Drug Therapist Modifies Urinalysis on Whistleblower

Santa Fe Reporter ^ | April 2011 | Alexa Schirtzinger, Editor

[SFNM]

Santa Fe New Mexico So Pissed In Brief Alexa Schirtzinger April 27, 2011

On April 13, SFR reported on complaints of mismanagement filed by a resident of Casa Cerrillos, a substance-free housing program run by the St. Elizabeth Shelter Corp. At 3 pm the day the story published, Julia, the resident who filed the complaint, was issued a warning by Casa Cerrillos Program Manager Shea Goodluck-Barnes for failing to follow the proper grievance procedure by sending her complaints directly to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

At 3:30 pm, Julia was given a urinalysis test. At 4:50 pm, she went to The Life Link to have a second test done—just in case.

It was a good call. The following day, Shea Barnes issued Julia a second warning, stating that her urinalysis had “showed positive for Methamphetamines” and demanding that she leave Casa Cerrillos within five days.

But the Life Link test was negative. Julia provided SFR with a copy and, on April 15, hand-delivered a letter to St. Elizabeth Shelter Executive Director Deborah Tang stating her innocence.

To Julia, the actions taken against her only reinforce allegations of dysfunctional leadership at Casa Cerrillos.(HUD spokeswoman Patricia Campbell tells SFR that HUD has looked into Julia’s complaint but could not provide further information before press time.)

Tang says urinalysis tests performed at Casa Cerrillos have,“on occasion,” proved inaccurate. “We are not a professional lab,” Tang says, adding that the test in question wasn’t administered properly. “The whole test was suspect from the very beginning,” Tang says.“It looked like it had been tampered with.”

http://www.sfreporter.com Santa Fe New Mexico Casa of Pain In Brief Alexa Schirtzinger April 13-19, 2011

A resident of Casa Cerrillos, the transitional supporting living program run the the St. Elizabeth Shelter Corp., has lodged a formal complain with the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, containing what one HUD official describes as '"very serious" allegations. In her complaint, Julia, who asked that SFR not use her surname for fear of retaliation, accuses Casa Cerrillos management of "egregious behavior", ranging from donation theft to inappropriate relationships between staff and residents.

Deborah Tang, Executive Director of St. Elizabeth Shelter, says the accusations are unfounded. "Casa Cerrillos has people who have mental illnesses; that's the nature of the program and the people we serve," Tang says. "This happens all the time."

HUD Regulatory Public Affairs officer, Patricia Campbell, says HUD officials will meet with Tang this week to discuss the allegations.

[Doogle]

always always protect yourself, get that second opinion.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Maybe she’d been a thorn in their side before and the test was tampered in an attempt to oust her. Does she have any legal reason she has to be there? She might be happier elsewhere if she has a choice.

[Ken H]

So how much of our tax $$$ does fedgov give to Casa-whatever each year?

[End Times Sentinel]

What the??? You signed up today just to post this non-sense?

[B4Ranch]

I have no problems what so ever with this thread.

Basically it reminds us to get that 2nd opinion.

SFNM, keep plugging away. Glad to have you on board.

[Ken H]

Domenici: HUD Awards $7.68 Million to N.M. Homeless Organizations  (January 8, 2008)

http://newmexico.realestaterama.com/2008/01/08/domenici-hud-awards-768-million-to-nm-homeless-organizations-ID034.html

______________________________________

Looks like Casa Cerrillos got $218,000 of that.

[Grizzled Bear]

Interesting article. Do you have any comments of your own to add?

[LibertyRocks]

From the article: Deborah Tang, Executive Director of St. Elizabeth Shelter, says the accusations are unfounded. "Casa Cerrillos has people who have mental illnesses; that's the nature of the program and the people we serve," Tang says. "This happens all the time."

Sounds like Ms. Tang picked up a few pointers from the Soviets! When faced with accusations automatically assassinate the character of the complainant by making them out to be nutcases.

[FlyingEagle]

I was just in Santa Fe last week to help my dad move into the retirement condo. I knew I had arrived in SF when I started to see the COEXIST and FREE TIBET bumper stickers.

Is everybody still a liberal there? How’s that Obama thing workin out for everybody there?

[baa39]

I’m shocked, simply shocked this could happen at a HUD housing project. We’ve obviously got to give these people more money so they can correct these type of problems!

/s/

[Rodney Dangerfield]

The attempt to “Palinize” her failed.

[CedarDave]

NM list PING! Click on the flag to go to the Free Republic New Mexico message page.

(The NM list is available on my FR homepage for anyone to use. Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)

[woofie]

Why do you call this non sense ?