Agency Cleared in Beating Death

Alameda County social services employees followed proper procedures when investigating child abuse complaints that had been reported to a hotline before the beating death of a 3-year-old Oakland boy in September, according to a report given to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The review by the county counsel’s office was undertaken after the death of Chazarus “Cha-Cha” Hill Jr. Allegedly, the child was beaten by his father for making mistakes when counting or reciting the alphabet. The boy died Sept. 20, after his father brought him to San Leandro Hospital.

Chazarus Hill Sr., 23, has been charged with murder, felonious assault on a child under 8 and child endangerment.

After the boy’s death, neighbors said they had made numerous calls to the county Department of Children and Family Services but that the agency had been unresponsive. One person reportedly said that the Social Services Agency told her it did not take calls after 5 p.m.

In October, the county counsel’s office hired a private investigation firm to look into the allegations.

“It appears that DCFS [Department of Children and Family Services] followed relevant procedures and there is no indication that there was system failure or worker error in this case,” the report said.

The report further concluded that the Social Services Agency’s Emergency Response Unit, which takes calls of alleged child abuse or neglect, operates 24 hours a day.

The review found no evidence that an anonymous caller to the agency’s hotline was told that workers are not sent out after 5 p.m., and that “the reporting party may have misinterpreted the information that was provided to her.”

The report noted that since the child’s death, the Social Services Agency has instituted a new, third level of review when the recommendation of a screener differs from that of a supervisor. An Emergency Response Program manager now makes the final decision on how to respond to a complaint.

In the Hill case, a screener recommended that a child welfare worker immediately respond to an anonymous call on Sept. 15 raising concerns about the boy’s safety. The supervisor said a response should be made within 10 days. In making that decision, the supervisor had reviewed the anonymous caller’s information, the recommendation of the screener who took it and the history of the boy and his parents, according to the report.