1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Dear listener, this story might be upsetting for some of you. 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:08,800 Speaker 1: It mentions a domestic violence incident, and it also includes 3 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:11,640 Speaker 1: details about the death of a child. You might want 4 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: to skip this one if there are children listening to. 5 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 2: Thank you for. 6 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, don't throw it, get it. 7 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 4: Leah Garcia loved being a mom to little Joseph. 8 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:32,839 Speaker 2: I thought it was going to be he was going 9 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 2: to be a hard baby, but he wasn't. He was 10 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 2: really easy from the day I had him. He was 11 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:39,199 Speaker 2: sleep throughout the whole night at a you have to 12 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 2: waken up to feed him. He was a really easy 13 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 2: baby when I had him. 14 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:47,599 Speaker 4: When she had him, Joseph was five months old when 15 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 4: he was taken from her by social workers from LA's 16 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 4: Child Protective Services. Leah was twenty two at the time, 17 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 4: and her three year old daughter was also removed, something 18 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 4: she never thought would happen to her own children. See 19 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 4: Lea grew up surrounded by foster children. Her grandmother was 20 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 4: a foster mother, and throughout her childhood, Leah played with 21 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,680 Speaker 4: kids she came to feel were like siblings, children abused 22 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 4: or neglected by their own parents, who her grandmother gave 23 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 4: a home to. 24 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 2: And I remember growing up. My worst fear was my 25 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 2: worst fear is if I ever have kids, they're going 26 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,400 Speaker 2: to end up in the system. And then my worst 27 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:28,199 Speaker 2: fear came chir. 28 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 4: What happened after her children were removed by county authorities 29 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 4: became a mother's worst nightmare. The same system that was 30 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 4: supposed to keep her children safe proved to be the 31 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 4: biggest threat to their well being. 32 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: From Futuro Media, It's Latino Usa. I'm Maria Horsa today 33 00:01:52,560 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 1: unsafe in foster care. When domestic violence takes place in 34 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: a home, how can you protect the children who live there? 35 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: Is it best to take the children away from that 36 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: dangerous environment, or is it better for their wellbeing for 37 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 1: them to stay with the nonviolent parent. These are difficult 38 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: decisions to make, decisions that the child welfare system is 39 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: making every single day. 40 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 2: Joseph being taken away from me, he was only months old. 41 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:36,080 Speaker 2: That was hard because I don't know how somebody's treated 42 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 2: my baby. 43 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:43,359 Speaker 1: In some cases, like Lea Garcia's, the removal of children 44 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: is the result of mothers who are experiencing domestic violence 45 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:52,839 Speaker 1: and call the police looking for safety. There are more 46 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: than six hundred and seventy thousand children in the foster 47 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: care system in the United States. Many of them are 48 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: placed with foster parents, some just temporarily, others for years 49 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: until they become adults. These children are also disproportionately black 50 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: and Latino or Latina. What happens when the system that 51 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: is meant to protect these children falls short and even 52 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: ends up putting their lives at risk? And who's to 53 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: blame when bad things happen to children in the care 54 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: of the government. 55 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:32,919 Speaker 2: My head's just going out of control, Like what will 56 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 2: happen to my son? Where's my son at? 57 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 5: Like? 58 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 2: Why hasn't anybody called me? How can nobody contact me today? 59 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: An investigation that looks into the Los Angeles County Department 60 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: of Children and Family Services, the largest child protective agency 61 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: in the country. Reporter Deepa Fernandez, who you heard from 62 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: at the top of the show, has been investigating the 63 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: foster care system for two years now, and she's going 64 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: to bring us this company Leg's story. 65 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 3: Thank you. Yeah, don't throw it, get it. Don't throw it. 66 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 3: If you throw it and you get in trouble. 67 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 4: This story starts with domestic violence, something Leah Garcia had 68 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,360 Speaker 4: never experienced before she met the father of her baby 69 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:31,599 Speaker 4: boy Joseph. By then, Leah already had another daughter who 70 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 4: was three years old from a different partner. We're not 71 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,159 Speaker 4: using her daughter's name in this story because she's a 72 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:40,360 Speaker 4: minor and we want to protect her privacy, so you'll 73 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 4: hear a beep when her name is mentioned. Leah says 74 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 4: her relationship with Joseph's dad was pretty unstable. Leah didn't 75 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 4: want to talk about Joseph's dad or the abuse in 76 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:53,800 Speaker 4: much detail. It's really hard for her. 77 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:57,719 Speaker 2: I feel like he like eased into the way he 78 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 2: treated me. I feel like when people like slowly eas 79 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 2: into treating you a certain type of way, they kind 80 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 2: of manipulate you a lot. And I feel like that's 81 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 2: what happened. So I feel like, if you're new to it, 82 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 2: you've never dealt with anything like that before, then yeah, 83 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:22,039 Speaker 2: you don't really know what to do. 84 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 4: As he became more aggressive, he could not live with 85 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 4: the family, but he sometimes came back unannounced and one 86 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 4: time he broke a window. 87 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,880 Speaker 2: For a while, I was calling the cops on Joseph's dad. 88 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 2: I was calling multiple times. When he would just show 89 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 2: up and things would happen, I would call. 90 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 4: Lea believed the police would help her. She was doing 91 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 4: what she thought was the right thing. She was seeking safety. 92 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 2: I called the police, and of course nothing happened. 93 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:55,919 Speaker 4: What did happen was that, in October of twenty eighteen, 94 00:05:56,320 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 4: the police called in LA's Department of Children and Family Services, 95 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 4: also known as DCFS. They are required to do so 96 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 4: by law when children are present during an incident of 97 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 4: domestic violence. The abuse Lea experienced was serious. He had 98 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 4: a knife at one point. It seems that led social 99 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 4: workers to classify the risk to Lea's children as serious. 