The prevalence of bone fractures, brain bleeds, and other injuries linked to caregivers showed that beatings were a recurring aspect of family life in many homes. Right, Mrs. Garcia? he asked, as if he needed confirmation. Pearl told the operator that Gabriel wasnt breathing, and Aguirre blamed the injuries on Gabriels roughhousing with Ezequiel. An autopsy report showed bruises, fractures, and cuts all over his body including his groin as well as BB's embedded in his body. Skin was missing from his neck. Back in her classroom, Garcia saw the Mothers Day card on Gabriels desk. She had abandoned her youngest child, a daughter named Destiny, and lost custody of a son named Arnold Jr., who was a year older than Gabriel. abriel was often tardy or absent, and when he did make it to school, hed kick other studentsGarcia was constantly having to move his seat. Suddenly, Pearl wanted custody back in October 2012. Corona was only filling in that day and, though reluctant, talked to a supervisor who told her not to get involved. In January 2020 California 2nd District Court of Appeals threw out the charges against the four former social workers. Cigarette burns covered his feet and genitals. Stefanie's work & advice has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Oprah Magazine. The position title is CHILDREN'S SOCIAL WORKER I. During Red Ribbon Week, when teachers talk to children about staying drug-free, Gabriel mimicked snorting cocaine and knew it was a drug. Gabriel Fernandez: Is Pearl Fernandez still in prison? Well send you the latest headlines every morning and every weekday afternoon. A few days later, Gabriel came to school with a split lip from Pearl punching him in the mouth. Contact Stefanie, search articles and Tweets, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place. Click the link in the email we sent to to verify your email address and activate your job alert. In an 2-1 opinion, the panel concluded that there was no probable cause to hold the two social workers and their supervisors on charges of child abuse and falsifying documents. - nbcnews.com. You do it like this, he said, holding his nostril as if he were snorting a line. Rodriguez, Clement, as well as two of their supervisors, Bom and Merritt were charged with one felony count of child abuse and falsifying public records in April 2016. Despite the softwares assessment, Merritt had recently signed off on a request to close the case, satisfied that Gabriel was safe. In 2016, Stefanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement, two former LA County social workers, as well as two supervisors, Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt, were charged with one felony count each of child abuse and falsifying public records. Clement paid her first visit to Gabriels home on February 13, but her notes contain few details. The 2nd District Court of Appeal advised that the lower court dismiss the charges against the social workers. Le Norgant also called 911, but the officer who visited the home left without even talking to Gabriel. Lomeli called the pair nothing short of evil and worse than animalistic because even animals know how to take care of their young.. WORK WITH STEFANIE. She didnt want to tell him everything would be okaythat felt like it might not be true. According to DCFSs internal investigation, neither Rodriguez nor Bom reviewed the information related to these calls. Express. All Information about Stefanie Rodriguez I wanted to go there and hold his hand and say, Youre going to be okay. However, his girlfriend, now wife, Stephanie Sanger, announced their marriage in a post on her Facebook page, which has since been deleted. By then, she and Bom had already decided to end the investigation; they saw no signs of danger or abuse. Or was it a systemic one, the result of a department so ill-equipped to safeguard children that tragedies were bound to happen? The petitioners actions here prevented the system from working in whatever way it might have had they done their jobs honestly, and offers no incentive for either DCFS or individual social workers to work to reform and repair the parts of the system that may fail the children it is intended to protect, Chaney wrote. This created a financial incentive to reduce the use of foster care. Around this time, Gabriel came to class looking even worse than he ever had before. Yet, he remained in the custody of his mother, Pearl Fernandez, 33, and then-boyfriend Isauro Aguirre, 36, until his death on May 24, 2013. . Some of his teeth had been knocked out. Stefanie Rodriguez. The caseworker I shadowed was one of the new arrivals; she held the same job Stefanie Rodriguez had once had. The program said Gabriel was at very high risk. The woman they knew was profane, ill-tempered, and prone to yelling at clients. They just couldnt wrap their heads around it, she told me. Still, Mondays events nagged at Garcia. Merritt wasnt blind to Clements shortcomingshe told me hed once written a performance evaluation that scored her work as substandard, only to have his boss remove his criticisms and raise her score to competent. Under an agreement with the caseworkers union, managers were forbidden to fire, suspend, demote, or even write negative comments about any of their workers once certain caseload caps were reachedand the department routinely exceeded those caps. She left a career in genetic res It was a calling. But this didnt strike Merritt as particularly unusual or alarminghe remembered a child even younger who had made actual suicide attempts. His loyalties were with his colleagues in the branch office, the ones who would gather for after-hours parties known as howls, where theyd hoot and holler, with bonfires and country musica release valve for the stresses of a difficult job. Payments of Excess and Unused Leave Time at Termination. That same year, Casey declared a new central goal: to reduce the number of children in foster care by half by 2020. Everyone in the office knew that Palmdale had its share of caseworkers whom no one would choose to look after endangered children. As soon as a call came in from a hospital, caseworkers would be dispatched to interview any surviving siblings and remove them from the home. Merritt couldnt remember much about Gabriel, one of about 180 children whose cases he had been overseeing. The psychologist replied that there were no services available and provided a brochure that Garcia could send to Gabriels mother on how to cope with behavioral problems. Apply via Dice today! Gabriel Fernandez joined the class even later, in mid-October, more than a month into the school year. invisible stranding in knitting. Stephanie joined the Alliance in 2015. Your email address will not be published. