The Region : 87 Reports of Child Abuse at Center Filed

Eighty-seven reports of child abuse at MacLaren Children’s Center, the county’s temporary shelter for abused and neglected children in El Monte, have been reported to authorities so far this year, and four staff members have been fired or reassigned as a result, said Robert Chaffee, newly appointed director of the county’s Department of Children’s Services. The alleged abuses ranged from one report of possible sexual misconduct--a counselor who told a child to undress--to complaints of excessive force, such as arm-twisting, shoving or slapping. New policy requires that all allegations, however minor, be reported to El Monte police and turned over to the district attorney’s office for review. Chaffee also has assigned an internal affairs investigator to MacLaren to investigate allegations from youngsters housed there or from staff members who witness inappropriate behavior by colleagues.