100 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,920 Speaker 4: LA County runs the largest child welfare agency in the 101 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:29,239 Speaker 4: United States, serving more than thirty five thousand kids across 102 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:33,360 Speaker 4: four thousand square miles. The Department of Children and Family 103 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 4: Services is charged with ensuring the safety and well being 104 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 4: of all these children, nothing short of a herculean task. 105 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:46,600 Speaker 4: Its budget is fairly mighty two two point nine billion 106 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:56,760 Speaker 4: dollars annually. When DCFS social workers came to meet Lea 107 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,839 Speaker 4: after she called the police, it felt punitive, she says, 108 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 4: like she was the one under investigation when she'd not 109 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:08,120 Speaker 4: done anything to hurt her children. For their part, social 110 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 4: workers were following protocol, asking the questions, investigating whether Leah 111 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 4: was able to keep her children safe from the violence. 112 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 4: Leah says she was not often helped by the social 113 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 4: workers to take her children and escape the abuse. The 114 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 4: police did finally give her an emergency restraining order to 115 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 4: keep the abusive man away. Then it was on her 116 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 4: to get a permanent order of protection. 117 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:37,960 Speaker 2: I didn't know how I was able to obtain a 118 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,120 Speaker 2: restraining order. What you need to get a restraining order, 119 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 2: How you can get a restraining order. Nobody ever talks 120 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 2: to me about how I was able to do those 121 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 2: things or how I can get it done. 122 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 6: It's not so easy to get that restraining order that 123 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 6: DCFS holds up kind of as the gold standard for 124 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 6: proof that you really do want to keep your children safe. 125 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 4: Sharon barmacut Hannah is an attorney with Public Counsel in 126 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:06,240 Speaker 4: Los Angeles, and she's represented many parents who have survived 127 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 4: domestic violence only to have their children removed by Child 128 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 4: Protective Services. 129 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 6: So it's not simply enough for a survivor to go 130 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 6: to court and fill out domestic violence paperwork to request 131 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 6: a domestic violence restraining order. You know, you have to 132 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 6: fill out the paperwork, which is quite lengthy. Then you 133 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:25,720 Speaker 6: have to figure out how to file it. After you 134 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 6: file it, you have to serve it. It's not so 135 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 6: easy sometimes to serve paperwork because it's not just handing 136 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 6: the paperwork off to the person. And then even if 137 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:35,480 Speaker 6: you do serve them, you have to file a proof 138 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 6: of service to prove you've served them. So I've seen 139 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,440 Speaker 6: lots of cases where folks really get tangled up in 140 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 6: the process. 141 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 4: That's exactly what happened to Lea Garcia. 142 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:49,040 Speaker 2: I went to the court the next day and I 143 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:52,760 Speaker 2: got an actual restraining order, but I had to, of 144 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:54,720 Speaker 2: course serve him or I had to find somebody to 145 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:58,120 Speaker 2: serve him. And I don't know where he was or 146 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 2: anything like that, so it was hard for me to 147 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:00,719 Speaker 2: do that. 148 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 4: There's no denying a knife can be a deadly weapon. 149 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 4: And this is what social work is a task with 150 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 4: deciding day in day out, which domestic violence scenario could 151 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:17,720 Speaker 4: turn deadly for the children and what is the non 152 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:22,160 Speaker 4: offending parent doing to keep her children safe. 153 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 6: So unfortunately, there's a perception among GCFs workers, and it's 154 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 6: related to recent and very unfortunate child fatalities, that cases 155 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:37,679 Speaker 6: involving domestic violence are more violent, and because of that, 156 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 6: it's at a much higher risk that children will be 157 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:46,760 Speaker 6: killed before GCFs gets involved. These cases are very serious 158 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 6: and there is a risk of violence. However, I would 159 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:53,559 Speaker 6: say that the best way to address that is to 160 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 6: do a lethality assessment upfront and then make a safety 161 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 6: plan with a non abuse of parents so that both 162 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 6: the survivor parent and the child are kept together. 163 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 4: Social workers did ask Leah whether she could move. She 164 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,000 Speaker 4: said she couldn't she still had six months left on 165 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:16,679 Speaker 4: her lease. DCFS could not share information about this particular 166 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:20,600 Speaker 4: case because of privacy laws, but Lea says social workers 167 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:23,320 Speaker 4: did visit and check her apartment to make sure it 168 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 4: was clean. The fridge was stocked with food and it 169 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 4: was safe. 170 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:30,200 Speaker 2: They said it, you know, the house looked more than fine, 171 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:36,240 Speaker 2: and they didn't really like make an issue of anything 172 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:38,280 Speaker 2: that was wrong with the house. They said the house 173 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 2: was fine and that everything looked fine. That their only 174 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:44,600 Speaker 2: problem was the police reports, and that I had the 175 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:46,960 Speaker 2: police reports when I had the kids with me, but 176 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:50,960 Speaker 2: I had told them I'm calling the police, so you 177 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:52,360 Speaker 2: know what am I supposed to do? 178 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:56,679 Speaker 4: The police reports that DCFS social workers told Leah with 179 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:00,160 Speaker 4: a problem were the instances she'd call the cops. When 180 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 4: the domestic violence was occurring and her children were also there. 181 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 4: Leah thought calling the police was to keep her and 182 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 4: the children safe, but it turns out that's likely where 183 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 4: her problems with DCFS began. Social workers concluded Leah was 184 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,079 Speaker 4: not doing enough to cut off access of the abusive 185 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:22,680 Speaker 4: parent to the home. Leah says she tried her hardest, 186 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:25,880 Speaker 4: and then as she was attempting to serve a restraining 187 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:29,440 Speaker 4: order on her abusive boyfriend by herself, she got a 188 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:30,960 Speaker 4: call from the social worker. 189 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:33,760 Speaker 2: Thought social workers asked me, oh, are you busy tomorrow? 