Four California DCFS Workers Fired in CPS Fail Case-Child Death UPDATED

“Two social workers and two supervisors in the county’s troubled Department of Children and Family Services have been fired over the death of an 8-year-old Palmdale boy after the agency received several complaints of abuse, officials said.

Paramedics were summoned to the home of Gabriel Fernandez on the evening of May 22 and found the boy barely breathing with numerous injuries, including a fractured skull, broken ribs and burns. He died in the hospital two days later. His mother and her boyfriend were arrested and charged with murder and torture.

CFS head Philip Browning said letters had gone out Tuesday to the four employees most involved in the case notifying them of the department’s intent to fire them. The employees have the right to appeal the decision. Other employees who were “peripherally involved” received warning or reprimand letters.

Browning said the quick move to fire the employees marked a departure from past processes. In the past, the department would have looked through the entire history of Gabriel’s involvement with DCFS before taking action. In this case, the initial investigation focused on the last two years or so to come to a swifter resolution on the fate of the four employees, who were put on desk duty soon after Fernandez’s death.]

Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, whose district includes Palmdale, announced the firing of the workers Tuesday during a board meeting in response to public comments from child advocates, some of whom said they were related to Gabriel.

Advocates cheered at the announcement, but also called out, “What are their names?”

In the wake of Gabriel’s death, the county also convened a blue-ribbon commission on child protection, which is slated to begin meeting this week.”

Social workers involved in horrific child torture case fired

[Los Angeles Times 7/30/13 by Abby Sewell]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “An LA County Department of Children and Family Services supervisor who was fired in the wake of the torture death of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez will be reinstated, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Gregory Merritt, a DCFS supervisor, decided to close the Fernandez case after he was reunited with his mother, along with social worker Patricia Clement. Four people involved in the handling of the little boy’s case were fired after his May 2013 death.

A civil service commission previously voted to bring Merritt back to work.

Fernandez was found not breathing in his mother’s Palmdale home May 22, 2013. He never regained consciousness and died the following day. The boy had suffered a fractured skull, several broken ribs and had been burned with cigarettes, among numerous other injuries.

His mother, Pearl Sinthia Fernandez, 31, and her boyfriend Isauro Aguirre, 35, are awaiting trial, charged with his murder.

The case sparked widespread outrage and a move to overhaul of the county’s social services, which many felt had failed Gabriel.

The boy had been repeatedly removed from his mother’s care in the years before his death, and more than 60 abuse reports were made by family members, neighbors, teachers and others.

He has been removed from his grandparents’ care and returned to his mother’s home before his death, despite objections.

DCFS did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The outcome of a separate trial to reverse the commission’s ruling could ultimately impact Merritt’s long-term employment position, but Judge James Chalfant ruled Tuesday that in the meantime, he should be reinstated.”

DCFS Supervisor in Gabriel Fernandez Case Can Return to Work: Judge [NBC Los Angeles 1/26/16 by Lolita Lopez and Kelly Goff]

Update 2: “Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gustavo N. Sztraicher issued a ruling Thursday that suspends the social worker license for one of the former child protective services workers who handled the case of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez.

“You are ordered not to engage in any business that requires use of your California social worker license,” Sztraicher told Kevin Bom, 36, of Phelan.

Bom has worked as a child custody evaluator in the San Bernardino courts following his firing from the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. In his job, he is required to possess a social worker license.

In April, Bom and three DCFS colleagues were charged with felony child abuse and falsifying public records in connection with the 2013 death of Fernandez, who was tortured and killed even though the workers had numerous warnings of abuse in his home.

Los Angeles County prosecutors allege that the county Department of Children and Family Services employees minimized “the significance of the physical, mental and emotional injuries that Gabriel suffered … [and] allowed a vulnerable boy to remain at home and continue to be abused.”

At their arraignment Thursday afternoon, the defendants did not enter pleas because the attorney for one of the social workers, Patricia Clement, did not appear, and Clement requested new representation.

Gabriel’s death sparked widespread outrage and prompted a series of reforms designed to improve how county officials monitor children who show signs of being abused. Prosecutors said the social workers’ actions were so troubling that they warranted the rare step of filing criminal charges.

