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Request for an advisory opinion regarding whether Ms. Rebecca Corbello may become a contract employee with Northwestern State University (NSU) upon her retirement from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). |
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Ms. Corbello was employed for thirty-three years in child welfare with DCFS (formerly Department of Social Services) prior to her February 18, 2012 retirement. For the past two years she has served as Program Specialist on the Transformation Project in the DCFS.
Prior to the Transformation Project, Ms. Corbello served as Regional Administrator for the Jefferson Region Office of Community Services (OCS) within the Department of Social Services until December 2009. OCS provides child welfare services such as: foster care, family services, child protection investigation, adoption, and certification of foster and adoptive parents.
On January 3, 2010 Ms. Corbello began as a Program Specialist on the Transformation Project where she remained until her recent retirement. Ms. Corbello describes the Transformation Project as the Department's project to streamline and automate the workflow processes and modernize the collection and use of information. Duties on the project have included conducting business process analysis on the work processes of programs such as Child Support Enforcement, Economic Stability, and Child Welfare Services, User Acceptance Testing of the system; leading a work group to identify policies needing revision as a result of the Department's reorganization; reviewing and providing comments on deliverables from the contractor; and participating in the Child Welfare Streamlining.
As a Child Welfare Coach with NSU, Ms. Corbello will work with new Child Welfare staff to enhance their knowledge and skills through the use of structured activities, on the job training, observations and providing feedback. The Child Welfare Coach plays a key role in supporting and assisting the Child Welfare Trainee to improve the trainee's performance as they work with the children, families, providers, and other stakeholders with the child welfare system. Ms. Corbello will not be participating in any activities or transactions which she participated while an employee with DCFS. The Child Welfare Trainees would have direct contact with the children, families, providers and stakeholders. She may conduct observations of the Trainees to improve their performance.
Further, the services to be provided, coaching of child welfare trainees, is not a service Ms. Corbello provided in her capacity as Regional Administrator from July, 1985 to December, 2010. As Regional Administrator, she indirectly oversaw the work of the child welfare trainees from a high level administrative, managerial perspective. As previously noted, she was part of the Transformation Project at DCFS from January, 2010 to February 17, 2012 and was no longer part of the child welfare staff at DCFS. According to Ms. Corbello's conversations with the DCFS Training Director, coaching is not a service that DCFS has ever formally provided to Child Welfare Trainees.
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Section 1121B(1) states that no former public employee shall, for a period of two years following the termination of his public employment assist another person, for compensation, in a transaction, or in an appearance in connection with a transaction in which such former public employee participated at any time during his public employment and involving the governmental entity by which he is formerly employed.
Section 1102 (16) of the Code defines person as an individual or legal entity other than a governmental entity or agency thereof.
Section 1121B(1) goes on to state that a former public employee, for a period of two years following the termination of his public employment may not render any service which such former public employee had rendered to the agency during the term of his public employment on a contractual basis, regardless of the parties to the contract, to for, or on behalf of the agency with which he was formerly employed.
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Adopt proposed advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Brent Durham |
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