190 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 2: And I said no, why And they told me, oh, 191 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 2: we would like to come over and just talk with 192 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:42,680 Speaker 2: thea And I said okay, And I already had a 193 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:44,240 Speaker 2: feeling and say that they were going to take the 194 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 2: kids away when they said that, But in my head 195 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:49,959 Speaker 2: I was thinking, well, if they were going to take 196 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:52,000 Speaker 2: them away, and I was like, you know, they thought 197 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:53,600 Speaker 2: so much that they shouldn't be here. While would they 198 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:57,560 Speaker 2: wait until tomorraw? Why would they wait to a hall 199 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 2: next day to come and take them from me? And 200 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:06,000 Speaker 2: sure enough the next day when they came, they told 201 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:07,679 Speaker 2: me they were taking Joseph from me? 202 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 4: And what reason did they give you. 203 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 2: They give me the reason that I wasn't protecting them properly, 204 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 2: that I was like allowing the abuse in the home, 205 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:25,719 Speaker 2: And did they know. 206 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:29,000 Speaker 4: You were in the process of trying to serve him. 207 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:31,320 Speaker 2: They knew I got the restraining goder. I sent them 208 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 2: a picture of it. 209 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 4: Six days after Leah said she'd got the restraining order, 210 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:42,959 Speaker 4: DCFS took her two children away. Her three year old 211 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 4: daughter ended up with her own father, but Joseph, who 212 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 4: was five months old at the time, was placed with 213 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:55,400 Speaker 4: a foster family. The number of Latino children removed by 214 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,679 Speaker 4: DCFS in twenty twenty amounted to almost sixty percent of 215 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 4: all children removed, similar to the number of Latino children 216 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 4: in the county's child population. Yet for African American children, 217 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:11,040 Speaker 4: who make up only seven point four percent of La 218 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 4: County's child population, they are almost one quarter of all 219 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:19,200 Speaker 4: the children removed. Now consider the numbers for white children, 220 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 4: they are almost seventeen percent of the county's child population, 221 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 4: and last year, of all the children removed, about twelve 222 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 4: percent were white, five percentage points lower than their prevalence 223 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:35,000 Speaker 4: in the population, and these numbers for twenty twenty haven't 224 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 4: changed much over the previous five years and before that too. 225 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 4: As acknowledged by many experts and those who work in 226 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 4: the field, racism exists and it's permeated the child welfare 227 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 4: system for years. 228 00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:54,559 Speaker 6: What we see in Los Angeles and really nationally in 229 00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 6: the child welfare system, our black and brown mothers are 230 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 6: being brought into the system for behaviors that occur across 231 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 6: racial and income groups. 232 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 4: Why krect de Hannah, the attorney who works with survivors 233 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 4: of domestic violence, says the problem doesn't even start with 234 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 4: dcfis It all starts when people call in to report 235 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:19,920 Speaker 4: what they suspect is abuse on the colect of a child. 236 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:26,320 Speaker 6: Implicit bias really infuses every aspect of the child welfare system. 237 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:30,360 Speaker 6: You know, you have folks called on for behaviors that 238 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 6: wouldn't be called on if you know they were as 239 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 6: a white and upper middle class. You know, I've seen 240 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:40,760 Speaker 6: cases where folks are called on for co sleeping or 241 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:45,320 Speaker 6: for falling asleep while breastfeeding. I've seen cases where folks 242 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 6: are called on for resource issues. There's a call by 243 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:51,920 Speaker 6: a teacher to the child abuse hotline because the child 244 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:53,080 Speaker 6: doesn't have glasses. 245 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,840 Speaker 4: There's another fact to here, to poverty. Many of the 246 00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:00,160 Speaker 4: children who are removed in La County a poll and 247 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 4: in La County, impoverished children are overwhelmingly Black and Latino. 248 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 4: Among America's largest cities, LA has the second highest rate 249 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:14,000 Speaker 4: of child removals when rates of family poverty are factored in. 250 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:17,720 Speaker 4: One of the deepest critiques of the child welfare system 251 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:22,520 Speaker 4: nationwide is that too often poverty is mistaken for neglect, 252 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 4: and when teachers or welfare workers or police see what 253 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:30,720 Speaker 4: they believe is neglect, the law requires them to call 254 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 4: in a report to the DCFS Child abuse hotline. They're 255 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:36,560 Speaker 4: called mandated reporters. 256 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 7: To Protecting Homeline, Mamie Cathro, how might I help you? 257 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:45,480 Speaker 4: I'm inside the hotline hub in Los Angeles where social 258 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:48,640 Speaker 4: workers field hundreds of calls a day from anyone who 259 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 4: suspects a child as being abused or neglected. Calls can 260 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:55,600 Speaker 4: be made by anyone. A neighbor might hear or see 261 00:15:55,640 --> 00:16:00,320 Speaker 4: something worrisome. She calls, but the majority of callers, according 262 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:04,280 Speaker 4: to the director of the hotline, are the mandated reporters, teachers, 263 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 4: social workers, cops. 264 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:07,600 Speaker 7: And you said, this is the first time you see 265 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 7: something like this. 266 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:11,400 Speaker 4: Calling in is a first grade teacher who noticed during 267 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 4: her zoom class that one of her little students had 268 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 4: a black eye? 269 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:17,720 Speaker 7: Has there ever been concerns in regards to the child 270 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:20,040 Speaker 7: in physical abuse or any kind of abuse. 271 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:24,040 Speaker 4: This is the first place where a children's social worker 272 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:27,160 Speaker 4: has to begin making judgments about the veracity of a 273 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 4: call and the threat level to a child by asking 274 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:33,920 Speaker 4: a lot of questions. The social worker must decide whether 275 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 4: or not to send out another social worker to follow up. 276 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:39,280 Speaker 7: Due to the information that does not rise to the 277 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:41,280 Speaker 7: level of abuse or neglecting where it's not clear in 278 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 7: regards to what happened, as you said, and there has 279 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 7: not been any prior come. 280 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:48,160 Speaker 4: In this case, Catherine, the DCFS social worker decides that 281 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 4: the teacher calling in needs to talk to the parents 282 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:54,400 Speaker 4: first and then call back. Too little information in this 283 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:56,920 Speaker 4: call to make a judgment that a black eye might 284 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:00,640 Speaker 4: be due to abuse. Some argue the bias in the 285 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:04,879 Speaker 4: system starts right here, given the majority of calls suspecting 286 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:08,920 Speaker 4: abuse are about black and Latino children. But what the 287 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:12,840 Speaker 4: numbers show is that from this point onwards, if you're 288 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:17,159 Speaker 4: Latino or Black or Native American in LA, you are 289 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:20,600 Speaker 4: much more likely to have your children removed than white 290 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:21,920 Speaker 4: or Asian parents. 