KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
Assemblymember Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, responded to a state audit of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Tuesday after they allegedly failed to remove children from abusive living conditions, officials said.
The audit found that the department allegedly failed to remove children from abusive situations for months longer than necessary and put children at risk by delivering late and inaccurate safety and risk assessments, according to the report.
“This audit proves what we’ve suspected for a long time — we need to fix things at the Department of Children and Family Services to protect the most vulnerable kids in our community,” Lackey said. “We need major changes at the department to protect children and make sure reports of abuse don’t fall through the cracks.”
The report called on the department to improve staff training and supervision, enhance its quality control processes and develop a process to ensure investigations, risk assessments, home inspections and background checks are completed quickly, according to officials.
The audit was conducted following a bipartisan request by Lackey and other members of the Legislature following the death of Gabriel Fernandez, an 8-year-old Lancaster boy who was tortured to death, allegedly by his mother and her boyfriend, officials said.
Despite receiving multiple reports of abuse, the Department of Children and Family Services did not remove Gabriel from his abusers and place him in a safer environment, according to officials.
In addition to the audit request, Lackey has introduced Gabriel’s Law (AB 1450) to improve how counties handle cross-reports of child abuse and neglect.
“I appreciate the department’s commitment to implementing the auditor’s recommendations and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Legislature and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to make the changes we need to keep children safe,” Lackey said.
A fact sheet about the audit is available here and the full report is available here.
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I’ve just read the articles on the high-speed (stolen) motorhome chase, vape shop illegal doings, kidnapping, prostitution busts, and now a child killed by the people who should be caring for him. It would be bad enough if no one knew his predicament, but when child protective services does nothing after documenting the situation…that’s more than disgusting. I’ts criminal! The person who investigated this should be prosecuted for abetting murder.
When we moved to Santa Clarita in 1985 (before it was even a city), it was considered one of the top safest places to live and raise a family. The population at that time was approx. 87,000.
Oh, how things have changed!
this happened in Palmdale Mimi, not SCV. SCV KHTS loves to report news that isn’t SCV related and it confuses everyone. But it is DCFS LA COUNTY
You are so correct Mimi. Everything from the reckless driving to the ignorance or care less attitude about the care of other’s property to the graffiti and the bullying at the local schools and the murders and the tats all over these lovely people and it goes on and on and on. No doubt the law enforcement here is not nearly sufficient enough to handle the growth. This used to be a safe place to raise our kids but certainly not anymore and it will not get any better. The parents for the most part set poor examples as they flip off drivers who are doing the speed limit or less and continue to use cell phones all the way to school and back. Tell the captain to get out of his office and see what goes on up here in what used to be an amazing place to live and raise kids and enjoy life.
Well said Mimi! SCV gets more disturbing by the minute.
Candyland for pedophiles should be added to the list and now they’re allowed to live next to schools and parks because their “constitutional rights” are somehow violated by asking them to stay 100 yards away from a school or park. What about the rights of the children they assaulted?!