The showdown is the latest upheaval in Santa Clara County’s child welfare system, which has been under fire in recent months for its mishandling of the case of 3-month-old Phoenix Castro, who died …
Santa Clara County Social Services Agency Director Daniel Little, right, gives a presentation with Damion Wright, second from right, director of the Department of Family and Children’s Services, defending their family preservation policies during a Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors meeting in San Jose, Calif., on Dec. 19, 2023.
Earlier this month, hours before the publication of a Bay Area News Group report on the practice, Santa Clara County announced it would give social workers the green light to bar parents from child interviews when court orders were obtained. But Lesniak, the union steward, said that in a meeting Wednesday between social worker supervisors and department higher-ups, Wright acknowledged that many people in the department knew about the guidance on abuse interviews.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas, who has been leading the charge to overhaul the department, said she was dubious that Wright has been upfront about the controversy, especially after County Counsel Tony LoPresti came forward to acknowledge his office “recently became aware” of the interview guidance shortly before the Bay Area News Group broke the story.
In recent days, amid the renewed blame game, social workers and supervisors have flagged yet more concerns about how abuse cases have been handled locally after interventions by county lawyers. “For them to say that there’s no way they can get a warrant or they can’t get an order and are telling their social workers not to go get an order, is a cop-out — a serious cop-out,” Cox said.
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