291 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: Coming up on Latino, USA, Leah struggles to stay in 292 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:32,000 Speaker 1: touch with her son Joseph, and she starts worrying about 293 00:17:32,000 --> 00:18:25,359 Speaker 1: his well being. Stay with us, not by yes, Hey, 294 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:30,719 Speaker 1: we're back. And before the break, LA's Department of Children 295 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:34,760 Speaker 1: and Family Services had decided to remove Leah's children from 296 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: her home after she called the police looking for safety 297 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 1: from her abusive partner. Her three year old daughter was 298 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 1: placed with her father, but her five month old baby, Joseph, 299 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 1: was assigned to a foster care. Family reporter Dipa Fernandez 300 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:53,240 Speaker 1: picks it up from here. 301 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:01,359 Speaker 4: Leah Garcia is not wealthy. She didn't have the resources 302 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:04,200 Speaker 4: to simply leave her apartment and find a new one 303 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 4: that her boyfriend wouldn't know about. She was focused on 304 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:10,959 Speaker 4: raising her baby and toddler as best she could until 305 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:14,080 Speaker 4: that day in November twenty eighteen when they were taken 306 00:19:14,119 --> 00:19:14,520 Speaker 4: from her. 307 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:18,880 Speaker 2: I was breastfeeding him when he was taken. I breastfed 308 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:20,639 Speaker 2: my daughter for two years, so I was planning on 309 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,639 Speaker 2: doing the same thing with Joseph. And that was my 310 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:28,479 Speaker 2: first question when they had taken him away, was how 311 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:30,480 Speaker 2: am I supposed to you know, like, how was I 312 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:34,399 Speaker 2: going to go like she had told me, Well, there's 313 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:37,560 Speaker 2: not much we can do about that. We're gonna have 314 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:39,240 Speaker 2: to go to court, and then you know, if you 315 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:41,920 Speaker 2: get him back after court, then you know, then you're 316 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:46,159 Speaker 2: more than welcome to breastfeed him again. And I was 317 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:50,119 Speaker 2: just thinking, like, breastfeeding and formula feeding are two different things. 318 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:54,520 Speaker 2: But I mean, what position am I interiorly do anything 319 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 2: about that? 320 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:58,439 Speaker 4: I wanted to know how a baby or toddler is 321 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:02,119 Speaker 4: impacted when removed suddenly from his or her mother, so 322 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:03,360 Speaker 4: sort out an expert. 323 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:08,159 Speaker 8: There is nothing worse than watching an infant being ripped 324 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:10,400 Speaker 8: out of a mother's arms. 325 00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:14,360 Speaker 4: Chanta Traveti represented women in Brooklyn, New York, who had 326 00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 4: their children removed. She saw many inconsolable babies after being 327 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:21,160 Speaker 4: taken from their mother's. 328 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:24,359 Speaker 8: I can't imagine what that feels like, first of all 329 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 8: for a mother, but also just for a little baby 330 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:33,600 Speaker 8: who has basically, you know, never experienced the world, to 331 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:36,480 Speaker 8: be taken from the only comfortable place that they know, 332 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:42,080 Speaker 8: their mother's arms, you know. And there's very clear data 333 00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:45,680 Speaker 8: that when you break an attachment like that, there are 334 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:47,840 Speaker 8: negative impacts. 335 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:50,159 Speaker 4: After feeling like the system was not set up to 336 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 4: help children or mothers of color. Treverti began to comb 337 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 4: the academic literature looking to see if there was evidence 338 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:01,119 Speaker 4: that children are harmed when in an instant they've taken 339 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:01,920 Speaker 4: from their mothers. 340 00:21:02,359 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 9: We're talking about a crucial period of infant parent attachment 341 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:10,680 Speaker 9: where besides breastfeeding, they're not going to have that contact 342 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:14,399 Speaker 9: with their mother. There is that attachment that's formed and 343 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 9: disrupting that suddenly, based on the literature, does seem to 344 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:20,600 Speaker 9: have really adverse consequences on the children. 345 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 4: Babies and toddlers can't talk through their feelings of confusion, worry, 346 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:33,440 Speaker 4: or fear due to sudden separation from their parent. Young 347 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:37,080 Speaker 4: children might blame themselves. They may cry a lot, or 348 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 4: refuse to eat, or be unable to sleep. It's trauma, 349 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 4: Trivedi says. 350 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:46,920 Speaker 8: But how do they explain to a child that your 351 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 8: mom didn't do enough to protect you when your dad 352 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:54,040 Speaker 8: was beating her up, and so you have to leave 353 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:57,879 Speaker 8: your mom too. I just don't understand how a child 354 00:21:57,880 --> 00:21:59,720 Speaker 8: can process that information in a way. 355 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 5: About healthy. 356 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:07,840 Speaker 8: Toddlers throwing tantrums or you know, teenagers talking back again, 357 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:10,400 Speaker 8: these are children who have been removed from their parents, 358 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:14,040 Speaker 8: which is traumatic, and then expected to be like these 359 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:18,240 Speaker 8: perfect kids that really don't exist in any family right. 360 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:22,639 Speaker 8: They're also halted this higher standard despite the trauma that 361 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:23,480 Speaker 8: they've been through. 362 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 4: Joseph was just five months old when he was taken 363 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 4: from Leah Garcia and placed with a foster family, people 364 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:35,440 Speaker 4: he'd never before seen in his life. Leah went from 365 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:39,080 Speaker 4: being Joseph twenty four seven to seeing him three times 366 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:42,320 Speaker 4: a week for an hour each time, and the foster 367 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:44,760 Speaker 4: mother had to be present at all the visits to 368 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:46,600 Speaker 4: watch Leah and her baby son. 369 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 2: I was hard watching somebody else have to watch me 370 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:54,639 Speaker 2: hold my son. I couldn't even change his zaper without 371 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,480 Speaker 2: her watching me. And another thing that blew my mind 372 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 2: actually was that he wasn't eating with her. They had 373 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 2: She had mentioned that to me, he's not eating at all, 374 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:07,920 Speaker 2: and I told her, well, he was breastfed, and she's like, oh, 375 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:09,400 Speaker 2: it's just going to be a hard transition for him. 376 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 2: And he wasn't sleeping, so he was. He was having 377 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:14,640 Speaker 2: a hard time eating and sleeping when he was there. 