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Wilk Announces Department Of Child And Family Services Audit After Palmdale Boy’s Death

State Senator Scott Wilk announced an audit of the Los Angeles County Department of Child and Family Services will be conducted after the death of a 10-year-old boy from Palmdale.


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The bipartisan request was unanimously approved by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee on Wednesday.

The abuse and eventual death of 10-year old Anthony Avalos was a major factor promoting Democratic Senator Ricardo Lara, Republican Assemblyman Tom Lackey and Republican Senator Scott Wilk to call for the audit, claiming Avalos was essentially abused to death despite multiple reports of suspected abuse having been made to the Department of Child and Family Services.

“Although Anthony Avalos is the most recent example, unfortunately his story is not unique,” Wilk said in a statement announcing the audit. “In 2014, Gabriel Fernandez also died as a result of abuse despite multiple reports having been filed with DCFS.”

The Santa Clarita representative said the audit was a step toward preventing future tragedies.

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“This was not an isolated incident,” Wilk said. “If we don’t find out how situations like this can occur we won’t be able to find ways to prevent them in the future. Despite numerous calls to DCFS by teachers, relatives and others expressing concern, Anthony remained in his home. This has got to stop. It is systematic incompetency and represents an epic failure by government.”

Over a dozen calls were placed to the Department of Child and Family Services by multiple people in Anthony’s life, including teachers, school administrators, counselors and relatives reporting the alleged abuse of the child and his six siblings at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend, according to the Los Angeles Times.

At the time of his death, Anthony’s body was covered with multiple cigarette burns and he had sustained severe head injuries amongst other visible signs of trauma.

“My heart breaks for Anthony and other children being abused,” Wilk said. “We can’t make this right for him, but we can take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

The audit should be completed sometime next spring, according to officials.

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Wilk Announces Department Of Child And Family Services Audit After Palmdale Boy’s Death

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About Lori Bashian

Lori Bashian joined KHTS AM 1220 as a staff writer in 2017 following a news internship. She started working in news during her time at College of the Canyons writing for Cougar News. She is currently studying at California State University, Northridge working towards a bachelor’s degree in Journalism with an emphasis in print.