Saturday, December 15, 2007

No Pain From Payne

A three-year-old girl is dead while supposedly under the protection of the Indiana Child Protection Services, but the agency's director says nobody in his agency did anything wrong. There may have been some errors in judgment and information gaps in the case of Tajanay Bailey, but my staff did nothing wrong according to James Payne. "No disciplinary action will be taken in this case," Payne said.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this time they have no field staff to blame, and therefore the ax would have to fall on a supervisor. But that will NEVER happen.

Management in the State covers for other management, and unless there is line staff that can take the fall no one will be held accountable.

I would be interested in knowing what supervisor turned down the recommendations of the FCMs (my understanding is that there were three case managers that said the child needed to be removed). This is ultimately where the responsibly lies. With that supervisor.

Then again they may find the supervisor at fault and promote him or her to another position just to keep things quiet.

This is why there needs to be transparency in the entire process. Everyone makes mistakes, and the job of a family case manager is one of the hardest in the State - long hours, lousy pay and seeing all the pain that people inflict on children. However, to simply gloss over this situation and not hold someone accountable is unconscionable.

If Payne won't hold someone in his agency accountable for this child's death, I don't mean criminally accountable, but answerable for the mistakes, then Payne needs to fall on the sword himself. Ultimately he is where the "buck stops".

Anonymous said...

Typical Payne.

Maybe he can muster up some spare petty cash for another lavish going-away party. I think he's going to need it.

Yo--JIM--this isn't your typical screw-up, like used to happen at the Juvy Center when you were in charge...not a cellblock rape or assault. A little girl died in this case.

You might want to put it into proper perspective.

Why is this man still employed?

Anonymous said...

Shaming!! This reflects the heart and soul of the Daniels administration since he was handpicked by Daniels to serve in that position.

Anonymous said...

Let's not lose sight of the fact that the couple killed the girl-- an unemployed, uneducated drug-taking mom who began having kids when she was 16, and an addled idiot living with her, not the little girl's father.

We expect too much of bureaucracies. They are places of poorly paid employment with generally low expectations and commensurate performance. Social services cannot make everyone's life saver, better.

Maybe Payne IS a wanker. Some here seem to think so- I have no peersonal knowledge of this. And maybe his decision is once again a case of government stooges covering their collective butts.

But we should not lose sight of the need for personal responsibility and the murderous couple in this case are the ultimate culprits.

They will each have suficient time in stir to educate themsselves and learn a trade, but one hopes her tubes will be tied, and he should have a vasectomy. Voluntary or otherwise.

Anonymous said...

Let's not lose sight of the fact that the couple killed the girl. . .

Nor should we lose sight of the fact that the couple should never have had access to the little girl to kill in the first place.

But we should not lose sight of the need for personal responsibility and the murderous couple in this case are the ultimate culprits.

They absolutely should be punished to the fullest extent allowed, however everyone responsible should also receive their fair share. Responsibility isn't a one or none concept.

Anonymous said...

When Payne was selected for the position of DCS Director, I knew we were headed for this type of tragedy. You see, James Payne does have his good points, and his skills would best be used as an Advisor to DCS WITH NO COMMAND AUTHORITY OVER STAFF.

As a leader Payne has a history of failure...going back years. Payne knows children and has bright ideas, but his ability to lead, manage, and direct an agency have always been a total failure, an experience in incompetence.

When Payne had control of our Juvenile Center, he had a Superintendent that was amiss in his duty, but Payne never took action. Payne did not have supervisors over staff 24 hrs a day, allowing his incompetent staff to always pass the buck (just like is being done in this tragic death of a child)..."it wasn't my fault, I'm not in charge."

Time and again when juvenile staff was asked for a supervisor, the answer was always "we are a team and nobody is in charge" was the sorry reply.

I think this tragedy combined with Payne's outrageous statements of "no-fault" clearly shows that Payne has NO LEADERSHIP ABILITY and must be immediately removed from the postition of Director of DCS (post haste).

To James Payne: This happened on your watch. If you were a leader, you would understand that you are to blame for your failure to supervise and lead your staff. You are unfit for command, sir.

Anonymous said...

Has Payne no shame? There will be no accountability for anyone and in a few weeks or months..there will be a repeat...I think the voters need to hold Daniels responsible since he appointed him.

indyernie said...

"nobody in his agency did anything wrong."

Payne needs to prove this to me. Without proof I will NEVER believe it.