ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Defects in Social Service Picture

A case in Orange County that has come to symbolize the darkest horrors of homeless children has ended in the conviction of a couple on child-neglect charges in the death of their infant son. The 4-month-old was bitten 110 times by a starving pet rat and was found dead last August in a station wagon in which the family lived.

The jury deadlocked on the question of involuntary manslaughter, but the child-neglect conviction means that the parents face up to six years in prison.

Criminal responsibility aside, this case is a sickening reminder of the all too common danger of homeless youngsters falling through the cracks of the social service system.

Testimony revealed that the parents were well aware of the pet rat’s history of biting people and yet left it alone in the station wagon with the infant. There was other testimony about spoiled food left inside the vehicle, as well as soiled clothing, dirty diapers and remains of gnats, flies and roaches.

So concerned were those who knew the family that Orange County social service workers were asked to investigate repeatedly and each time decided there was insufficient evidence that the child was in danger. Shortly before the baby’s death, the grandparents reported the problems, but social service workers, authorities said later, were unable to find the family.

Without hanging responsibility for this tragedy on anyone in the system, we nevertheless must wonder about the big picture, whether the holes in the county safety net simply are too big. There is something terribly wrong in this picture. Despite the best efforts of those who were alarmed by the conditions under which the homeless family lived, there still apparently was no way to intervene effectively and prevent a terrible result.

In the future, infants in desperate need of removal from perilous conditions must get help sooner. If such families carry on without the help they need, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the system really isn’t working for those who most need its protection.