When Real Solutions Can Be No Solutions

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Perhaps worse than sanitary and safety concerns are the court reports produced by the organization. These reports, according to former Real Solutions supervisors, are often biased, inaccurate, re-created or doctored.

Maria, a former supervisor who asked that her real name not be used, says most of the supervisors are incompetent. “Susan’s reports included some of the poorest documentation I have ever seen,” she says. “And they have dummied reports. Several times when I was there, a report would be lost, and they would make up a new one weeks later. I have messages saved on my answering machine from a manager asking me if I can remember anything from a visit that had happened a month before.”

Griffin often favors one parent over another in custody cases and tailors reports so they reflect positively on that parent—who is likely to be a Real Solutions contributor, according to Maria and another former supervisor, Frank, who also asked that an alias be used. Frank and Maria’s work involves them in the San Diego Family Court system, and both fear Griffin will use her influence with judges to harm them professionally.

Karen (not her real name), a mother of two boys involved in a custody battle, says Griffin was assigned to be the therapist for one of her sons, despite a lack of credentials. After one of Karen’s sons talked about killing himself because he was so unhappy, Griffin had the boys’ father bring his son to Real Solutions for therapy. Karen says Griffin found fault with the way she—the boys’ mother—had handled the situation and wrote a letter to the court that caused Karen to lose all visitation with her sons. Eventually she was allowed six hours of supervised visits a week. Her ex-husband’s girlfriend at the time—now his wife—confirmed that her father had contributed $1,000 to Real Solutions.

“It was a nightmare,” recalls Karen, who so fears losing visitation again she declines to use her real name. “Even though you’re told by the courts it’s easy to change your supervisor, you can’t. Instead you have this lady who isn’t licensed or qualified, who is counseling your children, and you can’t get her off the case.”

Former supervisor Maria recalls a report she authored in a case where a mother had lost custody of her young daughter, based in large part on reports submitted to the court by Real Solutions. Maria supervised a very favorable visit and says her report to the court reflected that.

“Susan called my immediate manager at 2 in the morning, livid, because in her eyes my report was too favorable toward this woman. But this report was absolutely the truth. I decided to look at previous supervised visitation reports and saw there was a real pattern of running this woman into the ground. When Susan gets an idea in her head and decides there should be a custody change, that’s the way it is. Screw the facts.”

Rancho Bernardo attorney Mick D. Meagher, who specializes in business litigation and consumer protection cases, says he has been asked by several former Real Solutions clients to handle a lawsuit on their behalf, against Griffin. “We’re talking about people who have literally lost the ability to see their children, based on the testimony of someone [Griffin] who lied under oath about her own qualifications,” he says. “It’s completely contrary to our system of justice.”

Despite the allegations against her, Griffin apparently has managed to impress judges and the community. Judge Wesley Mason says Griffin is providing “a necessary and important” service to the courts. Channel 10 gave Griffin its Leadership Award in October 1999.

Mary Weithaus, a supervisor at the Hillcrest office for four years, says her experience at Real Solutions has been nothing but positive. “You deal with a lot of anger from parents there,” she says. “But we tell the truth in our reports and are nonjudgmental.” Weithaus calls Griffin “a wonderful human being under a lot of stress, trying to provide a very needed service.”

Keith Diffenderfer, a custodial father, was a Real Solutions client for five years. His two sons visited their mother at Real Solutions. He is also a contributor. “Was the place spotless?” he asks. “No. But I thought it was reasonable. I have absolute faith in Susan’s intentions, and I understand she is a social worker and has the proper licenses for this work. I’ve been to marriage counselors who don’t seem as qualified as she does.” (Griffin is not, in fact, a social worker.)

It seems clear something ought to happen, but county officials claim their hands are tied. They may also be disinterested. “For anything significant to happen,” says attorney Meagher, “one of the local state reps would have to become involved and demand a review of custody decisions—and frankly, this isn’t a constituency that’s going to generate a lot of offers of help.”

The Board of Supervisors may have ordered the HHS investigation of Real Solutions, but Chairman Bill Horn hasn’t even looked at the report. Dorothy Steinbeck, Horn’s policy adviser, says, “There’s nothing the Board of Supervisors can do. The state of California oversees the courts.”

Jimmy Jackson, chief of staff for state Senator Dede Alpert (D-39th District), says Alpert has gone so far as to speak to the then–presiding judge for San Diego Superior Court, Wayne Peterson, about her concerns. But she apparently didn’t speak about Griffin’s phonied credentials. Peterson says he hadn’t heard about those problems. He believes Griffin is making a “dedicated effort” to upgrade her facilities, but says if she has lied about her qualifications, “That’s a very serious issue.

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