Boy’s Death at Center Spurs Suit Against County
A mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday against Los Angeles County, alleging that social workers at MacLaren Children’s Center failed to properly supervise her son last fall when the boy died after inhaling propellant from an aerosol can.
Debbi Pokrzywinski said she hopes the lawsuit will improve conditions at the El Monte children’s shelter, where her 12-year-old son, Jason, died. The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, asks for unspecified damages.
Administrators at the shelter acknowledged last year that they knew the the boy had four psychiatric hospitalizations and suicidal tendencies. He had inhaled aerosol products to get high.
A one-on-one aide was assigned to keep an eye on the child, but he managed to sneak away for just a moment and inhaled fumes from a hairstyling foam, officials said.
The death, the first at the shelter in about 15 years, triggered calls for reform and for more intensive service to children with psychological problems.
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