Santa Clara County workers put on leave amid child welfare crisis

Ten Santa Clara County employees are on leave and state officials are tightening their grip as another death in the county’s child welfare system has prompted calls for criminal accountability.

The alleged sexual assault and killing of 2-year-old Jaxon Juarez — who the Department of Family and Children’s Services placed in the home of a cousin with a criminal record of child endangerment — marks the third high-profile child death under Santa Clara County’s watch in three years. Eight county employees connected to Juarez’s case file were placed on leave between April 8 and April 16. County Executive James Williams on Thursday said that number has jumped to 10, pending personnel investigations.

Williams said the state is expanding its corrective action plan against the county, which was supposed to end in June. The state enacted the plan after voicing concerns that the county prioritized family togetherness over child safety in the wake of the drug overdose death of baby Phoenix Castro and fatal stabbing of 7-year-old Jordan Walker in 2023. Both deaths came after family members and social workers raised red flags about the children’s foster placements. State officials are expected to be on-site at the Department of Family and Children’s Services to conduct ongoing reviews of the agency’s work.

Juarez’s death follows a county medical examiner report in February that revealed three child abuse-related deaths — between 2022 and 2026 — happened after multiple referrals to the child welfare agency were dismissed. The report voiced concern the agency’s policies minimize parental neglect and tended to conflate it with socioeconomically disadvantaged environments.

District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s office has filed murder and felony assault charges against the cousin’s teenage son accused of killing Juarez. Rosen has also signaled his criminal investigation could expand, and county officials might find themselves under the microscope.

“A child under the watch of our (Social Services Agency) was murdered in Santa Clara County. Again,” Rosen told San José Spotlight. “We will relentlessly follow our investigation in any direction the evidence leads.”

Juarez’s death remains under county investigation, and comes more than a year after the resignation of Family and Children’s Services Director Damion Wright, who took over shortly after the death of Castro. Wright was succeeded by Wendy Kinnear-Rausch last June. She has been with the department since 1999.

The Mercury News in 2023 reported that Wright’s predecessor, Daniel Little, gave county lawyers more power to block the removal of children from troubled families and aimed the agency’s focus more on family healing through classes and programs. But social workers said those policies trumped child safety.

Little has since been promoted to director of the county Social Services Agency.

Lack of leadership

The Department of Family and Children’s Services has since committed to reforming its child welfare policies and reversing certain practices that came under scrutiny in two different state reports. But those efforts have been rocky. In recent years, District 1 Supervisor Sylvia Arenas has publicly rebuked the agency’s progress, and its withholding of critical state reports on the county’s corrective action plan at child welfare committee meetings.

A November state report on the county’s progress wasn’t made public until March, after repeated requests by Arenas. The report showed the agency was asking local law enforcement to handle allegations of child abuse in lieu of doing its own investigations. The report also said county caseworkers had ongoing fears of retaliation when they disagreed with management or County Counsel. There was also a lack of consistent messaging from executive leadership to explain policy changes.

“Those involved must be held accountable,” Arenas said at a Thursday news conference. “The loss of Baby Jaxon, Baby Phoenix and Jordan Walker weighs heavy on me as someone who has been trusted by our community to be a leader and decision-maker in this county.”

The California Department of Social Services — which previously put the county under review for its child safety policies — is also conducting an independent probe into Juarez’s death. Williams said he’s requested the state expand its investigation into all the county’s foster placements.

“The (California Department of Social Services) team was heartbroken to learn of this tragic incident,” Jason Montiel, a spokesperson for the state agency, told San José Spotlight. “Collectively, we must do better to support our most vulnerable children and youth to ensure they are safe and can thrive. We are committed to working with our county partners, local agencies, other state departments, families, communities and advocates across the state to continuously improve California’s child welfare system.”

The NAACP of San Jose/Silicon Valley has sent a letter to the county calling for accountability at the top levels of the agency. President Sean Allen said resignations of county officials no longer suffice.

“The county has made negligent decisions and they need to be held accountable both civilly and criminally because the community is paying the price,” Allen told San José Spotlight.

A report is expected upon the conclusion of the county’s investigation into Juarez’s death.

“This is a horrific tragedy and my heart aches for this small child,” Williams told San José Spotlight. “Keeping children safe is an essential priority. We are committed to getting to the bottom of what happened and holding people accountable, where appropriate. We are doing everything we can to quickly understand all the facts and to take all appropriate actions. We are sending our deepest condolences to the family for their loss.”

At the Thursday news conference, Williams said the county started investigating Juarez’s case while he was still hospitalized.

Allen said the same handful of county executives have been in charge during all three high-profile child welfare scandals.

“This is all happening under the same leadership,” Allen said. “We as an organization don’t want to hear any more lip service from politicians. We want to see action. The DA is charging adopters, but not charging the county officials who are making these decisions.”

County social workers have been outspoken about a culture of fear and retaliation by superiors in the child welfare department — frequently showing up to Board of Supervisors meetings to speak out — since the death of Castro in 2023. Their union called Juarez’s death “unthinkable.”

“We are deeply saddened and outraged by the tragic loss of an innocent child — an unthinkable outcome that demands urgent attention,” SEIU Local 521 Chapter President Andre Thomas said in a statement. “While this incident remains under active investigation, we call for a fully independent investigation to ensure transparency and truth. There can be no excuses and no shortcuts when it comes to proper vetting and safeguarding our communities.”

Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.