An investigation into the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services did not find pervasive agency-wide issues that indicate systemic errors to protect children or serve families, the county announced in a news release. 

The yearlong investigation came after a former Arapahoe County Department of Human Services social caseworker was criminally charged in May 2022 with felony attempt to influence a public servant and misdemeanor false reporting of child abuse, according to the evaluation report. 

As reported by the Sentinel, the former employee, Robin Niceta, was accused of falsely reporting that Aurora City Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky sexually abused her toddler son. 

Jurinsky thinks the false accusations were made in retaliation for her criticism of Vanessa Wilson, the former Aurora police chief, per the Sentinel. Niceta is an ex-partner of Wilson. 

During an August 2022 news conference, Jurinsky raised concerns that what happened to her “was not an isolated incident” and announced a class action lawsuit against the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services, the Sentinel reported. 

After Niceta was charged with attempting to influence a public servant and false reporting of child abuse, Arapahoe County requested a formal review by the Colorado Department of Human Services, according to the county’s news release. 

“The result was a multi-faceted independent evaluation of the caseworker’s activities during her employment with the county,” Arapahoe County said in the release. 

In September 2022, the Colorado Department of Human Services published an audit summary of its evalution into whether other activities of the caseworker were fraudulent. 

According to the audit report, the Colorado Department of Human Services did not identify any additional unresolved child safety concerns. 

However, the department did find practice concerns by the caseworker, such as minimal or no recorded efforts to contact a non-custodial parent or the alleged person responsible for abuse or neglect.

“We did find and discuss with ACDHS (Arapahoe County Department of Human Services) our concerns related to the conduct and practices performed by the social caseworker, as well as the supervision and oversight of the social caseworker’s performance,” the audit stated.

Due to the urgency of that evaluation, the Colorado Department of Human Services’ review was “limited in scope,” according to the July 2023 report. 

“Because of this, and because of the complexity of the allegations against the social caseworker and concerns that arose about supervision and oversight based on the review of practice to date, CDHS determined that an additional layer of external review of county practice was necessary to more broadly and deeply assess case practice and supervision related to intake practices in child welfare,” the report stated. 

According to the report, Colorado Department of Human Services staff directed the review/audit into child welfare practice but supplemented with outside, contracted evaluation consultants to review work, provide input and assist in developing a summary of findings and recommendations. 

“This comprehensive third-party evaluation including an assessment review, outcome analyses, staff interviews, and document review found no pervasive agencywide practice issues that indicate systemic lapses to protect children or serve families,” the report stated.  

No evidence was found of systemic concerns of falsification of contacts, according to the report. 

The report did note that one caseworker was terminated for the falsification of information, adding that this was reported by the county to the Colorado Department of Human Services and is in the process of criminal proceedings. 

The report said a record of Colorado Department of Human Services activity with the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services over the past four years was reviewed and “revealed no major safety concerns related to casework, supervision, or staffing.” 

“The findings demonstrate that ACDHS is actively working to address identified intake challenges through supervisory strategies aligned with the best practice literature,” the report stated.

In its news release, Arapahoe County noted ways it is addressing concerns with the intake process of new clients, such as hiring new caseworkers and supervisors, developing new policies to improve coordination with law enforcement, and raising expectations and accountability of supervisors and administrators.

“We are a learning organization and constantly look for ways we can improve service to our residents. We are collaborating with the State Department of Human Services and with our legislative delegation to sharpen our approaches and ensure we’re meeting the needs of our community,” Carrie Warren-Gully, chair of the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners, said in the release.

The evaluation report noted that in the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services, there has been an upward trend in timeliness of initial response, assessment closure and safety assessment completion during the past year.

“Most notably, the division has accomplished these improvements in the aftermath of a major leadership change, the COVID pandemic, social unrest in Aurora, and sustained media scrutiny,” the report stated. 

The report included recommendations on how to improve the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services, such as implementing the move back to group supervision and case consultations as a way to help maximize the sharing of expertise and oversight between intake staff. 

“We never take lightly the critical role our human services employees play in protecting children and vulnerable adults,” Warren-Gully said in the release. “We’re grateful to the Colorado Department of Human Services for the professional, thorough and sensitive review of our intake systems and we are gratified in the knowledge that the system works and continues to improve every day.”