378 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,600 Speaker 4: But stopping breastfeeding turned out to be the least of 379 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:25,359 Speaker 4: the problems. A few months after Joseph was taken. When 380 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 4: Leah texted the foster mother to confirm she was on 381 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 4: her way to visit, she was given the news that 382 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:34,359 Speaker 4: Joseph was no longer in her care. In fact, he 383 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:35,440 Speaker 4: was in the hospital. 384 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:38,920 Speaker 2: She was just texted me and saying, oh, you know, 385 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:41,480 Speaker 2: I would never do anything to hurt Joseph, and you 386 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:46,040 Speaker 2: know we all love him very much. And my head's 387 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:48,400 Speaker 2: just going out of control, like what happened to my son? 388 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 2: Where is my son at? Like why hasn't anybody called me? 389 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:53,119 Speaker 2: How come nobody contacted me? How come he was in 390 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:55,159 Speaker 2: the hospital and nobody called me while he was at 391 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:57,919 Speaker 2: the hospital so I could be there with him. I 392 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 2: didn't know what to do. I was, I was, I 393 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:02,919 Speaker 2: was freaking out. 394 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:05,480 Speaker 4: Turns out Joseph broke his arm. 395 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 2: I went to the hospital. I just see my son 396 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:16,600 Speaker 2: like laying there, like screaming. And nobody has answers. 397 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 4: For me even to just be with Joseph while he 398 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 4: was in hospital. She had to demand it, she says, 399 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 4: and her DCFS social worker I didn't tell her much 400 00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:27,080 Speaker 4: about how Joseph broke his arm. 401 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:33,200 Speaker 2: What bothers me with the system is that they don't 402 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:35,520 Speaker 2: have an answer for you for anything. They don't have 403 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:38,359 Speaker 2: an answer for you when you have a question, which 404 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:40,680 Speaker 2: I feel like if you have a question about your children, 405 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:42,719 Speaker 2: you should they should have an answer. They took your 406 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:45,880 Speaker 2: kids from you because they don't feel like you can 407 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:49,119 Speaker 2: do it. If you find out that your kid's arm 408 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:51,000 Speaker 2: is broken and nobody's ever told you anything about it, 409 00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:53,119 Speaker 2: you're gonna freak out. You're going to know how it happened, 410 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 2: why it happened, why did nobody tell you about it? 411 00:24:55,640 --> 00:25:00,959 Speaker 2: And if you freak out, you're not a stable person. 412 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:04,160 Speaker 2: You shouldn't have your kid. This is another thing we're 413 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:10,439 Speaker 2: going to read down, which isn't great. It's not okay 414 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:13,520 Speaker 2: because how are you supposed to react. Because you're in 415 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:16,359 Speaker 2: the system and you're a mom and you know you 416 00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:18,440 Speaker 2: were an abusive relationship, They're going to look at you 417 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:20,880 Speaker 2: a certain way and say, oh, yeah, she's not steeple. 418 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:29,280 Speaker 4: After his brief hospital stay for the broken arm, DCFS 419 00:25:29,359 --> 00:25:32,800 Speaker 4: placed Joseph in a new foster home. This new Foster 420 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:37,040 Speaker 4: family lived in the far reaches of La County, so 421 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:40,439 Speaker 4: far in fact, that many Angelino's might not even know 422 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:45,400 Speaker 4: Palmdale and Lancaster a part of La It would take 423 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:48,840 Speaker 4: Leah over two hours on the bus one way just 424 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:51,639 Speaker 4: to get to Joseph's new placement home. She didn't have 425 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:55,760 Speaker 4: a car. She also took the bus to work, a 426 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,679 Speaker 4: job she was expected to have to show DCFS that 427 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:03,199 Speaker 4: she could support her children. DCFS also required Leah to 428 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:07,359 Speaker 4: take parenting and domestic violence classes. In between all this, 429 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:10,280 Speaker 4: she had to find her way to visit her baby, 430 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 4: who is now fifty five miles away. 431 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:16,840 Speaker 2: There's times where I had to think, am I going 432 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:18,080 Speaker 2: to go to work today? Or am I going to 433 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:20,680 Speaker 2: see my son today. They want you to have your 434 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,320 Speaker 2: classes done, and they want you to make time for 435 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:25,919 Speaker 2: your classes. They want you to have a job, a 436 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:27,760 Speaker 2: full time job. They want to make sure that you're 437 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:29,760 Speaker 2: able to provide for your children when you get them back, 438 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,240 Speaker 2: and they want you to see your children. If you don't, 439 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:34,119 Speaker 2: that counts against you. 440 00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 4: Life was very hard for Leah. She also wondered how 441 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 4: well Joseph was being treated by his new foster mother. 442 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:43,120 Speaker 7: And with. 443 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 2: The first visit I had with her at the park, 444 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:53,679 Speaker 2: she had not one, not two, I think three? Three children? 445 00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:57,639 Speaker 2: Were they three extra children? Two little boys and a 446 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:00,479 Speaker 2: little girl that were her other foster childre and there 447 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:03,320 Speaker 2: were running around there at the park, and I couldn't 448 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:05,960 Speaker 2: even have my visit because I have to be right 449 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:08,720 Speaker 2: in front of her. She has to be watching me. 450 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,600 Speaker 4: The record shows Lea did have reason to be concerned. 451 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:15,600 Speaker 4: At a visit to the dentist in early twenty twenty, 452 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:19,080 Speaker 4: over a year after he'd been removed from her, Joseph 453 00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:22,639 Speaker 4: had cavities in two of his front teeth, his baby teeth. 454 00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:26,360 Speaker 4: Joseph had no teeth when he was taken from Leah, 455 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,760 Speaker 4: and now, at eighteen months old, his teeth was starting 456 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:34,680 Speaker 4: to rot. I wanted to see what the commute would 457 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:36,920 Speaker 4: have been like three times a week for Lea to 458 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,200 Speaker 4: visit her son. I also wanted to meet Joseph's foster 459 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:44,199 Speaker 4: mother to hear about her experience raising Joseph. We're not 460 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,560 Speaker 4: using her name as in this investigation, we're looking into 461 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:51,280 Speaker 4: the child welfare system as a whole. So here I 462 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:55,640 Speaker 4: am in Monrovia, a little city in La County, where 463 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:58,639 Speaker 4: Leah Garcia lived at the time when Joseph was in 464 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:02,920 Speaker 4: foster care in Palm So let's see. GPS says it's 465 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:07,080 Speaker 4: fifty five miles and it'll take me an hour and 466 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:13,920 Speaker 4: nineteen minutes. Okay, no traffic, Pretty lucky. The foster mother 467 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 4: used to work as a sales associate. Prior to fostering 468 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:19,879 Speaker 4: Joseph and the other children. She was employed by the 469 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 4: Home Depot, Cricket Wireless, and Vayata Supermarkets. I talked to 470 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:27,520 Speaker 4: one employer, the owner of an aged care home where 471 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:30,520 Speaker 4: Joseph's foster mother was a kera, and he said she 472 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:36,040 Speaker 4: was a very good carer. He had no complaints with her. Okay. 473 00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:41,800 Speaker 4: And an hour and twenty three minutes after I left Monrovia, 474 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:47,040 Speaker 4: I am pulling up here in Palmdale, and there's a 475 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:52,320 Speaker 4: lot of people outside the home. There are one, two, three, 476 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 4: four kids. There are some lounge seats. There appear to 477 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:02,960 Speaker 4: be a couple of adults hanging out with the kids outside. 