MEDIA FOCUS ON AGENCIES INVOLVED IN GRACE PACKER HORROR: Essentially, we dont have that information.
Records: Embattled agency paid Sara Packer to work as foster parent and case manager
By Jo Ciavaglia, staff writer 3/31/17
http://www.theintell.com/news/local...cle_123d7bf7-850f-5c92-a1b0-c72859215599.html
The Packers took in 30 foster children from 11 counties between 2000 and 2010. That included four from Bucks and three from Montgomery, according to information from the state. Twenty-three of those children lived in five counties that contracted with IMPACT for foster care services, including Bucks and Montgomery, according to county and state officials.
This news organization filed multiple Right-to-Know requests seeking county records, including ones showing how much money was paid to the Packers for foster care services. In answer to those requests, Berks, Bucks, Lehigh, Montgomery and Northampton counties claimed they had no records of any direct or indirect payments to the Packers during the time frame when they provided foster care.
In its response, Bucks County included a claim from IMPACTs president and CE0, Joseph Abraham, that the agency simply does not have documentation of payments to the Packer family for either per diem rates or expenses.
Abraham cited state and federal tax guidelines that require retaining financial records for only seven years, and state regulations that require foster parent and child documentation be maintained for only five years.
Any number we gave would be a guess and inaccurate, Abraham said in the response. Essentially, we dont have that information.
