ARTICLE TAG

Office of Child Protection

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.

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. 

7/24/2019

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 of Lancaster and Palmdale.

7/22/2019

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.

    7/19/2019

    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 workforce. 

    Downtown Los Angeles

    3/12/2019

    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.

    12/3/2018

    Clearing a Road to Permanency and Stability for L.A. County Foster Youth

    On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is slated to consider two motions to improve permanency and food security among transition-age foster youth. Tomorrow’s proposed initiatives are the latest in a series of motions focused on improving outcomes for foster youth as they age out of L.A.