478 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:05,960 Speaker 4: It's a cul de sac. It's a beautiful, warm evening. 479 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:09,880 Speaker 4: So I'm going to go in and I'm going to 480 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:12,600 Speaker 4: knock on the door, and I'm going to see if 481 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 4: the foster mother wants to talk to me. Joseph's second 482 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:24,400 Speaker 4: foster mother didn't want to talk. I've been covering child 483 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:28,240 Speaker 4: welfare for years now. I've met many, many parents who've 484 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:31,440 Speaker 4: had their children removed, and many of them have complaints 485 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 4: about the foster parents, but I also know many foster 486 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:38,920 Speaker 4: parents who are good, loving people. I understand that there's 487 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:43,240 Speaker 4: an in built predisposition for an upset parent whose child 488 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:45,720 Speaker 4: has been removed to find fault with a foster parent. 489 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:49,240 Speaker 4: That's why I wanted to meet Joseph's foster mother, But 490 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:51,960 Speaker 4: she didn't want to talk to me. And when you 491 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:55,280 Speaker 4: hear what happened, maybe her silence will make more sense. 492 00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:56,880 Speaker 3: Nine one one. 493 00:29:56,960 --> 00:29:57,920 Speaker 5: What is your emergency? 494 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:03,360 Speaker 10: Hi? Yes, I have an emergency. My foster baby of 495 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:05,760 Speaker 10: his a year and a half. I was going to 496 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:09,120 Speaker 10: the store and I heard him making like weezy noises, 497 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 10: and I stopped. I turned around just to make sure 498 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,520 Speaker 10: he was fine, and I came back home. He had 499 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 10: the help me move the thing to the car, set 500 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:21,360 Speaker 10: on her on his shoulders, and thinks to shop himself. 501 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:24,480 Speaker 10: We're trying to give him pretty hours. 502 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:24,400 Speaker 2: Okay, not. 503 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:28,600 Speaker 1: Coming up and letting know Usay, we look into what 504 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:32,760 Speaker 1: happened to Joseph check on the night of January twenty fourth, 505 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:38,320 Speaker 1: twenty twenty and unexpectedly our investigation takes a turn and 506 00:30:38,360 --> 00:31:29,880 Speaker 1: it's not good. Stay with us. Yes, oh hey, we're 507 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 1: back before the break, Joseph Checon had been placed with 508 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:39,440 Speaker 1: a second foster family after he ended up in the 509 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:43,920 Speaker 1: hospital with a broken arm, but in the second foster home, 510 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:49,160 Speaker 1: he didn't find safety either. Reporter Depa Fernandez continues now 511 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:49,800 Speaker 1: with the story. 512 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:57,040 Speaker 4: Early one Saturday morning in late January of twenty twenty fourteen, 513 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 4: months after her children were removed, Lea Garcias phone rang. 514 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:03,600 Speaker 4: The number was blocked, so she didn't answer. 515 00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:06,720 Speaker 2: I got a second call and something told me to 516 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:11,360 Speaker 2: answer it, and I answered it and I talked as 517 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:14,480 Speaker 2: it was a man. He had told me, oh, I 518 00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:17,480 Speaker 2: need to speak with you, and I felt very like, 519 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:19,000 Speaker 2: who's this guy? 520 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:20,600 Speaker 4: Leah didn't trust him. 521 00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:23,200 Speaker 2: He ended up told me that he was a detective. 522 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:26,000 Speaker 2: He told me it works for the homicide bureau. So 523 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:29,760 Speaker 2: then I started thinking, like homicide bureau, Like that means 524 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:30,560 Speaker 2: like somebody died. 525 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 5: What the hell? 526 00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:33,680 Speaker 2: How am I linked up to anything like that? Like 527 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:37,280 Speaker 2: there's no way, Like you're calling for the right person. 528 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:40,200 Speaker 2: He goes, No, I have the right person. There's been 529 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:42,040 Speaker 2: an accident. I need to talk to you, but. 530 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:45,440 Speaker 4: He wouldn't say anything more over the phone. Lea was 531 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 4: freaked out. She never before gotten such a strange call 532 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:50,800 Speaker 4: from a homicide detective. 533 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:55,840 Speaker 2: And I remember I called my mom, I called my dad, 534 00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:59,440 Speaker 2: I called my brother. I'm like, are you guys okay? 535 00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:01,400 Speaker 2: Like you know, there's this weird guy calling me on 536 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:05,040 Speaker 2: the phone. He's not even giving me his number, and 537 00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:07,280 Speaker 2: you know, phils real sketchy. He's telling me he's to 538 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:09,480 Speaker 2: meet up with me in person, that somebody's been in 539 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:12,200 Speaker 2: an accident. I called my grandma, I called my uncle. 540 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:15,400 Speaker 2: I'm calling people to make sure that everybody's okay. The 541 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:17,920 Speaker 2: last people I feel like I need a call is 542 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:22,240 Speaker 2: my daughter and my son, because those are the two 543 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:23,800 Speaker 2: people that should be the safest right now. 544 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:27,680 Speaker 4: So Lea went to meet the detective. 545 00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:34,280 Speaker 2: It's in this tiny little shopping center parking lot and 546 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:38,840 Speaker 2: he walks up to me and he says, hi, Leiah. 547 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:43,320 Speaker 2: He said, you have a son of foster care, and 548 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:53,600 Speaker 2: I said yes. He goes your son, Joseph died. And 549 00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:58,520 Speaker 2: I don't remember too much. I remember I was on 550 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:05,360 Speaker 2: the floor and I was crying and he tells me 551 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:12,360 Speaker 2: your son passed away. He died, and he just told me. 552 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:17,399 Speaker 2: He started asking me questions about Joseph, and I had 553 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:20,640 Speaker 2: asked him when you know, and like, how did it happen? 554 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:22,840 Speaker 2: He didn't have answers for me about how it happened. 555 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:34,960 Speaker 4: Joseph died on Friday, January twenty fourth of twenty twenty. 556 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:39,239 Speaker 4: Leah was informed the next morning, Saturday, by the detective. 