Politics > Politics-USA > Riverside County social services chief resigns: ignored suggestedimprovements in Child Protective Services made the 2005 torture-killing of3-year-old virtually inevitable.
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Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"fx" |
| Date: |
23 May 2007 11:12:43 AM |
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Riverside County social services chief resigns: ignored suggestedimprovements in Child Protective Services made the 2005 torture-killing of3-year-old virtually inevitable. |
Riverside County social services chief resigns
http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_D_dps23.3f1eab6.html
10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, May 22, 2007
By MARISA AGHA
The Press-Enterprise
The director of Riverside County's Department of Public Social Services
the agency responsible for oversight of Child Protective Services, the
welfare system, adult protective services and other county
social-services programs resigned Tuesday.
Riverside County supervisors accepted Cynthia Hinckley's letter of
resignation in a closed session during their regularly scheduled meeting
Tuesday, said Ray Smith, county spokesman. Her resignation takes effect
by the end of today.
The letter did not state her reason for leaving.
The action comes after the supervisors earlier this month ordered a
review of the department in response to complaints about the high
turnover of social workers and managers.
The review came following an April 10 letter from county social workers
and union representatives that said managers who ignored suggested
improvements in Child Protective Services made the 2005 torture-killing
of 3-year-old Michael "Mikey" Vallejo-Seiber "virtually inevitable."
Dennis Boyle, the former county director of social services and the
retired head of the state's Department of Social Services, was asked by
supervisors to perform the review.
Boyle will now serve as interim director while the county conducts a
national search for Hinckley's replacement, Smith said. The search could
take 60 to 90 days or longer, he said.
Boyle will use what he's learned in starting the review to help him take
the helm, Smith said. The review as originally proposed, including
assessing operations and the management structure, will not go forward,
he said. Boyle will assess operations as he takes over the department,
Smith added.
Appointed in 2005
Hinckley was appointed by the Board of Supervisors in July 2005 to
replace Boyle. She began working for the county as a staff analyst with
the Department of Public Social Services in 1991 and held a variety of
positions over the years, Smith said.
"She has dedicated many years to the service of the county," Smith said.
"She probably believed it was best for the county and herself to move
ahead."
Efforts to reach Hinckley at home and in her office Tuesday were
unsuccessful.
In her resignation letter, Hinckley said she was proud of her
accomplishments over the past 22 months. She cited an agencywide
integrated plan developed in her first six months on the job;
improvements to the child-welfare system, noting a drop in the number of
children returning to foster care; increased staffing in children's
services by almost 20 percent; and reducing the annual attrition rate of
social workers by more than 3.5 percent.
"It was a pleasure to serve Riverside County, and a privilege to work
with the dedicated staff in the Department of Public Social Services,"
Hinckley wrote in her letter to the board.
Supervisor John Tavaglione, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said
that Hinckley was not about to be fired. Hinckley did not meet with the
board Tuesday.
"Obviously, it was her decision. She, I believe, felt that it was in her
best interests to move on to other challenges. This was a very, very
difficult position and agency to oversee in a county the size of
Riverside County," Tavaglione said.
"She spent 16 very successful years with the county and the board very
much appreciates her tenure with us and wishes her the best with her
endeavors."
Tavaglione also said that the review ordered earlier this month was not
in response to "any particular case or any particular direction the
agency was taking," including the killing of Vallejo-Seiber.
Letter Triggers Review
The review came following the letter from social workers and union
representatives who noted that managers' lack of attention to suggested
improvements in Child Protective Services made the boy's killing
"virtually inevitable."
A Child Protective Services investigator interviewed the boy's mother
and recommended the case be closed as unfounded. Days later, the child
was dead after being stomped, kicked, thrown, sodomized, burned and
forced to eat his own excrement.
His mother's boyfriend, Alex Kermith Mendoza, has been charged with
torture and murder and could get the death penalty if convicted.
The management of Vallejo-Seiber's case was investigated and reported in
March by The Press-Enterprise, which found child-protection
investigators failed to follow basic state protocols by not interviewing
others involved in the boy's care.
Tavaglione said that the department's challenges have been ongoing and
the issues were there before Hinckley took the helm.
"Whoever it is that takes on that position is going to have to deal with
those challenges. It's going to be very difficult for anyone who takes
on that position," Tavaglione said.
"You're dealing with children's lives."
Reach Marisa Agha at 951-368-9646 or
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....
CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.
every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*
Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5
Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
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