Until, of course, another one did. DCFS has since made some vital improvements: It has hired more than 1,000 additional caseworkers, provided staffers with much-needed smartphones, introduced new training methods, and tightened the standards for acceptance into the Voluntary Family Maintenance program. Earnings for Regularly Scheduled Work Hours. I dont think theres anything else I could have done, he told me, with the soft voice and slumped shoulders of a man whose fate is now in the hands of others. Under California law, teachers must report any suspected child abuse, but even those who report are not always heard. Name. Pearl was yelling at him to sit, and Martinez told her to tone it down. Two social workers, Stefanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement, as well as two of their supervisors, Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt, were each charged with one felony count of child abuse and falsifying public records. They additionally contend that supervisors Bomand Meritt knew or should have known that the reports were false as they contradicted physical evidence of Gabriels deteriorating physical health. When he reached Pearl on the phone she told him that Gabriel had moved to Texas with his grandmother. View Stefanie Rodriguez's business profile as Global Manager, Accounting at ALM. stefanie rodriguez social worker nownyproduktion mlnlycke. ( Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. She recalls Rodriguez saying that Pearl Fernandez had once spanked Gabriel harshly but did not present an immediate safety threat, and that both Pearl and Gabriel had issues. A public employee's salary relates to a particular person, but it is a matter of public interest and not primarily a matter of the individual's private business. Gabriel, he later testified, turned around and made eye contact with me and I noticed he had a greenish-bluish eyea black eyeand lumps on the back of his head. Usually, promoting a case meant petitioning a judge to mandate services such as rent stipends or anger-management classes for parents, or seeking a judges approval to place the child in foster care. On May 22nd, 2013 paramedics rushed Gabriel to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles but doctors pronounced him braindead the same day. I still have nightmares. But this didnt strike Merritt as particularly unusual or alarminghe remembered a child even younger who had made actual suicide attempts. The District Attorneys Office was unable to respond to an earlier request for information, and it was not immediately clear whether prosecutors intend to appeal the appellate court decision or refile the case. Claim your profile Get in touch with Stefanie. The prevalence of bone fractures, brain bleeds, and other injuries linked to caregivers showed that beatings were a recurring aspect of family life in many homes. All he knew was that Gabriel was old enough to be in school, which meant he had teachers who were required by law to report signs of abuse. He occasionally took books off the shelf, copied sentences in his own hand, and took them to Garcia. In January 2020 California 2nd District Court of Appeals threw out the charges against the four former social workers. By contrast, Virginia, 14, appeared unable to escape her memories. I dont believe you, Gabriel, she said, noting that this was the first time hed lied to her. He then asked if it was normal for moms to hit kids with a belt buckle and make you bleed. Name. The District Attorney may appeal this decision. I got light-headed, she said. She was a ticking time bomb, Teresa Linn Stanley, a caseworker who once worked side by side with Clement, told me. But she, too, said she didnt think about Gabriels casethat was in the past.. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. One day, he stole Garcias iPod and took it to his mom, trying to please her. He was hungry for Garcias attention and praise and would stay behind at recess to help her collate and staple papers. This fall, Merritt and three of his colleagues will stand trial for criminal charges of falsifying records and child abuse, which carry up to 11 years in prison. This one guy was talking to himself all the time. Merritt assumed he was mentally ill. I wanted to go there and hold his hand and say, Youre going to be okay. The earnings and benefits information are as follows: The California Public Records Act requires public disclosure of government salary information, which serves a significant public interest. City News Service contributed to this report. The announcement that they faced criminal charges had come as a shock. Stefanie Rodriguez, 35; Patricia Clement, 69; and their respective supervisors, Kevin Bom, 41; and Gregory Merritt, 64, were charged in 2016 with one felony count each of child abuse and. The next year, California passed the first state law mandating that doctors report suspected child abuse and neglect. It destroyed my life.. View Stefanie Rodriguez results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. Such shallow inquiries were routine across Los Angeles County. How do you prioritize your spending when you have debt and dreams for the future? The thing she loves most about working at the Alliance, is connecting with caregivers. After school, Garcia called the countys child-abuse hotline. Payments of Excess and Unused Leave Time at Termination. They hid Gabriels bloody clothes and moved a picture to cover one of the biggest dents in their apartments walls. Apply via Dice today! Management had to impose a ban on transfers out just to keep the branch staffed. On the rare days when Gabriel came to class, she told him to be good and never give his mother a reason to get angry. His teacher testified that she called Rodriguez multiple times to report that Gabriel told her that his mother punched him and shot him in the face with a BB gun. 2017 toyota corolla wheel torque specs stefanie rodriguez social worker now She said yes because some parents spank their children, but asked him again about it at recess. