Former Jeffco DHS employee indicted for falsifying reports

A former Jefferson County child welfare case worker filed reports in a dozen cases in which she falsely suggested she had interviewed alleged abuse victims, their family members and witnesses, county officials said Monday.

Richelle Schultz, 43, who left her job with the Jefferson County Department of Human Services in July 2016, faces 12 counts of attempting to influence a public servant and 10 counts of forgery in an indictment returned on Sept. 1.

According to the indictment, Schultz began a job with the department on Dec. 1, 2015. She was trained to investigate complaints concerning child abuse and neglect and received instruction on how to perform interviews over the phone and in person.

She then became a certified case worker, according to the indictment, which noted that she was assigned less complicated cases because she was new to the department.

After she resigned, a review of her cases found she said she had conducted interviews in 12 cases in which she hadn’t, entering the information into a database that case worker supervisors use to decide how to resolve cases, according to the indictment.

Caseworkers conducting the review found no unresolved safety issues in the 12 cases she is alleged to have falsified, according to the indictment, and all have been closed.

Schultz turned herself in to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office on Sept. 15 and is free on $25,000 bond. She is due in court Oct. 2.