Local officials have to get more control over such situations, Scozzafava said.

"It's a merry-go-round here. We're moving these individuals from one place to another until they fill the place up with garbage."

Supervisor Robert C. Dedrick (R-Ticonderoga) said he's seen the same problem in his town.

"This is a cycle that's got to be broken."

The problem is statewide, O'Neill said. He said that because of confidentiality regulations they can't notify community officials when Social Services clients move into a residence.

FOLLOWING THE LAW

Then Social Services should take a leadership role, Scozzafava said.

"I can tell you a situation in Port Henry where caseworkers made visits to a residence and nothing was done. It was full of garbage."

O'Neill said it takes a court order to remove someone from a home.

"We simply follow the state law. There's no flexibility here. Despite what we want to do, what we feel morally we should do, we have to follow the law."

Scozzafava said the law should be changed if that's the case, and he plans to personally investigate the regulations O'Neill talked about.

"All we're doing is making families dysfunctional. I see bags of garbage, the mess that they leave behind, the type of (junk) food they're buying and so on. You have people, children living in this environment."

He said Moriah has been using the condemnation process against these dwellings, one of which is so bad it may have to be razed.

"I've done it (condemned homes) four times. It's horrendous. I guess the answer (from Social Services) is things are going to continue on the way they're going."

lmckinstry@pressrepublican.com