Mixed Report Issued on Child Abuse Deaths

Seven Los Angeles County social service employees were fired or disciplined last year when children under their jurisdiction were fatally abused by parents or caretakers, according to a confidential report.

While revealing some instances of negligence by family services staff, the report on the abuse deaths of 12 children shows that a number of the fatalities occurred even though social workers apparently did everything they were supposed to.

Requested by county supervisors amid growing concern about child abuse deaths, the report examines the homicides last year of a dozen children whose families had at some point been under investigation for child neglect or abuse. Eight of the children were under the supervision of the county Department of Children and Family Services when they died.

“There were times when people were definitely not responsive to procedures and obvious red flags,” said department Director Peter Digre, who compiled the report.

In the other cases, he added, social workers “were diligent. They were cautious. They just didn’t see anything” suggesting the children were in danger.

Figures on the total number of county children who were fatally abused by their parents or caretakers are not yet available for 1995, but the report mirrors previous trends.

Since 1989, the number of child deaths involving families who had previous contact with protective services has hovered around 11 each year. During the same period, the department’s caseload has expanded, so the rate of such cases has actually declined.

“In terms of the overall picture you could say perhaps there was better vigilance in addressing at least those high-risk cases where deaths are likely to occur,” said Deanne Tilton Durfee, director of the county Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect,

While emphasizing that no child’s death is acceptable, Durfee said there is an increased effort to ensure that social workers know exactly what is expected of them and that they meet those responsibilities.

“This is the year of the most pronounced accountability I can recall. . . . Historically, there have been very few consequences,” Durfee added.

There were definitely consequences in the case of a toddler who died of head trauma and shaken baby syndrome while under the department’s supervision.

A department investigation found that when the child’s social worker went on leave, a supervisor failed to reassign the case and falsified records. As a result, the child was “not seen or assessed for six months prior to his death,” according to the report. The supervisor was dismissed and the child’s father has been indicted on first-degree murder charges.

In another case, the department found that various procedures were not followed by three children’s department employees who were subsequently disciplined. Among the staff’s failures: Medical follow-up was not immediately sought after bruises were noted on a 2-year-old boy, and the status of a woman who claimed to be the child’s aunt--but who turned out to be a distant cousin--was not verified.

The boy died of head trauma and the cousin is awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges.

In the third case in which workers were disciplined, a social worker failed to see a 1-year-old for two months preceding her death, failed to get complete information on the parents’ criminal backgrounds and failed “to assess pertinent facts” in recommending that the child be reunited with her parents.

Several months after the child’s return, the child abuse hot line received a call that the toddler had been badly beaten. She died the same day from head trauma and shaken baby syndrome. The parents have been charged with first-degree murder. The social worker resigned and the county has taken steps to fire a supervisor and manager involved in the case.

But even when department workers did what they were supposed to, children sometimes died under their supervision. Last October, a 3-month-old died two days after he was admitted to the hospital. Again, the cause was shaken baby syndrome. His mother is awaiting trial on murder charges.

The child’s social worker had made 10 home visits in the 10 weeks before the boy’s death, had verified that his medical appointments were kept, and verified his siblings’ school attendance and the mother’s participation in drug counseling and parenting instruction.

“There is an element of unpredictability” in trying to forecast caretakers’ behavior, Digre said, pointing out that the department’s 2,500 social workers look into 140,000 new reports of child abuse a year, in addition to the 66,000 cases they already handle.

Still, Digre said, improvements should be made in the child protection system. A number of those changes are the subject of legislative proposals, which deal with everything from tightening standards for reuniting children with their families to having children examined by physicians schooled in recognizing abuse symptoms.

The need for reform was highlighted with the well publicized case of Lance Helms--one of the 12 reviewed in the report. The 2-year-old was released into the custody of his father against the repeated recommendations of the children’s department and subsequently beaten to death by the father’s girlfriend.

Friday, members of the county Board of Supervisors emphasized the need for revisions in the child protective system.

“This report shows that there are some problems. We should be absolutely alarmed if we lose any child,” said Supervisor Gloria Molina. “We need to provide them with assistance and safety, and I’m not so sure we can achieve that even though we have many good people working for us. The system still needs some corrections and reforms.”

The supervisors voted last month to establish an independent inspector general, who will report directly to them on specific cases and general child abuse problems. Molina said department Director Digre “is wonderful, but an independent person can make an assessment on their own and be truly valuable to us as policymakers.”

Times staff writer Josh Meyer contributed to this story.