact the DDS in Sacramento and report this fraudster!
I’m contacting the California Department of Consumer Affairs next week to repost this fraudster. Many people at the top covered up for this guy for years, and continued to promote him without any high school diploma or college degree. Nada, that’s why someone in Sacramento has to be apprised of this outrageous film flam.
All director positions at California Regional Centers requires a masters degree, no if ands or buts! I’m contacting the DDS in Sacramento and will contact the secretary to the governor to report this person. The people that covered up and promoted this clown 🤡 will also be reported as well.
I worked with the man you are discussing. When I worked for IRC years ago, he disclosed to me in my office that he never finished high school, was actually gloating about it, just before his superiors promoted him as program manager. I was told he applied to become a fireman in LA County but was rejected because he had no high school diploma. He also stated he had a masters degree in public administration from Cal State, at least that was the lie he told me. Funny, the university has no recollection of him matriculating with an undergraduate degree, and certainly not a masters degree. I wonder what “spell” he cast upon this agency to have not only been hired, without any academic credentials to speak of, but to be promoted to high level management and director positions without even a GED! Yes, these posts are accurate, I worked with this goof, and am as dismayed and stunned as probably everyone who knows him…as he has charmed and ingratiated his way to a very lucrative job and retirement with “zero” academic credentials to speak of. I agree someone needs to report this to Sacramento.
Oh…and if you want to reply and challenge what has been posted here…hit the reply link and disagree with what I have stated…you know who you are…so do the other people who have posted here. If what I say is a lie, refute me with “truth”…you know the truth of the matter, so do I
Interesting 🤔… personalities who are capable of gliding through life without credentials, thus achieving status, esteem and high paying government jobs, may very well have a personality disorder. People with antisocial personality disorder frequently almost effortlessly glide through life…often leaving a path of emotional carnage behind…take this post for instance. If this individual were on the up and up, would people have posted their concern and frustration and bitterness toward this agency and its “ non wonderful” management if everything were on “ the up and up” without any kind of flim-flam? Obviously not, nothing happens in a vacuum and if this Director has the necessary credentials and required theoretical background it’s unlikely anyone would raise their hand…if something looks bad…it is bad…that’s the reality of this situation and no amount of wishing it away changes the facts that were presented and transmitted on this website
Someone needs to blow the whistle on this phony. 170000 a year job and dropped out of high school. No bueno
My name is Jennifer Quynn, you can contact me at [email protected]. I have 2 experiences with DDS and Alta Regional. First, I managed a state contract for DDS and was targeted when I refused to support their practices of reporting data in ways that were not reliable or valid. I became a whistleblower because I would not go along with presenting misleading reports to the public and to state legislators. I know, right? This happened in California? I am highly skilled and have been able to land on my feet since that terrible job experience. My second experience is more current and involves my sister, a client of Alta Regional. Much of the comments I am reading on this post represent my experiences and those of my sister. I will share them as a separate post, but the failure to follow the IPP, to provide adequate care for my sister, has led to serious accident and illness. When a family member raises a concern and asks why they IPP is not followed, they are threatened by the regional center and told that complaining may lead to my sister losing services. I know, right? This is happening in California. And yes, there is a formal complaint in about this with DDS, but there is not evidence that they even care to do the investigation or make improvements. I believe it is time to organize and act, and represent the disabled persons of California, with data. How are they doing physically? Mentally? How well is their IPP followed? It makes absolutely no sense that the DDS is evaluating itself and it really is time for the people who need and rely on the services to be heard or represented by a family member or conservator who can weigh in with facts. I am a professional evaluator and I am willing to volunteer my services to support this movement, to gather the data, code the stories of clients, and produce reports that are sound, accurate, and defensible and get these into the hands of legislators who need to know the information. The DDS is scheduled to receive 1.4 billion dollars in this next fiscal year — they are getting a raise! They need to be held accountable for the quality of services they provide their clients. If any of this holds meaning for you, please send me an email. Introduce yourself to me, where you live, and a bit about you, as a client, or who you care for and your experiences with DDS services. Over the month, I will read all emails I get, collect your information, and then organize our first grass root, secure meeting to suggest next steps. We will do this via Zoom so everyone can participate. I look forward to getting to know others who love and care for a person who is a client of DDS and want to see the system work as it should for them. Thank you, Jennifer Quynn [email protected] Thank you!
I see more over the top flim flam from another concerned citizen of our great state. I spoke with the local liaison for concerns with the “high school” dropout! She claims “well he’s not hurting anyone”. Is this the best they can offer, is total and complete apathy that a director for this bloated agency knocks down 165-170 K a year? Apparently DDS also is in on the flim flam with this guy! Well, my only alternative is to reach out to Sacramento, and maube I’ll go public to the newspapers about the government employee, with a “trade school certificate “. The ex director covered up big time for this guy, and he just keeps rolling along…Hopefully, he becomes the director, so they can vet him, at which point when they do a press release he will be outed for having zero academic credentials. All of the personnel in these positions all require maters degrees! This guy doesn’t have an AA or even a high school diploma, he never should have been fired, it’s incomprehensible. Well, people in positions of authority have a way of sorting things like this out eventually.