The decision to suspend Bom’s license followed a request by the office of Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris. ”

Ruling suspends the social worker license for a man charged in an 8-year-old boy’s death [LA Times 6/2/16 by Garrett Therolf]

Update 3: “This weekend marks seven years since parental child abuse took the life of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez. His memory has generated positive steps to save children. Those who knew Gabriel best talked to ABC7 about the boy.

“They can’t fight for themselves, they can’t speak out for themselves. They need somebody else to do it, but especially during this time. You need to care,” said Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami.

The prosecutor’s crusade to protect children was ignited at the Palmdale complex where Gabriel lived.

Seven years later, his story has traveled worldwide. Mourners have had questions.

“As far as Canada, they come. Car loads.”

A new voice joined the outcry. Gabriel’s uncle Chris Contreras is breaking his silence. He and his wife adopted Gabriel’s siblings, the walking wounded.

“Something brings it back in. It’s all those emotions are there. It is not any easier,” Contreras said.

Ezekiel was 12 and Virginia was 10 when they witnessed the torture inflicted by their own mother Pearl Fernandez and her boyfriend Isauro Aguirre.

Living in a household gripped by fear. They testified about the bat, the BB guns, the box where Gabriel was confined, accusations that he was gay. To this day, Contreras says Gabriel’s siblings don’t let themselves have fun, no matter how much he tries.

“Unfortunately, I think this is something that’s gonna affect them the rest of their lives. One way or another,” Contreras said.

For him, it’s personal. He takes aim at the Department of Children and Family Services.

“What they did is almost as bad as what Pearl and Isauro did,” he said.

Four had been charged but the appeals court dismissed the case ruling that the workers did not have a legal responsibility to care for a child the way a parent did. A position rejected by Hatami.

“I think you not only have a moral and ethical obligation to save that child, I think you have a legal obligation to save that child. And if you don’t, I think the public then should have the right to hold you criminally responsible,” Hatami said.

The dismissal, says Contreras, was as wrong as what happened earlier. Aguirre was sentenced to death. But Gov. Gavin Newsom, citing his personal sense of morality, suspended all executions for as long as he’s in office.

Contreras says Aguirre deserves no mercy, and he says evidence backs him up.

“I would show everybody that picture of Gabriel in the hospital. Because no matter how many times I saw Gabriel smile, when I think of Gabriel now, I picture him in that hospital bed, not waking up.”

Gabriel’s memory in the household is so painful, they avoid it.

But Contreras says a door opened recently.

The Netflix documentary, “The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez”, they watched it together.

The series originally had included the Contreras family, but to allow more time for healing, Contreras requested that their part be taken out.

He saw how it opened minds and hearts. Contreras received support he never imagined.

“I can’t tell you how many people I’ve spoken to that have chosen a career path in social services because they say they want to make a difference,” Contreras said.

“How many people have named their children after Gabriel, my five year old son’s middle name is Gabriel.”

And there’s momentum for “Gabriel’s Law.” It would give an officer on an abuse call a way to quickly check for DCFS history and alert the caseworker. The proposal is pushed by Gabriel’s cousin Emily Carranza who pins blame on Gabriel’s social workers.

“They had the upper hand, I honestly believe to remove him and save him. But they didn’t,” said Carranza.

The head of DCFS says since Gabriel’s death, the system has been overhauled.

“We have added thousands of case workers, which have increased the capability of us to be able to work very closely with families,” said Bobby Cagle, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.

Cagle was not available to answer follow up questions about two more recent DCFS death cases, also in Antelope Valley: Anthony Avalos and Noah Cuatro.

“Children are still getting killed. Children are still getting murdered. Children are still getting tortured and this is after Gabriel,” Hatami said.

The power for change, Hatami says, is reflected in a growing memorial. Amid the toys and tender mementos, a call to save children before it is too late.

“I know that those that have heard or seen his story. At least those people are going to do their part and I know that children have been saved due to his story,” Contreras said.”

Palmdale abuse case: Uncle breaks silence nearly 7 years after Gabriel Fernandez’s death

[ABC7 5/23/2020 by Miriam Hernandez]