"Parental neglect contributed to the previously unreported deaths of three Santa Clara County children in 2022, even after repeated referrals urged the county's child welfare agency to intervene and ensure their safety. In each case, social workers closed repeated referrals as unfounded or inconclusive, referred parents to voluntary services they never completed"
"The Child Death Review Team findings represent the latest blow to an agency that has faced intense scrutiny since the 2023 fentanyl poisoning death of baby Phoenix Castro. Despite dire warnings from social workers, the department sent the newborn home with her drug-addicted father, a decision that ultimately revealed agency policies more focused on keeping families together than protecting children. Her mother later died of an overdose, and her father has been charged with murder."
Parental neglect contributed to three previously unreported child deaths in Santa Clara County in 2022, despite repeated referrals urging child-welfare intervention. In each case, social workers closed repeated referrals as unfounded or inconclusive, referred parents to voluntary services they never completed, or took no further action until after a child died. One case resulted in felony child endangerment charges; another led to the parents losing custody of surviving children. The Child Death Review Team conducted a deeper review revealing more detail. County family-preservation policies since 2021 reduced court removals and emphasized voluntary services that were often skipped.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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