Ex-foster youth may sue county

WARD: Young man whose life savings were stolen may press case in court.

Samuel Sago was a victim of his case manager Andre Toliver, 39, who stole his trust fund money. Toliver died of a heart attack leaving a trail of victims from whom he stole money. Sago lives with his foster sister Tiffany Foster in Gardena. Sago plays with his foster sisters son, Lemonte Jones, 5. (Robert Casillas/Staff Photo)

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former foster youth whose life savings were apparently stolen by a county caseworker is considering suing the county, hoping to force policy changes to prevent future thefts.

Samuel Sago, 21, lost nearly $5,000 to a now-deceased probation officer who was working for the Department of Children and Family Services.

County officials said Andre Toliver stole more than $17,000 from 19 wards who had entrusted him with money they were required to save to help them transition out of foster care.

DCFS officials said the auditor-controller has expanded the investigation to look not only at the 28 youths whom Toliver was supervising at the time of his death, but his other wards during the three years that he worked for the Transitional Housing Program.

The auditor-controller is also investigating Toliver's fellow case managers, to see if they had misappropriated any of their wards' trust funds. About 175 youths are currently in the Transitional Housing Program. So far, no additional problems have been found.

Although county officials returned the funds last week, Sago is working with a local civil rights advocate to consult with attorneys for a lawsuit.

"When you steal from kids who are in the foster care system, that's got to be the worst," said Eddie Jones, president of the Los

Angeles Civil Rights Association, who is helping Sago. "How low can you go?"

"In order to get them (DCFS) to understand the severity of this, and how it has affected so many children in this foster care system who have money due them, then there's only one way to do it and that's to file a lawsuit and have it litigated and get some closure and some due process," Jones added.

While participating in the DCFS' Transitional Housing Program, Sago - a part-time Starbucks barista - handed over about $300 a month for 17 months to Toliver, who was supposed to deposit it in a trust fund.

When Sago asked for his money in March, so he could find an apartment after graduating from the Transitional Housing Program, DCFS officials issued him a check for only $713 and never explained that Toliver had apparently pocketed the rest. The theft was not discovered until after Toliver's death in March.

Sago did not receive the full amount he was owed - $4,664.10 - until last Friday, after members of the Board of Supervisors put pressure on the DCFS to reimburse him.

Tiffany Foster, 29, whom Sago considers his foster "sister" because her family cared for him from ages 11-18, and now lets him stay at her home, criticized DCFS officials' handling of the problem.

"No one seemed to care," she testified Tuesday to the Board of Supervisors. "The policies and the procedures that they have in place (are) not working, and they do need to be adjusted."

Supervisor Gloria Molina apologized to Sago on behalf of the board.

"We've made every effort to make you whole - in other words, to return your money," she said. "We've had some fraud that's been committed in this department, and various people who are covering up for other people. We're trying to get to the bottom of it."

"On behalf of the board, we really are sorry for your situation, and apologize," Molina added.

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_18224639?source=rss

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