21 Iowa DHS workers fired last year for wide range of misconduct, including abuse and theft

Twenty-one workers at Iowa’s Department of Human Services were fired or resigned in lieu of firing from February 2017 to December, newly released records show.

Workers were let go for stealing, approving their own public-assistance benefits, sending pornographic images to a coworker, breaching the confidentiality of child-support recovery clients and taking confidential information out of Iowa’s civil commitment unit for sex offenders.

Six of the employees worked at Glenwood Resource Center, a state institution in Council Bluffs that serves people with significant and severe intellectual disabilities.

The center was the subject of an investigation last year into physical and verbal abuse of some of its 230 residents. Seven workers were charged criminally; 13 quit or were fired.

The newly released records show that Aaron Cole, a residential treatment worker, was fired in August as a result of physical abuse of a resident and that he lied when questioned about it.

However, Cole was not among those charged criminally, court records show. Cole could not be reached for comment.

Two treatment workers fired in August, Patrick Giesting and Jessie Carlson, were reprimanded previously for repeated absences, the records show.

Another worker, Nicholas Carnes, a power plant engineer, was fired in November after he sent sexually inappropriate messages and a photo of male genitalia to a coworker on her work phone.

Carnes’ firing letter said he admitted the allegations. He did not respond to attempts to reach him through social media.

Alicia and Johnathon Young were let go in May for failing to report to their supervisors that they had been accused of child abuse, as required by agency rules.

“You admitted during the investigation to having knowledge of the allegation of abuse as early as the beginning of March 2017,” the Youngs' letter states. “You also confirmed you were trained in the expectation to report such investigations within 24 hours.”

It’s unclear whether the Youngs are related; they could not be reached for comment. DHS has not said whether the abuse was of a minor at Glenwood or other children in their care.

Confidential info taken

The Human Services firings were made public under an Iowa law change that took effect in February that is expected to have lasting implications for public employees.

The amended law makes public disciplinary letters that show why workers were fired or asked to resign in lieu of termination.

More: Jail staff plotted inmate assault, had sex at work and tried to steal from county, discipline records show

DHS did not comment on the firings beyond what it provided the Register under the open-records law.

The records show that Tasha Shannon, who worked at the Cherokee unit for sex offenders, was fired for taking confidential information.

The locked facility houses sex offenders who are believed at high risk to reoffend and who cannot be released until they successfully complete five phases of the program.

Shannon entered the facility on a day off, Aug.13, and photographed six documents and took them home, according to her disciplinary letter.

Another worker, Don McClanahan, was fired in November after taking seven documents out of the unit the following week.

Cory Turner, director of the program, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Tonya Zeisneiss, an employee at the State Training School in Eldora for delinquent boys, was fired in March after repeated tardiness and an investigation revealed she was working as a nurse without a valid license.

Nurse Shannon Bundy was fired in September from the Mental Health Institute in Independence for failing to do safety rounds and using her cellphone during work time.

In March, Rachelle Lynch, who worked at the same facility, was let go after coming to work late under the influence of alcohol.

Woodward Resource Center worker Jennifer Marshall was fired in September for repeatedly refusing to work extra hours as directed by her supervisor.

Stealing from the needy

Susan Knight Wilbur, a typist who worked in Des Moines, was fired in October for stealing $600 worth of Walmart gift cards from a sealed envelope in the agency’s outgoing mail, according to the records.

Wilbur also admitted stealing another $200 worth of gift cards previously.

Traci Beerbower, an income maintenance worker in Des Moines, was fired in October for pulling her own application for public benefits and approving it.

She also falsified her work to look more productive and failed to prepare for appeals against the agency, resulting in the state losing those appeals, her firing letter states.

Beerbower did not respond to an attempt to reach her through social media.

Mary Ellen Ward, who worked in the child-support recovery unit, was fired in August after breaching confidentiality, which she had done several times before, her termination letter said.

A longtime state employee who transferred into the childcare assistance eligibility unit in Des Moines was fired for low production and accuracy.

Christine Lohman, who had 23 years of experience, was fired last month after extensive training, several warnings and suspensions, records show.

Tom Neil, a clerk in the Des Moines River Place office, was fired in July for failing to perform his work duties, records state.

Luis Trujillo, an income maintenance worker, was fired in March for poor job performance and inaccuracy.

Jeffrey Simpson, a child support recovery worker in Davenport, was fired in September for poor job performance, routinely showing up late work, sleeping at work and failing to follow supervisors’ instructions.

The agency will not say why two workers were allowed to resign in lieu of termination, despite repeated requests for an explanation.

In her May resignation, Deanna Carlson, a child support recovery worker in Ankeny, referenced “a relentless witchhunt” but did not say what for.

Jacob Thornholm, a Linn County worker, resigned from the agency during an investigation into his work.

Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Contact her at lrood@dmreg.com, 515-284-8549 on Twitter @leerood or at Facebook.com/readerswatchdog.