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. Please apply today or contact me directly:Dana Laghezza Director, Practice Development LifeStance Health, Inc. (e) Dana.Laghezza @LifeStance.com (p)lt;br> We offer Licensed Therapists (LCPC, LCSW . Administrators admit that prioritizing one of these goals over the other is a false choicetheyre supposed to be able to protect children in danger without unnecessarily splitting up families. He died on May 24, 2013, and in 2018, Pearl and Isauro were found guilty of first-degree murder with an additional special circumstance of intentional murder by torture. Merritt told me she was a little bit of a burnout case but good enough. Others remember her less favorably. During the final eight months of Gabriel Fernandezs life, numerous concerns had been made to the Los Angeles Department of Child and Family Services [DCFS]. Martinez later learned that a deputy had visited the home and found nothing wrong. The 2nd District Court of Appeal advised that the lower court dismiss the charges against the social workers. Toggle primary navigation. Stefanie Guerrero is a provider established in Raleigh, North Carolina and her medical specialization is Social Worker with a focus in clinical . She remembered how hard hed worked on it, even after she told him he didnt have to. When her students arrived, she braced herself to give them the news. Gabriels grandmother objected, telling deputies that Pearl neglected and abused her children. She trusts that if she stays grounded and listens to her instincts and follows the departments rules and processes, she wont ever need to confront the details of Gabriels case or another like it. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. Gabriel Fernandez: Who is Michael Lemos Carranza? In July 2015, according to Los Angeles Times, prosecutors looked into giving both Fernandez and Aguirre the death penalty to repent for their horrific actions. But the program worried Philip Browning, whod become the head of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services in 2011. One day in late October, about two weeks after hed started at school, Gabriel tugged on her side in the middle of class. Copyright 2023 KABC Television, LLC. Find contact's direct phone number, email address, work history, and more. Stephanie Rodriguez. Since Gabriels death and the subsequent review, DCFS has hired more than 1,000 caseworkers, provided staff with smartphones, started new methods of training, and changed the standards for the Voluntary Family Maintenance program. County Pension (Defined Benefits) Contributions. All four were fired from the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services after an internal investigation into the boy's May 24, 2013 death. They would later become the second and third workers, after Merritt, to be charged with child abuse and falsification of records. The DCFS Internal investigation found that neither Rodriguez or her supervisor Bon reviewed information regarding Pearl and her history with the DCFS. This time she reached her, and pressed her about what she was doing: How did Pearl Fernandez explain the injuries? Arturo Martinez, the security guard, asked to transfer to another office because he could not continue to work with the same people who had refused to help Gabriel. When Garcia first met the boy, in the schools front office, she noticed that Pearl and Aguirre werent like the other first-grade parents, who hovered over their children, crouching down to guide them through introductions or to explain how to get lunch. Their case marks one of the few times social worked have been charged in a child abuse case in the US. Bom declined to comment for this article. She claimed to social workers that she had concerns about how he was being treated but family members say she wanted Gabriels welfare benefits. The appellate court formally sent the matter back to the lower court in April and Lomeli was expected to officially drop the charges on Thursday. Since then, the number of children removed from their home in any given year has risen or fallen according to pendulum swings in child-protective-services agencies, which have alternated between erring on the side of child safety and erring on the side of family preservation. Stefanie. She visited again two weeks later, and wrote that Pearl Fernandez described herself as the victim of a mother who never showed any real love or positive feelings about her. Clement noted that Pearls boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, was a very pleasant person. Despite Gabriels steady absences, Clement wrote: The children are attending school regularly and doing well., Soon after Clements first visit, Gabriel wrote several notes saying that he wanted to kill himself. Judge Mary Lou Villar stated that each defendant should have noticed the danger Gabriel was in and requested he be removed from the home, or at the very least ordered a medical examination. Sign in to create your job alert for Licensed Clinical Social Worker jobs in Chevy Chase, MD. Children's Social Worker (CSW) The representative who works with the family who is in receiving services from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). t Summerwind Elementary, the weeks dragged on. In 2016, Stefanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement, two former LA County social workers, as well as two supervisors, Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt, were charged with one felony count each of child abuse and falsifying public records. She had abandoned her youngest child, a daughter named Destiny, and lost custody of a son named Arnold Jr., who was a year older than Gabriel. This book is designed for the courses in solid state physics for B.Sc. By the departments own count, since Gabriels death, at least 143 children in Los Angeles County have died from abuse or neglect after having some prior history with DCFS. The least popular job in this least desirable place was also the most difficult and most important: child-abuse investigator. The program allowed children to remain in the home while the family worked to resolve their issues. But Merritt was proud of his work, especially his efforts to keep together families that might otherwise be separated. White House Farm ending: Where are they now? Stefanie is related to Victor Rodriquez and Sylvia Rodriguez as well as 1 additional person. ), First