HOWARD COUNTY, Ind. — A former Indiana Department of Child Services family case manager is criminally charged with nine counts of Falsifying Child Abuse or Neglect Information/Records and one count of Official Misconduct.
Prosecutors charged Parker Salinas, of Kokomo, on May 10, records show.
He was hired by DCS in May 2022 and terminated in May 2023, documents show.
WRTV Investigates learned of the case through an Indiana Office of Inspector General (OIG) report.
The OIG received a complaint about Salinas in May 2023 regarding falsification of records regarding child welfare visits.
His role as a family case manager was to assess allegations of abuse and neglect, refer clients to appropriate resources, prepare court reports, testify in court and collaborate with other agencies, like schools and medical providers.
DCS found that Salinas claimed a 100% case assessment rate, yet DCS received an educational neglect report for one of the children assigned to him.
“Salinas had claimed that he contacted the child at school, but the school stated that the child had several unexcused absences, and that the child was not at school the day Salinas claimed to have visited,” read the OIG report.
The Office of Inspector General interviewed family members who said their quoted statements to Salinas were not accurate.
The OIG also reviewed Salinas’ phone records and found instances where Salinas did not contact families on his cases at the times he claimed and instances where he requested that the families send pictures for his reports via text instead of taking the pictures himself, the report read.
“It is important for FCMs to visit families in person to establish safety, accurately understand the child’s situation in order to effectively and truthfully testify and provide de-escalation services in the vent there is a volatile situation,” read the OIG report.
The OIG submitted the results of its investigation to the Howard County Prosecutor who filed charges against Salinas.
WRTV Investigates contacted Salinas’ attorney’s office for comment and they declined.
"DCS took swift and appropriate action upon learning of discrepancies in case reports and forwarded its findings to the Office of the Inspector General for further review," a DCS spokesperson said in an email on June 4.
A jury trial is scheduled for September 2024.
