Agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have arrested Doreece J. Hines, 31, of 1333 Sunset Blvd., Daytona Beach, on two counts of falsifying records.
Hines was employed as a child protective investigator for the Department of Children and Families. She has been terminated.
In April 2017, agents launched an investigation into allegations that Hines had falsified documents in the Florida Safe Families Network. Hines was assigned a case involving a child with bruises on the child’s body. The investigation revealed Hines documented she made a visit to the child’s home and spoke with a parent to determine if the child was in present danger. It was later found no visit to the child’s home or conversation took place. Hines entered incorrect information in her case notes and later tried to change those notes.
Hines also failed to follow protocol and notify law enforcement and the child protection team about her case.
She was booked into the Volusia County Jail. The Office of the State Attorney, 7th Circuit, will prosecute.
falsifying records
FDLE Agents arrest caseworker on official misconduct, falsifying records
Agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested Vanessa Arias, 33, of 1355 Springfield Street, Kissimmee, on charges of official misconduct and falsification of records.
Arias is a former employee with Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services, a sub-contractor of the Department of Children and Families. She was assigned as a caseworker.
During an investigation, FDLE agents found that Arias documented she had visited a home in Kissimmee on January 8, 2015, to check on the welfare of several children. She reported the children were “free from any visible signs of abuse/neglect with all their basic needs being met at this time.” Approximately a week later, officers with the Kissimmee Police Department went to the home regarding a report of child neglect. It was later determined that Arias had falsified her report and had not returned more than a dozen calls from two of the children in the home.
“This is a sad case of vulnerable children reaching out to someone in a position to help them, but instead they were ignored,” said Special Agent in Charge Danny Banks of FDLE’s Orlando Region. “Thankfully, law enforcement was called and an investigation was launched.”
Arias was booked into the Osceola County Jail on Friday on a $2,000 bond. The Office of the State Attorney, 9th Circuit, will prosecute.