557 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:43,120 Speaker 4: She desperately wanted more info, but it was the weekend, 558 00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:47,640 Speaker 4: so DCFS's office were closed. So first thing Monday, Leah 559 00:34:47,640 --> 00:34:51,160 Speaker 4: called her DCFS social worker, only, she says, she didn't 560 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:52,120 Speaker 4: answer her calls. 561 00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:57,640 Speaker 2: I waited for that Monday, and I caught my social 562 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:02,040 Speaker 2: workerss phone about fifty times. And there was a bigger 563 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:04,680 Speaker 2: problem with me calling her phone than there was of 564 00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:07,400 Speaker 2: them not having an answer for me of how my 565 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:12,040 Speaker 2: son passed. I called her about fifty times. She ignored 566 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:16,879 Speaker 2: each call. I got a call later on from her 567 00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:19,960 Speaker 2: supervisor and she told me I cannot call her that 568 00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:26,600 Speaker 2: many times, that it was inappropriate and that she was busy. 569 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:27,320 Speaker 2: That morning. 570 00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:30,000 Speaker 4: We tried to contact the social workers in charge of 571 00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:33,560 Speaker 4: Lea's case, but DCFS didn't allow us to talk to them. 572 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:36,360 Speaker 4: Leah felt like in the little exchange she had with 573 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:40,160 Speaker 4: the detective, they were somehow insinuating that Joseph may have 574 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:44,839 Speaker 4: contributed to his own death. Which baffled and outraged her. 575 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:48,000 Speaker 2: The day after he passed away, on the twenty fifth 576 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:51,720 Speaker 2: of January, I was asked was Joseph a difficult child? 577 00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:56,520 Speaker 2: By the detective, And in my head, I'm wondering, why 578 00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:59,360 Speaker 2: would you ask me if my son was a difficult child, 579 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:03,480 Speaker 2: and for him to tell me, well, the first faster 580 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:07,279 Speaker 2: parent and the second faster parent, vol said that he 581 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:11,040 Speaker 2: was a very difficult child, which was really hard for 582 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:15,040 Speaker 2: me to believe because when he was with me he 583 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:16,800 Speaker 2: was great. 584 00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:24,640 Speaker 4: I first met Leah in the summer of twenty twenty, 585 00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:28,520 Speaker 4: six months after Joseph's death, as the pandemic raged on. 586 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:32,080 Speaker 4: She still knew very little about what had happened to 587 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:35,240 Speaker 4: her baby boy. She felt like her hands were tied. 588 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:39,160 Speaker 4: DCFS still had her daughter, and she wanted to make 589 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:43,000 Speaker 4: sure she got her back. Remember how she felt like 590 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,160 Speaker 4: she couldn't freak out when Joseph broke his arm or 591 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:49,319 Speaker 4: the social workers would judge her for it. Well, now 592 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:52,440 Speaker 4: she'd lost one child and was desperate to ensure her 593 00:36:52,480 --> 00:37:01,399 Speaker 4: other child came home to her, But she also wanted answers. 594 00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:06,440 Speaker 4: Leah had very little information on how her son Joseph died, 595 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:11,800 Speaker 4: so I decided to see if I could find out anything. 596 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:24,040 Speaker 4: Palmdale is remote. It's the high desert and you have 597 00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:27,440 Speaker 4: to wind through barren mountain terrain on a single freeway 598 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:32,120 Speaker 4: to get here from downtown La Along with neighboring city Lancaster, 599 00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:35,480 Speaker 4: there's a very tragic history up here when it comes 600 00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:39,200 Speaker 4: to the child welfare system. In fact, this area has 601 00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:42,520 Speaker 4: the highest maltreatment rates of children aged zero to five 602 00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:46,920 Speaker 4: in La County. Between twenty thirteen and twenty sixteen. It 603 00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:49,880 Speaker 4: also had the highest number of children dying at the 604 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:54,360 Speaker 4: hands of caregivers. You might have heard about little Gabriel Fernandez. 605 00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:58,839 Speaker 11: A new development in the agonizing case of Gabriel Fernandez, 606 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:01,120 Speaker 11: the eight year old boy portrait to death by his 607 00:38:01,239 --> 00:38:02,480 Speaker 11: mother and her boyfriend. 608 00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:05,160 Speaker 4: This tragic death of a young boy at the hands 609 00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:08,480 Speaker 4: of his mother and her boyfriend in twenty thirteen received 610 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:12,520 Speaker 4: tons of media coverage. Gabriel Fernandez was killed right here 611 00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:17,080 Speaker 4: in Palmdale. In twenty nineteen, another four year old, Noah Quatro, 612 00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:21,399 Speaker 4: was also tragically killed by his parents in Palmdale. These 613 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:24,640 Speaker 4: deaths made big news in Los Angeles. The children were 614 00:38:24,719 --> 00:38:28,400 Speaker 4: known to child welfare authorities, so their deaths sparked greater 615 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:31,080 Speaker 4: outrage as many demanded to know why they had not 616 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:36,320 Speaker 4: been removed from such dangerous homes. Notably, Gabriel's case didn't 617 00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:40,200 Speaker 4: just examine the responsibility of the caregivers. 618 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:43,239 Speaker 5: But prosecutors also put the blame on these people. Four 619 00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:46,800 Speaker 5: La County Department of Children and Family Services employees that 620 00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:50,560 Speaker 5: handled Gabriel's case. They were charged with child abuse and 621 00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:52,880 Speaker 5: falsifying records related to the case. 622 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:58,319 Speaker 4: The charges against the DCFS employees were eventually dismissed, yet 623 00:38:58,440 --> 00:39:02,640 Speaker 4: there was an impact. Experts agree that charging the social 624 00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:06,120 Speaker 4: workers led to a more cautious approach, and the numbers 625 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:10,480 Speaker 4: of children removed in the following years spiked, but still 626 00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:14,400 Speaker 4: children kept dying at the hands of caregivers. In the 627 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:18,120 Speaker 4: case of Joseph Chukon, there was little news coverage beyond 628 00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:21,560 Speaker 4: a television news report the day he passed away in Palmdale. 629 00:39:21,719 --> 00:39:24,760 Speaker 11: This Palmdale home turned into a crime scene after Sheriff's 630 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:28,480 Speaker 11: investigators say a toddler was found not breathing just after 631 00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:31,919 Speaker 11: nine o'clock Friday night, a woman identified by neighbors as 632 00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:35,400 Speaker 11: the mom, appearing to re enact for Sheriff's homicide detectives 633 00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:37,480 Speaker 11: where her one year old son was found in the 634 00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:40,319 Speaker 11: family car in a car seat, unresponsive. 635 00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:44,520 Speaker 4: Why did this child death not spark outrage? Could it 636 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:47,799 Speaker 4: be because he died in foster care, essentially in the 637 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:55,359 Speaker 4: care of the county. I wanted to piece together what 638 00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:59,160 Speaker 4: happened the night Joseph died. Over a series of months 639 00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:02,600 Speaker 4: of investigating and filing many public record requests, I was 640 00:40:02,640 --> 00:40:06,200 Speaker 4: able to learn key parts of the story. It started 641 00:40:06,239 --> 00:40:09,960 Speaker 4: on a Friday evening in late January twenty twenty, when 642 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:13,160 Speaker 4: his foster mother decided to take Joseph with her to Target. 