ARTICLE TAG

Chronicle of Social Change

Kids in the rain under a colorful umbrella

3/17/2020

We Won’t Stop: The Imprint’s Commitment to Children, Youth and Families in a Time of Crisis

At 2:50 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, I picked up my 5-year-old boy from school for the last time in the foreseeable future. Teddy hugged two of his little friends while I ushered him out, alongside my neighbor and his little girl Odette.

10/20/2019

L.A. Police Failed to Investigate 4,000 Serious Child Abuse Reports in 2018 and 2019

The first recorded sign of trouble in the brief life of Noah Cuatro came before he was even born. In August 2014, when his mother was nine months pregnant with Noah, she allegedly threw her baby sister, fracturing the 10-month-old’s skull in two places.

9/23/2019

Controversy Over 4-Year-Old’s Death Intensifies at L.A. County Child Welfare Meeting

On Monday, the tension that has gripped Los Angeles County’s child welfare establishment since the mysterious July death of 4-year-old Noah Cuatro spilled out into public view. At a meeting of the county’s Commission for Children and Families, the chiefs of both the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the Office of Child Protection (OCP) grew visibly and audibly frustrated with commissioners’ questions about the Cuatro case.

9/11/2019

BREAKING: Report Clears L.A. County Child Welfare Agency of Wrongdoing in 4-Year-Old’s Suspicious Death

On Wednesday, Los Angeles County’s Office of Child Protection (OCP) released a report absolving the county’s child welfare system of wrongdoing in the suspicious death of 4-year-old Noah Cuatro.  The boy died on July 6, a day after his parents had called 911 to say that he had drowned.

9/10/2019

Critical Report on 4-Year-Old’s Suspicious Death Remains Hidden from the Public

On August 30, the Los Angeles County Office of Child Protection (OCP) submitted a potentially explosive report on the mysterious July death of 4-year-old Noah Cuatro to county attorneys. Despite being requested by the county’s powerful Board of Supervisors, the report has yet to be made public, leaving yawning questions unresolved as L.A.’s

8/26/2019

Key Details in 4-Year-Old’s Mysterious Death Should Emerge Soon

On July 9, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva stepped to the lectern during a press conference focused on the suspicious death of 4-year-old Noah Cuatro. Four days earlier, on July 5, Noah’s parents called 911 claiming that their son had drowned in their high desert apartment complex pool.

    Youth Services Insider

    8/16/2019

    When Entitlements Collide: Title IV-E and Medicaid in a Family First World

    There are now less than two months until the major reforms of the Family First Prevention Services Act take effect. The central objectives are to realign the Title IV-E child welfare entitlement to include federal funds to help prevent the need for foster care in some cases, and limit federal funds for placements into group homes and other “congregate care” settings.

    8/13/2019

    In Aftermath of Latest Child Death, L.A. Contends with Potential Foster Care Panic

    In mid-July, Bobby Cagle, the director of Los Angeles County’s $2.8-billion child welfare system, visited the high desert communities of Palmdale and Lancaster, both reeling from the latest child death to strike the county.

    8/1/2019

    Newly Released Documents Show that 4-Year-Old Noah Cuatro Died Despite Known Risk  

    On Wednesday evening, Los Angeles County’s Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) released heavily redacted agency documents related to the July death of 4-year-old Noah Cuatro.  Key among the documents are four “risk assessments” and five “safety assessments” conducted by county child welfare caseworkers between 2014 and as recently as June of this year, only weeks before Noah died.