Marion, Ohio — Marion County Children Services hired a caseworker two weeks after another county’s children services agency fired her for violating its drug policy, and she was later arrested during a workday with suspected drugs in her car, according to an ABC6 investigation. Body camera video shows the caseworker, Erika Funfgeld, telling police she was on her way to a home visit.
ABC6 reported that Franklin County Children Services fired Funfgeld on Aug. 5, 2025, for violating its drug policy. Marion County hired her as an ongoing caseworker on Aug. 19. The agency received Franklin County’s termination report on Sept. 5, after she had already started.
Arrested between home visits
Bucyrus police stopped Funfgeld’s car around 2 p.m. on Jan. 30, 2026, according to ABC6. Her case logs show she had completed two home visits earlier that day, and she was hours away from a scheduled visit with a family whose teenage son was on her caseload. An officer pulled two bags of suspected drugs from the car. Asked what she did with them, she answered: “Smoke it.”
One officer was checked at a hospital out of concern about handling suspected fentanyl, the station reported. ABC6’s report did not list the specific charges, and the allegations have not been proven in court. Her next court date was set for April. A man at her listed address told the station she had been in rehab since the arrest.
Two drug tests, two diluted results
Marion County gave Funfgeld a pre-employment drug test in August and a random test in October. Both came back diluted-negative, ABC6 reported. The agency said Funfgeld told it she had tested positive for marijuana in Franklin County, but it had no report to back that up. Franklin County did not explain the policy violation to ABC6 despite repeated requests. Her resume listed prior work as a nanny.
I can totally understand that, you know, we are upset as well.
Elizabeth Moore, Marion County Children Services, to ABC6
A supervisor told ABC6 in a March 24 follow-up that the agency had lost trust in Funfgeld.
Families left with questions
The father of the teenager on her caseload told ABC6 his son had admitted using pills and other drugs and was sent to live temporarily with a relative. He said he had asked for a rehab referral and now wonders whether Funfgeld’s alleged drug use affected the case, including his son’s drug test results. He said his attorney also suspected she was impaired at a December hearing.
I don’t know whether my son was getting drugs from her.
Father of a teen on Funfgeld’s caseload, to ABC6
Another caregiver, Lindsay Hempy, told ABC6 that Funfgeld often seemed “out of it” and miscommunicated about basic tasks, including transporting a child to a visit.
Who checks the checkers
Children services agencies drug test parents constantly and treat a missed or diluted screen as evidence against them. In this case, the agency accepted two diluted results from its own worker, hired her before receiving her termination record from a neighboring county and kept her in families’ homes. The issue is not funding; Marion County’s agency had a $7.3 million budget in 2024, half from local taxes. It is a double standard in how agencies judge parents and how they judge themselves. Parents who believe a caseworker’s conduct affected their case can learn how to file a CPS complaint and request their records.
Key facts
- Caseworker: Erika Funfgeld, Marion County Children Services (ongoing caseworker)
- Fired by Franklin County Children Services: Aug. 5, 2025, drug-policy violation
- Hired by Marion County: Aug. 19, 2025; termination report received Sept. 5
- Two drug tests at Marion County (August and October) came back diluted-negative
- Arrested by Bucyrus police on Jan. 30, 2026, after two home visits that day
- Agency budget: $7.3 million in 2024; levy up for renewal in 2028
Sources
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