Office of Child Protection

Blue Ribbon Commission

EXCLUSIVE: New Details Reveal How Two Social Workers Fought, But Failed, to Save 4-Year-Old Noah Cuatro

November 13, 2019 Daniel Heimpel, Publisher, The Chronicle of Social Change Comments Off on EXCLUSIVE: New Details Reveal How Two Social Workers Fought, But Failed, to Save 4-Year-Old Noah Cuatro

This summer, a 4-year-old boy named Noah Cuatro was allegedly tortured and killed by his parents in Palmdale, a high desert exurb of Los Angeles County. The tragedy is still sending shockwaves through the county’s […]

Los Angeles

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

September 10, 2019 Daniel Heimpel, Publisher, The Chronicle of Social Change Comments Off on 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 […]

Child Welfare

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

August 13, 2019 Daniel Heimpel, Publisher, The Chronicle of Social Change Comments Off on 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. Still […]

Child Welfare

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

August 1, 2019 Daniel Heimpel, Publisher, The Chronicle of Social Change Comments Off on 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” […]

Child Welfare

L.A. Supervisor Kathryn Barger Vows to Hold a Bureaucracy That’s ‘Killing Kids’ Accountable

July 24, 2019 Daniel Heimpel, Publisher, The Chronicle of Social Change Comments Off on L.A. Supervisor Kathryn Barger Vows to Hold a Bureaucracy That’s ‘Killing Kids’ Accountable

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion introduced by Sup. Kathryn Barger aimed at recruiting and retaining child welfare workers in the Antelope Valley and its high desert communities […]

Blue Ribbon Commission

L.A. Child Welfare Agency Hurriedly Changes Key Policy After 4-Year-Old’s Death

July 22, 2019 Daniel Heimpel, Publisher, The Chronicle of Social Change Comments Off on L.A. Child Welfare Agency Hurriedly Changes Key Policy After 4-Year-Old’s Death

Less than two weeks after the suspicious death of 4-year-old Palmdale boy Noah Cuatro, Los Angeles County’s child welfare agency changed a key policy at the heart of the mounting controversy. Despite Noah’s parents’ explanation […]

Blue Ribbon Commission

Hiring More Social Workers is Key to L.A. Supervisor’s Plan to Prevent Child Deaths like 4-Year-Old Noah Cuatro’s

July 19, 2019 Daniel Heimpel, Publisher, The Chronicle of Social Change Comments Off on Hiring More Social Workers is Key to L.A. Supervisor’s Plan to Prevent Child Deaths like 4-Year-Old Noah Cuatro’s

Moving swiftly in the wake of the third high-profile child death to strike Los Angeles’ high desert in the past six years, L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger intends to boost the area’s beleaguered child welfare […]

Downtown Los Angeles
Blue Ribbon Commission

In L.A., Law Enforcement and Child Protection Try the Impossible: Stop Child Maltreatment Deaths

March 12, 2019 John Kelly, Editor in Chief, The Chronicle of Social Change Comments Off on In L.A., Law Enforcement and Child Protection Try the Impossible: Stop Child Maltreatment Deaths

On Wednesday, prominent Los Angeles County officials will revisit a trying time in the county’s child protection history. In May of 2013, the violent death of an 8-year-old Antelope Valley boy rocked the county. The […]