Child-Welfare Group on Baby Girl’s Death: ‘The System Failed’

Officials of a private child welfare agency in Anaheim charged Thursday that police and county social workers repeatedly visited the home of 1-year-old Samantha Rose Gutierrez before the girl died of starvation and neglect in March.

“Somehow the system failed,” said Lorri Galloway, executive director of the Eli Home, a private, nonprofit agency that had contacted authorities about the child. “This was so blatant. There were broken bones and black eyes. This will happen again unless something drastically changes.”

The Orange County Social Services Agency is investigating its handling of the case. But the agency as well as the Anaheim Police Department dispute Galloway’s timeline of the events leading to Samantha’s death.

Galloway said that from November to shortly before the girl’s death March 26, Anaheim police and workers from the county Social Services Agency visited the Gutierrez home at least five times.

Eli Home officials, who held a news conference Thursday, said the number of visits is partly based on information from Dulce Soriano, 27, a housemate of the Gutierrez family who made the first complaints to the Eli Home about possible abuse of Samantha.

Soriano recalled that she saw police at the duplex on North Harbor Boulevard in November and December, but she did not know why they were there. She said social workers were at the home twice during the same months.

In addition, Galloway said, Anaheim police and county social workers were contacted at least twice in January, prompting police to visit the home to look for signs of child abuse. She recalled making one of the calls herself after officers went to the home.

The Social Services Agency has the power to take children from their parents if there is immediate risk of harm, but in this case Samantha remained at home.

Sgt. Mike Hidalgo, a police spokesman, said the department received only two calls related to Samantha--one about possible child abuse and the other the day she died.

Two officers spent 40 minutes at the Gutierrez home Jan. 17, Hidalgo said. They found no obvious signs of abuse after questioning the parents and checking on Samantha as well as her sister and two brothers.

The Social Services Agency is reviewing its handling of the Gutierrez matter. A report could be sent to the presiding judge of Orange County Juvenile Court within 90 days.

Michael Riley, head of the agency’s Children and Family Services Department, said the only involvement county social workers had with the Gutierrez case was in January. He also said he has no documentation supporting the Eli Home’s contention that Galloway personally notified the county about possible abuse after the police visited Samantha’s home Jan. 17.

On Monday, the Orange County coroner’s office concluded that the baby’s death was a homicide, prompting police to resume their investigation. Authorities said that the girl’s parents are suspects but that there have been no arrests so far.