Complaint Review: Darius Longmire - Cleveland Ohio

I'm writing this rebuttal in response to the report filed on this site by A.B. of Cleveland, Ohio in April, 2005. I would like to state from the beginning that as I'm no longer an employee of this agency, I'll respond with facts based on policy as well as factual knowledge involved, as this statement wasn't filed against my former employer, it was filed against me. In any government agency position dealing with the public and specifically those less fortunate, there's an increasing posiibility of working with clients who will complain to anyone once their needs aren't being met, regardless of the person's(not groups of people) failure to cooperate. That being said, it should be noted that benefits are issued or granted based on eligibility, taken from taxpayer's money. These benefits are allocated based on federal, state and local guidelines in regards to income, family size, and other factors. Benefits, therefore, cannot be ripped-off. They're either granted or denied. Should documented proof be given as to why amounts should be changed, that decision is made by supervisors or coordinators and carried out by the staff worker. Requests to transfer cases are also submitted either verbally or in writing to supervisors and then decided upon. Cases can also be transfered within the agency once certain factors within the household change, such as those stated above. It should also be explained that caseworkers cannot rule or refer that children be removed from their parent's household unless the duties or responsibilities were assigned to that worker based on their classification. As thise duties or responsibilities were not mine, I never had nor ever wanted such power, or responsibility. Now, in regards to "A.B.", This person simply provided documentation that was either incomplete, or didn't meet the requirements of my superiors, or both. In communicating with this person, they were often beligerent or rude, often abusive and was determined to tie my up phone time at the expense of other clients that needed help. They were then turned over to communicating with my superiors who made their own notes on the case as well proofreading my own, so then again only the facts were stated as well as the statements that I was a racist simply because I was black. If there was ANY truth to these accusations, my superiors would have taken corrective action against me, in addition to following case management procedure on this matter. The truth should also include that since this "person" had no idea who my clients were or what their race or culture was, to claim that they knew how I treated them is also wrong and false. To avoid wasting any more time on this matter, it should be stated that the ignorant, yet typical accusation OF the racist is to call their so-called "opponent" THE racist. Yet, while trying to recieve benefits one has to be in the same company of those they wouldn't even live next door to, if they had a choice. Working as a caseworker anywhere isn't easy, yet the goal is to empower those less fortunate, not enable them, facts should always be considered over excuses, and at the end of the day, when someone files any type of complaint, it's always best to get the facts, and consider the source.