Social Services Contractor Charged With Welfare Fraud

A woman paid by the Rockland County Department of Social Services to be a family home provider, housing needy individuals in her home and giving them 24-hour supervision and meals, has been charged with welfare fraud for moving three handicapped residents to a site with deplorable conditions in Orange County, according to District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe.

Zugibe said Vanessa Sortano, 64, of 60 Hudson Ave., Haverstraw, has been charged with one count of fifth-degree welfare fraud, a class “A” misdemeanor.  He said Sortano is a licensed Family Home Provider, who after receiving her payment for the month October, 2010, moved three handicapped residents without authorization.

Zugibe said the move left the homeless tenants in deplorable conditions for eight days, without proper supervision and inadequate meals. Because Sortano placed the residents outside her home for that period, she received benefits to which she was not entitled, Zugibe said.

The arrest resulted from an investigation conducted by the Rockland County Special Investigations Unit and State Police. Sortano was arraigned in the Village of Haverstraw Justice Court by the Judge Ronald V. DeCaprio and released pending an Aug. 10 hearing.

Zugibe said Sortano is also facing charges in Orange County of endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, a class “A” misdemeanor.