County Settles Suit Over Boy’s Care

Los Angeles County agreed Tuesday to pay $2.5 million to a boy who suffered permanent brain damage while in protective custody at MacLaren Children’s Center, the maligned shelter that the county closed two years ago.

Workers at the center failed to get 4-year-old Brandon Yepez to a hospital quickly enough when he became ill in 2001, county attorneys said in a report to the Board of Supervisors.

The boy, suffering from a genetic condition that causes dangerously high acid levels, was in a coma by the time he arrived at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, according to court records. He now suffers from profound brain damage.

“They didn’t take the steps that were necessary to keep him healthy while he was in their custody,” said Pasadena-based attorney Felix Avila, who represented the family in its lawsuit against the county.

Board members unanimously voted without discussion to settle the lawsuit at their weekly meeting.

MacLaren, a county-run facility in El Monte, temporarily housed about 160 abused or neglected children. After problems that included violent outbursts by children, runaways and allegations of mistreatment by staff members, the county closed it in March 2003.

Nearly two years earlier, county social workers briefly removed Brandon and his three siblings from their parents’ home after a complaint that his father had slapped the boy’s teenage sister. The children were returned to the parents within days and no charges were filed, but Brandon spent two days in protective custody at MacLaren, his attorney said.

Brandon suffers from methylmalonic acidemia, which prevents the body from metabolizing proteins. At MacLaren, he was found vomiting at 6 a.m. on July 14, 2001. Medical staff members at the shelter decided against hospitalizing him until 3 p.m., when they ordered that an ambulance be called, the county’s report on the lawsuit said.

But a social worker drove Brandon by car to Childrens Hospital, where he arrived at 4:50 p.m.

“Medical experts will be critical of the failure to transport Brandon Yepez to Childrens Hospital by ambulance,” the report said.

Brandon, now 8, requires 24-hour care; he cannot walk, talk or feed himself, his attorney said.

Under the settlement, Brandon will receive $2,011,000 and his attorneys will be paid $439,000 and reimbursed $50,000 in legal costs.

The county spent an additional $300,000 on legal costs.