Community Meeting deals with child endangerment issues — “I know with the explosion on social media, people have lost a lot of trust in us”.

July 14, 2016, in response to and in light of the recent terminations of Kimberly Moffit and Melissa Dunkelburg at the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe Early Childhood Development Program, ECDP Staff along with Tribal Council and Human Resources, held an informational meeting to calm the storm after a social media explosion of misinformation infuriated the community of Akwesasne. There were roughly about 45 attendees at this informational meeting, as well as the following Tribal Chiefs and SRMT Employees:

Marie Benedict- Workforce Initiative and Opportunity Act Program Manager

Stephanie Cook- Education Division Director, SRMT

Stacey Holcomb- Director of Human Resources, SRMT Ron LaFrance – Tribal Chief

Eric Thompson- Tribal Chief

Beverly Cook- Tribal Chief

Gloria Herne- Assistant Director, SRMT

Elizabeth Belisle- ECDP Employee

Laurie Connors- ECDP Manager

Laurie Connors, ECDP Manager, opened the meeting with an emotional thanks giving for all who attended stating, “I know with the explosion on social media, people have lost a lot of trust in us, and speaking on behalf of Mary and I, we will do everything in our power to get that trust back. I have been at the Headstart for over 25 years and felt that a black cloud has overcome our program, hopefully tonight all questions will get answers.”

Following Ms. Connors welcoming, the Director of Human Resources for the SRMT, Stacey Holcomb, outlined the background checks and requirements process that the Tribe uses in their hiring process for the ECDP, and other social service type divisions. There are four major checks for all employees for the ECDP, the first check being the NYS Staff Exclusion List. It is a NYS data base that will show all names of those who have charges against them.

The second is a State Central Registry, which is like a fine toothed comb for any overlooked charges. The third check is a Physical Criminal Background Check, in which the employee’s fingerprints are checked. The fourth check their fingerprints are given to the police department, and from there they go to the FBI, where their entire criminal history is investigated. This makes three state checks and one internal check. “An employee must pass all four of these checks to even walk through the doors of the ECDP building,” stated Holcomb, “These are done for the safety, health, and welfare of the children. The state registry is automatically updated, and if something happens and comes up in that, there is an immediate email that comes out, and that person is done that same day.”

Fingerprints are done for ECDP employees every three years, and the staff exclusion list is checked yearly. Once a person is on the DO NOT HIRE list, they can never work in that field every again.

The processes and procedures of these checks are to ensure that nothing gets looked over, as some criminal activity, or charges, may not show up as criminal, or minor charges that don’t make the first Staff Exclusion List.

The Human Resources office is always open for any community member to voice their concerns, file a complaint, or ask any questions.

Stephanie Cook, Education Division Director for SRMT, gave the community the floor to ask any questions or voice any concerns that they had. Concerned and supportive community members asked questions and gave suggestions in moving forward from what some community members say is an unfortunate event.

One community member questioned the of deleted video tapes, in which Stephanie Cook responded, “Tapes cannot be deleted, they are not even contained within the ECDP building itself, they’re housed separately, so that was fabrication.” All tapes have been given to the Police, and this case is still ongoing. Once the case is closed the community will be able to find out more information in regards to this case. ECDP Staff cannot discuss exactly what happened.

Chief Ron LaFrance stated, “There was a complaint issued, it was investigated, the employees were terminated, and it was turned over to the police. It is now a police matter, and that’s really as much as we can say at this time.”

Education Division Director Cook assured that, “from a program manner, this was handled in a timely manner, and after the initial complaint was issued and filed, it was done in two days, that we can reassure you of.” The two employees were terminated within two days of the complaint filed, on or about May 4th, 2016.

Chief Beverly Cook stated, “Our priority is the child, and the investigation, so we can’t muddle up the information. Official complaints need to be done, and hopefully this complaint will bring others forward to file. This isn’t an easy thing to discuss or bring up for many people. But hopefully the bravery of the individuals who filed this complaint will open doors for others who were too scared to say something. I also want to say something about the post made on social media that it doesn’t matter if you’re non-native or native; there have been other cases of children being abused by the hands of both native and non-native in this community. This can happen anywhere.”

Community members also voiced that while in support of the ECDP Staff, and wonderful teachers that still remain, there needs to be more staffing, and training, perhaps with special needs children. It is a tough job, and the burnout rate is very high. It was stressed that there need to be more options or people for these teachers to turn to when they need support.

There was also a request for clearer instructions on complaint procedures. Many parents think that if a verbal complaint is made that something will be done, but the more effective way to file a complaint is in writing. “Once a complaint is in writing, it does not go away,” Holcomb stated.

In closing, Stephanie Cook stated, “We’ve heard a lot of good feedback, good changes that need to happen, and staff training suggestions. Teachers are ready and have committed to making this a better place. We are doing the best we can do, and the children are our priority, and their safety is top priority. We will be working on staff development and training, I promise you that.”

By:  Ohseraséia:hawi