Like all of you, we were devastated by the death of Gabriel Fernandez, who was abused and murdered by his parents while in the L.A. County DCFS child welfare system. For years our union has advocated tirelessly for reforms that could have helped prevent this tragedy.
We are outraged by District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s effort to sensationalize the case by bringing criminal charges against four social workers and saddened by the Court’s decision this morning to allow a criminal trial to proceed. We believe Gabriel Fernandez’s death is a product of problems, like excessive caseloads and high employee attrition, that the department has been slow to fix. Our union is working overtime to get the real story out about how to keep children safe in L.A. County’s child welfare system.
See our latest statement to the press and stay tuned for future updates.