Orange County Grand Jury
• 2003-2004
A Child At Risk: Missed Opportunities To Save a Life 05/19/04, 121k
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 10 findings
F1
Few mechanisms exist in Orange County to share information among agencies involved with child abuse that would help those agencies to discern patterns of abuse.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Determine the extent to which Children and Family Services, the Anaheim Police Department and medical providers shared information on potential child abuse in this case.
F2
At the time of this child’s death, the Child Abuse Registry had no policy to document all incoming calls on child abuse.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Determine if further intervention could have saved this child’s life.
F3
The Anaheim Police Department failed to acknowledge two prior responses to the female child victim’s address on Oct. 17, 2001, and Oct. 18, 2001, and no reports of those responses were written.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Determine if a public-health nurse is available at the Child Abuse Registry (CAR) to provide assistance.
F4
The Child Abuse Registry and Emergency Response Programs have a vacant position for a public-health nurse to gather, evaluate and interpret medical information.
Related Recommendations (2)
R4
Investigate whether CAR logs all incoming calls to their database.
R8
The Child Abuse Registry add a public-health nurse to assist social workers at CAR in interpreting and evaluating medical information on children who come to the attention of Children and Family Services. (Finding 4)
F5
Mandated reporters failed to contact the Child Abuse Registry to report injuries to the FCV and a sibling, delayed in reporting those injuries to CAR and did not follow up with written reports.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
Determine if the Anaheim Police Department records all calls to addresses where possible child abuse occurs.
F6
The child-advocacy home made a call to the Child Abuse Registry on or about Jan. 22, 2002, reporting new injuries to the FCV, but no documentation of that telephone call exists.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
Determine if the state-mandated reporters who deal with child abuse are trained by Social Services to follow the required protocol.
F7
Despite the inability of the Social Services Agency and the Anaheim Police Department to confirm abuse of the FCV, an aggregation of facts/observations might have revealed a pattern of abuse. 7
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
Investigate the need for forum-style Child Death Reviews.
F8
Children and Family Services failed to conduct an internal Child Death Review involving a meeting of parties/agencies associated with this case.
No recommendations for this finding
F9
In lieu of a roundtable gathering, a single senior social worker was assigned to prepare a written report. A social worker who visited the home and examined the child was never interviewed for the report.
Related Recommendations (1)
R9
When investigating a child’s death and documenting the findings, Social Services Agency ensure that all social workers who have been in contact with the child are interviewed. (Finding 9)
F10
Because law-enforcement agencies frequently call in on the public phone line rather than the dedicated line at the Child Abuse Registry, they experience delays in getting information on prior reports for child abuse. Responses to Findings 1, 2 and 4-10 are requested from the Orange County Social Services Agency. Responses to Findings 3 and 7 are required from the City Council of the City of Anaheim and requested from the Police Chief of the Anaheim Police Department. A response to Finding 4 is required from the Board of Supervisors.
Related Recommendations (1)
R10
The Child Abuse Registry publicize to all Orange County law- enforcement agencies that a dedicated phone line exists solely for use by police departments. Ensure that incoming calls on the dedi- cated line are given prompt attention. (Finding 10) Responses to Recommendations 1-6 and 8-10 are requested from the Orange County Social Services Agency. Response to Recommendation 7 is required from the City Council of the City of Anaheim and requested from the Police Chief of the Anaheim Police Department. A response to Recommendation 8 is required from the Board of Supervisors. 9
Agency Responses 3
Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.