published on January 7, 2020 / 5:43 AM. erritts team officially took over Gabriels case on February 1, not long after Jennifer Garcia had called to report the BB-gun marks on his face. I probably would have lost my kids, she said, because I spanked them good. Gabriel's mother, Pearl Fernandez, and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, were both charged and convicted of first degree murder with special circumstances of torture. Judge Lomeli denied an automatic motion to reduce the jurys recommendation of a death sentence for Aguirre to life in prison without the possibility of parole, citing the repeated beating, binding, burning and starving of Gabriel. The four also had criminal charges filed against them. The question today is whether the felony counts against four social workers will be dismissed, reduced or stand. Prosecutors say they failed to take the appropriate steps to protect Gabriel and then falsified documents related to his case. [INFO]. Browning, the head of the department, had referred the case to the district attorneys office in the immediate aftermath of Gabriels death. At recess someone lent him a baggy boys shirt to cover himself. In her notes, she reported that shed observed the children to be appropriately dressed, visibly healthy, and did not have any marks or bruises., The following week, Garcia made multiple calls about Gabriels haircut and busted lip. His neck had been stripped of a layer of skin. The information disclosed includes compensations paid to employees of Los Angeles County in the form of earnings and fringe benefits. Once again, Rodriguez and Bom decided not to remove him or order a medical exam. Gabriel died in May 2013 and his mother and her boyfriend were later convicted of torturing and murdering him. On March 26th, 2013 therapist intern Barbara Dixon filed a report that Gabriel claimed a relative forced him to perform oral sex on them. A few days later, Gabriel complained to Garcia that his eye was hurting, so she sent him to Donna Evans, the school nurse, who was brand-new in the job. Social workers Stefanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement and supervisors Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt are charged with felony child abuse and falsifying public records in the 2013 beating and torture. Fernandez pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty and received a sentence of life in prison without parole. But we spoke again later that day. She was impressive in many waysdeeply empathetic, very thoroughand had even been a foster child herself. The Auditor-Controller discloses information about compensations paid to employees of Los Angeles County in the form of earnings and fringe benefits. Prosecutors opened an investigation into the social workers assigned to Gabriel's case after his mother Pearl Fernandez and stepfather Isauro Aguirre's were found guilty of his murder in 2018. Wellington, Wellington Region, New Zealand, Senior PR and Communications Officer - British Consulate General Sydney, Information Technology Service Management Analyst, Manager, Corporate and Marketing Communications, SSC Malaysia - Finance Team Lead - Bill & Pay, Techtronic Industries Australia & New Zealand, Volt - International (An Innova Solutions Company). Garcia called Gabriels caseworker, Rodriguez, on two different numbers and left messages. OPEN GOV US GOV US. After they found the file and Dallis left, Merritt said a silent prayer for the boy. Social workers Stephanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement visited the Fernandez family home on multiple occasions but both workers claimed they never saw signs of abuse that would require Gabriel to be moved out of the family home. Cigarette burns covered his feet and genitals. Actress. I live Coram Deo, he said. Fishpond Hong Kong, Statistical Mechanics, Third Edition by R K Pathria . RELATED: Uncle breaks silence on Gabriel Fernandez 7 years after his death. Mistakes were inevitable when department leaders and county politicians gave workers so little support, she said. News coverage of child fatalities has often been a catalyst for a renewed focus on safety: When a child dies at the hands of a guardian, an outraged public will demand more proactive interventions to prevent such a tragedy. Stefanie Rodriguez is an actress, known for Phil the Alien (2004). A three-justice panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal issued an opinion Monday directing a lower court to dismiss child abuse and other charges against four social workers in the killing of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez. Clinical Social Work/Therapist, LCSW-R, MSW Location. Case dismissed against social workers charged in death of . But many of the children in his caseload had that designation. drop in the number of children in foster care, The Still-Harrowing Extent of Child Abuse and Neglect, In a Year, Child-Protective Services Checked Up on 3.2 Million Children, When the State Takes Kids Away From Parents: Three Perspectives. It had expanded because of the funding changes instituted during the Bush administration. Lomeli also presided over the trial of Fernandez killers, his mother and her boyfriend. When I first called Starr, in November, she quickly excused herself and got off the phone. Four Los Angeles County social workers Stefanie Rodriguez, 30; Patricia Clement, 65; Kevin Bom, 36; and Gregory Merritt, 60 have been charged with child abuse and falsifying public. MORE: Palmdale woman, boyfriend sentenced in 8-year-old's torture killing. In 2003, the Los Angeles County board of supervisors selected a child-welfare administrator named David Sanders, who led an aggressive push to reduce the foster-care rolls. Stefanie Rodriguez, 32, Patricia Clement, 66, Kevin Bom, 37, and Gregory Merritt, 61, were fired from their jobs following an internal investigation into the May 24, 2013, death of Gabriel. Looking for Stefanie Rodriguez online? But of that 60%, 37% reported losing money and 21% said their relationship with the borrower was harmed. He was able to find only sporadic work, stocking beer at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds. 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