When "Slipping Through The Cracks" Is No Excuse: The Negligence Of Some Child Welfare Workers

'It was just like every inch of this child had been abused,'

"Before 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez was allegedly beaten to death by his mother and her boyfriend, they doused him with pepper spray, forced him to eat his own vomit and locked him in a cabinet with a sock stuffed in his mouth to muffle his screams, according to court records made public Monday."

But that was not the entire extent of his abuse. You may not want to read the entire L.A. Times article if you are sensitive to the issue because it contains some graphic descriptions of unbelievable abuse, but know that the case has sparked an outcry for reform of a child welfare system that was clearly inept.

When paramedics arrived, they found Gabriel naked in a bedroom, not breathing, with a cracked skull, three broken ribs and BB pellets embedded in his lung and groin. He died two days later.
"It was just like every inch of this child had been abused," testified James Cermak, a Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedic.

Gabriel's mother, Pearl, said that Gabriel had hit his head on a dresser. 

Pearl Fernandez and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, are in jail awaiting trial for capital murder and special circumstances of torture. 

The torture consisted of heinous acts, the least of which was making Gabriel wear humiliating girl's dresses to school because he liked playing with dolls. His murder has gone viral, because, like another publicized abuse/death - the case of Zachary Dutro Boggess - one of the "reasons" for his abuse was that he acted too "gay". Another reason: a system where "slipping through the cracks" means death. Months before his death, Gabriel wrote a suicide note, but it was dismissed as nothing consequential by child welfare workers (it contained no mode of suicide - kids have to be more specific than that!).  Reports of abuse from teachers were poorly followed up. "Huge caseloads" and "inexperience" were cited. 

"Inexperience". How experienced do you have to be to read a suicide note of any sort and not take action? How inexperienced do you have to be to visit a house more than several times, see bruises and not put the dots together? How inexperienced do you have to be to take the initial testimony of siblings as the truth - kids who are obviously scared the same thing will happen to them? 

The Good, The Bad And The Totally Inept

To be fair, some social workers can only be as effective as the law allows: Child Protective Services vary from region to region according to what authority they actually have. Some parents are very crafty and intimidating (e.g. Fred Phelps - the "Man Addicted To Hate" - repeatedly fended off CPS in Topeka, KS despite warnings from teachers and neighbors). Some truly are over-burdened with caseloads and become duly depressed about their work.  

The workers in Gabriel's and Zachary's cases, however, were absolutely negligent:

Four county Department of Child and Family Services employees will be fired over their involvement in the case of Gabriel Fernandez, the 8-year-old Palmdale boy who died in May, after allegedly being tortured by his mother's live-in boyfriend.

According to a statement from County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, the four include two social workers and two supervisors. Three others involved in evaluating multiple reports of abuse of Fernandez were issued warning or reprimand letters.
DCFS records showed that there had been five previous reports of abuse of the little boy, but that social workers had deemed them "unfounded." A sixth case was being investigated at the time of his death.

Five reports. FIVE. Five reports and a suicide note. 

Zachary Dutro-Brugess was murdered in, of all places, a homeless shelter. His abuse was reported by his older sister who had been abused as well, but not by the shelter.

Jezebel:

While [Jack] Schwab [Director of the Good Neighbor Shelter in Tigard, Oregon] says that the staff never saw anything that could be reported, it's hard to believe that such abuse could have gone on without the staff having even an inkling. And even those inklings can be reported.

Negligent Abuse

What happened to both children might have been prevented, had people paid attention. Unfortunately, we can't make lack of attention a crime, nor can we make negligence or ineptitude a felony. To some, the firing of two social workers and two supervisors was enough in Gabriel's case. To some, the consciences of the Good Neighbor Shelter will deliver justice. 

To Gabriel and Zachary, however, justice may not have been served.

Just a thought.

Savage Sunday

The savagery of today's religions is brought out in a horrible video of events this last month. It is not for the feint of heart. Nor is it for those who wish to keep faith in humanity. Those of us who do, need to remind ourselves that there are other people in the world less virulently "religious", hence kinder and more compassionate and ultimately ... more human. 



This video elicits a simple reaction: gather these people up and build a wall around them, isolate them so that they cannot co-habitate with humanity, for humanity does not deserve them and they do not deserve humanity. They will beat, enslave, murder and discriminate - all "in the name of God." 

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the video is the hypocrisy of zealots: from violence in an Amish community to teens telling reporters that they "love" homosexuals but don't want them attending a prom, 

The producers of the YouTube videos series, ConversationwithA, may have a problem in obtaining widespread viewership since it promotes atheism, but it can constructively be viewed as one absolutist view pointing out the hypocrisies of absolutist views. This position, however, is not without its merits: today's America is so dumbed-down that only shocking, black-and-white imagery  can be effective. Nuance and metaphor are only for those whose I.Q. are above that of a dead flashlight battery.*

Savage Sunday Points

It may not seem ironic, the video airing on a Sunday: for what day of the week would better suit it than one in which America is steeped in religion. It is a savage counterpoint to the (sometimes) clandestine savagery of religion, the underbelly of piety of which few dare speak in highly religious countries like America. 

Here are some of the news items featured:

• Pat Robertson says having a picture of Buddha in your house is idolatry and tells the owner to set it on fire because it may be demonic.
• Leader of an Amish Community is accused of violent acts and sexual abuse against members who don't agreed with him.
• Passersby in London are accosted by a Muslim sect for "looking gay" and not adhering to Sharia law.
• A fatwa is issued against Kashmir's all-girl rock band.
• Indonesian Muslims discourage people from celebrating Valentines Day.
• Saudi Arabian cleric issues edict that all baby girls should be forced to wear burkas
• Noted Saudi preacher who raped and tortured his five-year-old to death is given shockingly light sentence.
• Mother who thought 2-year old daughter was possessed by an evil spirit throws away body in trash.
• Thousands of children accused of witchcraft in Democratic Republic of the Congo are being violently abused by their own parents in response to the teaching of their pastors who tell them that the children are possessed and the cause of their poverty.
• Headline: House Bill 2647 Could Prevent Aizona Atheist From Graduating High School.
• A "kiss-in" outside Moscow's parliament became violent when the protesters were attacked by people who disagreed with (gay or straight) public displays of affection.

Love On Sunday

Another shocking aspect of the video is its demonstration of a total lack of love for humanity: from brutal clerics to doggedly fundamentalist teenagers, the lack of love for neighbors (and even kin) is appallingly evident, no matter the cries of "we don't really hate anyone." Negativity is rampant, steeped in righteousness and paranoia. And while one could argue that the religious attitudes are "fringe" and relatively small, that negativity has an far-reaching impact on the psyches of whole countries: even in church-going America, the love on Sundays has turned into a diatribe of hatred and despair, a polemic against almost any form of "Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself."

We are seeing the dark side of religiosity on a day when we are supposed to be aware of our humanity.  



*After all, it is a country in which half voted for George Bush - twice.