Confidential DHS Documents Left Behind in Home

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A DHS worker left hundreds of confidential documents behind after she was evicted from her rental home in Guthrie.

The documents obtained by NEWS 9 contained names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers. They also contained the names and addresses of children involved in sexual and physical abuse.

Normally, this type of paperwork is heavily guarded but it was discovered when a DHS social worker moved and left it all behind.

Sandy Chanel was shocked when she discovered the condition of her rental home, from cat feces on the floor to food left in the kitchen. She says her house is trashed.

"I would not live like this," Chanel said.

Yet, it was a box in the basement that caused her the most concern.

"I saw a box of paperwork, which I thought was trash, then when I started looking though it, I thought, ‘This is not good'," Chanel said.

What she found was page after page of confidential DHS paperwork; some dating back five years.

The information was left behind by Dana Derruisseaux, a DHS social worker. Derruisseaux moved into the Guthrie home last October. Chanel says she was evicted for failing to pay her rent.

NEWS 9 delivered the documents back to DHS.

"There is no excuse for you to have to deliver to the state Capitol a box full of documents that has personal and private information; there's just no excuse," DHS Spokesperson George Johnson said. "We won't put up with it."

Johnson commented on the condition of the home as well.

"They're our employees when they're at work," Johnson said. "We don't go to their homes, we don't inspect their homes. We don't look at the kinds of living conditions they live in."

Dana Derruisseaux was recently promoted and is supposed to begin her new job in the next few weeks.

DHS says the appropriate actions are being taken immediately but can't comment on what exactly that means.

NEWS 9 tried contacting the DHS worker for her side of the story, but she did not return the call.