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Every employment contract between a state or local agency and any public official or public employee is a public record which is not subject to the provisions of the law. In her notes, she reported that shed observed the children to be appropriately dressed, visibly healthy, and did not have any marks or bruises., The following week, Garcia made multiple calls about Gabriels haircut and busted lip. (In 2013, Los Angeles County had roughly 3,000 caseworkers and more than 200,000 calls to its child-abuse hotline.). Neither got far past the idea stage. "Allowing a social worker to evade liability for falsifying a public document would incentivize social workers to put their own interests in avoiding liability for their misdeeds above the purpose of the state's child welfare statutory scheme, which is child safety," Chaney wrote in her concurring and dissenting opinion. stefanie rodriguez social worker now. Check for a confirmation email, and then you're all set with MyNewsLA.com! Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. We further conclude that the petitioners were not officers within the meaning of Government Code section 6200. Wellington, Wellington Region, New Zealand, Senior PR and Communications Officer - British Consulate General Sydney, Information Technology Service Management Analyst, Manager, Corporate and Marketing Communications, SSC Malaysia - Finance Team Lead - Bill & Pay, Techtronic Industries Australia & New Zealand, Volt - International (An Innova Solutions Company). This was deemed unfounded. His mommy, she told them through tears, hurt him really bad.. The question today is whether the felony counts against four social workers will be dismissed, reduced or stand. Gabriel was either tardy or absent a lot. Martinez approached the window where Pearl had been talking with a clerk, Maricela Corona, to ask whether she was going to report Pearl to the authorities. But the consequences of needlessly separating children from their parents, while less visible, can be devastating too. Rodriguez recommended Gabriel for a program called Voluntary Family Maintenance, which was being used with thousands of families. Unlike her colleagues, Starr never faced any administrative consequences or criminal charges. But the Palmdale branch couldnt afford to be picky. Social workers Stefanie Rodriguez, Patricia Clement, Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt were ordered today to stand trial on falsifying records and child abuse charges involving the death of Gabriel Fernandez, an 8-year-old Palmdale boy who died in 2013 after prolonged child abuse. The haircut? Martinez ultimately asked to be transferred to another office. People there told me over and over that they didnt think about Gabriels case and didnt even know much about itthey werent sure exactly what had happened or what mistakes had been made. (During this period, foster care was in such short supply that DCFS routinely used a conference room to house children overnight.) Check social media profiles, places of employment, resumes and CV, work history, photos and videos, arrest records, news, business records and publications . He came to school with scratches, a split lip, and a swollen bruised face. y the time Greg Merritt, Stefanie Rodriguez, Kevin Bom, and Pat Clement arrived for their own first day in court, on April 7, 2016, they were pariahs. But in October, after classes were already under way, word came that the school districts planning had once again failed to keep pace with Palmdales population boom. There were cigarette burns on his neck, feet, and genitals and ligature marks on both ankles. Little round bruises dotted his face. At a preliminary hearing to decide whether the case should go before a jury, the defense attorneys hammered at one question: Why were these four workers the only ones being punished? As long as human beings are involved in the child welfare program there are possibilities for mistakes to occur, he wrote. If convicted of knowingly falsifying those records and the felony count of child abuse, the defendants each face up to 10 years in state prison. The thing she loves most about working at the Alliance, is connecting with caregivers. vs. LA County, Scalp, Face, Neck, Ears and Shoulder Injuries Documented at Trial (diagam). It was very clear that this was no accidental fall. Breaking news for Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. Under California law, teachers must report any suspected child abuse, but even those who report are not always heard. Yet, despite the obvious and visible signs of abuse, documentation by both Rodriguez and Clement downplayed the injuries. The area had seen an influx of poor families, and the number of calls to the child-abuse hotline was rising faster there than anywhere else in Southern California. A familys prior history is one of the most reliable measures of the need for future intervention, and in the past 10 years, at least four hotline calls had been made alleging that Pearl Fernandez was neglecting or abusing her children. This decision came from a three-justice panel. Instead, she asked Gabriel whether he really wanted to do that days assignment: making a Mothers Day card. Gabriel, did not directly physically abuse Gabriel and did not have the "duty" required by the child abuse charge. Children's Social Worker (CSW) The representative who works with the family who is in receiving services from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Garcia called Gabriels caseworker, Rodriguez, on two different numbers and left messages. Host Stefanie O'Connell Rodriguez turned to Jill Schlesinger, CFP, a business analyst for CBS News, for advice. We have 122 records for Stefanie Rodriguez ranging in age from 28 years old to 51 years old. He was hungry for Garcias attention and praise and would stay behind at recess to help her collate and staple papers. Pearl herself had suffered abuse as a child, giving the family another two points. 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