643 00:40:14,239 --> 00:40:17,560 Speaker 4: Joseph had eaten some soup around five forty pm, according 644 00:40:17,600 --> 00:40:20,840 Speaker 4: to his foster mother, and then he napped. Around seven 645 00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:25,040 Speaker 4: thirty pm, he ate crackers. Then at eight ten pm, 646 00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:28,080 Speaker 4: she says, she puts him in an infant car seat 647 00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:31,240 Speaker 4: capsule and straps him into the car in a rear 648 00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:34,560 Speaker 4: facing position for the one point seven mile drive from 649 00:40:34,600 --> 00:40:37,959 Speaker 4: her home to Target. But as she makes this five 650 00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:41,040 Speaker 4: to six minute drive to the store, she hears noises 651 00:40:41,080 --> 00:40:44,120 Speaker 4: in the back seat. She told authorities that she thought 652 00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:47,120 Speaker 4: Joseph was joking with her, but when she turns to 653 00:40:47,239 --> 00:40:49,840 Speaker 4: look at him, it appears that he's slipping down in 654 00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:53,440 Speaker 4: his car seat, so she turns around and drives home. 655 00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:58,799 Speaker 4: She calls nine one one at nine oh nine pm. 656 00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:02,640 Speaker 10: Nine one one, What is your merchant? Hi? Yes, I 657 00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:06,400 Speaker 10: have an emergency. My foster baby. Here's a year and 658 00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:09,400 Speaker 10: a half. I was going to the store and I 659 00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:12,799 Speaker 10: heard him making like weeping noises, and I stopped. I 660 00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:15,719 Speaker 10: turned around just to make sure he was fine, and 661 00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:19,319 Speaker 10: I came back home. He had the had we move 662 00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:21,960 Speaker 10: the thing to the car seat on her on his shoulders. 663 00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:25,040 Speaker 10: I think he choked himself. We're trying to give him trevr. 664 00:41:25,880 --> 00:41:28,399 Speaker 1: Okay, hold on what you're at the stand the line 665 00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:29,480 Speaker 1: when I get the paramedics. 666 00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:29,800 Speaker 2: Okay? 667 00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:30,600 Speaker 9: Sure. 668 00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:33,560 Speaker 4: The nine one one operator goes on to ask the 669 00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:36,160 Speaker 4: foster mother if she's taken the child out of the 670 00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:36,720 Speaker 4: car seat. 671 00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:39,319 Speaker 10: Oh, choked by the car street? 672 00:41:39,760 --> 00:41:41,600 Speaker 4: Yes, okay? 673 00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:44,040 Speaker 10: Do I take him back? Do I take him out? 674 00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:46,040 Speaker 10: Or once? Is he breathing? 675 00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:52,759 Speaker 6: Gets a straps around his nadkerfifs with choking him? 676 00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:53,680 Speaker 10: Do it now quickly? 677 00:41:54,040 --> 00:41:54,800 Speaker 11: Is he still britty? 678 00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:58,040 Speaker 4: The nine one one dispatch it tells the foster mother 679 00:41:58,239 --> 00:42:01,320 Speaker 4: to take Joseph out of the cart to start CPR. 680 00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:04,520 Speaker 4: The fire department arrives while the foster mother is still 681 00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:07,600 Speaker 4: on the phone with the nine one one operator performing CPR. 682 00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:14,000 Speaker 4: Soon thereafter, at nine eighteen, the Emergency Medical Technician Service arrives, 683 00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:18,000 Speaker 4: But the timeline of leaving home around eight ten PM, 684 00:42:18,080 --> 00:42:21,600 Speaker 4: as reported by the detective in the autopsy, leaves one 685 00:42:21,760 --> 00:42:25,360 Speaker 4: whole hour before she called for help. I did the 686 00:42:25,440 --> 00:42:28,200 Speaker 4: drive from the foster mother's home in Palmdale to the 687 00:42:28,239 --> 00:42:32,520 Speaker 4: nearest target. It took five minutes, according to her own 688 00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:36,080 Speaker 4: recounting of what happened. If she left for target around 689 00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:39,360 Speaker 4: eight ten pm, she would have heard Joseph gasping in 690 00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:42,319 Speaker 4: the next five minutes. Why did she call nine one 691 00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:47,000 Speaker 4: one a whole hour later at nine oh nine pm? 692 00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:50,080 Speaker 4: There were other questions I had when I read the autopsy, 693 00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:54,960 Speaker 4: and there was something shocking buried in Joseph's autopsy report. 694 00:42:55,719 --> 00:42:59,359 Speaker 4: Another foster baby had died two months before in the 695 00:42:59,400 --> 00:42:59,959 Speaker 4: same home. 696 00:43:00,760 --> 00:43:02,239 Speaker 5: NI one one, what is your emergency? 697 00:43:03,320 --> 00:43:03,520 Speaker 9: Hi? 698 00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:06,240 Speaker 10: Yes, calling me in because I have a three months 699 00:43:06,239 --> 00:43:11,279 Speaker 10: old baby boy is a foster baby not breathing. 700 00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:17,120 Speaker 4: Yet When Joseph died, the cause of this foster child's 701 00:43:17,120 --> 00:43:22,359 Speaker 4: death was still under investigation. Why hadn't DCFS removed all 702 00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:36,920 Speaker 4: the foster children from this home, including Joseph. 703 00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:42,040 Speaker 1: This story doesn't end here. Next week, we investigate the 704 00:43:42,080 --> 00:43:45,560 Speaker 1: death of the two babies and ask difficult questions about 705 00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:50,200 Speaker 1: the systemic problems affecting La County's foster care system and 706 00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:54,600 Speaker 1: the United States as a whole. That's next week on 707 00:43:54,680 --> 00:44:15,040 Speaker 1: Latino USA. This episode was produced by Dipa Fernandez with 708 00:44:15,120 --> 00:44:18,880 Speaker 1: help from Victori Estrada. It was edited by Marta Martinez 709 00:44:18,920 --> 00:44:22,880 Speaker 1: and mixed by Julia Caruso and Stephanie Lebau. Dipa is 710 00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:27,600 Speaker 1: an Early Childhood Reporting fellow at Pacific Oaks College, which 711 00:44:27,640 --> 00:44:31,439 Speaker 1: is funded in part by First five l A. Fact 712 00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:34,720 Speaker 1: checking for this episode by Ben Calin. The Latino USA 713 00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:39,880 Speaker 1: team includes andre Lo Peescrusado, Mike Sargent, Jujeta Martinelli, Gini 714 00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:44,719 Speaker 1: Montalolejandra Salasa, Renaldo Leo Junior, and Julia Rocha, with help 715 00:44:44,719 --> 00:44:49,360 Speaker 1: from Raoul Perez. Our editorial director is Julio Ricardorella. Special 716 00:44:49,400 --> 00:44:52,640 Speaker 1: thanks to Lori turkyicac Chu and Beth Harus of the 717 00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:56,520 Speaker 1: Kid's Data Program, Richard Cohene of USC School of Social Work, 718 00:44:56,840 --> 00:45:00,600 Speaker 1: Susan E. Seger of UC Irvine School of Law, Rossini 719 00:45:00,719 --> 00:45:04,200 Speaker 1: and Silvie de Dorlo. Additional engineering by Leah Shaw with 720 00:45:04,239 --> 00:45:07,680 Speaker 1: help from Gabriella Baiez. Our digital editor is Louis Luna. 721 00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:11,400 Speaker 1: Our New York Women's Foundation Nignite fellow is mari Eskinka. 722 00:45:11,719 --> 00:45:14,920 Speaker 1: Our intern is Oscarde Leon. Our theme music was composed 723 00:45:14,920 --> 00:45:17,239 Speaker 1: by Zane Robinos. If you like the music you heard 724 00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:19,920 Speaker 1: on this episode, stop by Latinousa dot org and check 725 00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:23,280 Speaker 1: out our weekly Spotify playlist. I'm your host and executive 726 00:45:23,280 --> 00:45:26,799 Speaker 1: producer Mariano Rosa. Join us next week to listen to 727 00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:29,520 Speaker 1: part two of this story, and in the meantime, I'll 728 00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:31,920 Speaker 1: see you on social media. Bye. 729 00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:37,800 Speaker 12: Latino USA is made possible in part by the Annie 730 00:45:38,160 --> 00:45:41,920 Speaker 12: Casey Foundation, creates a brighter future for the nation's children 731 00:45:42,160 --> 00:45:47,319 Speaker 12: by strengthening families, building greater economic opportunity, and transforming communities, 732 00:45:47,880 --> 00:45:54,320 Speaker 12: and the Heisin Simons Foundation unlocking knowledge, opportunity and possibilities. 733 00:45:54,840 --> 00:45:59,560 Speaker 12: More at hsfoundation dot org. Funding for Latino USA is 734 00:45:59,600 --> 00:46:02,680 Speaker 12: coverage of a culture of health is made possible in 735 00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:05,480 Speaker 12: part by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 736 00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:14,480 Speaker 1: I'm Maria no Rossan. Next time on Latino USA. Chilean 737 00:46:14,520 --> 00:46:19,680 Speaker 1: singer songwriter Francisca Valenzuela talks about her journey as a musician, writer, 738 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:23,800 Speaker 1: and the founder of dridosan a global community for women 739 00:46:24,120 --> 00:46:34,440 Speaker 1: and non binary artists. That's next Time on Latino USA.