A timeline of death

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-child-death-chronology2-2010mar28,0,5124634.story

A timeline of death
12 troubled years for L.A. County's Department of Children and Family Services

RELATED
As more L.A. County children die, reform still falters
March 28, 2010


March 1998: A consultant sharply criticized oversight of the "non-system" of care provided by Los Angeles County's Department of Children and Family Services and its director, Peter Digre.

May 1999: Digre, hired eight years before as the troubled department faced possible state takeover, abruptly resigned amid signs he had worn out his welcome with supervisors. Board later hired Anita Bock, citing her toughness.

July 2002: Bock was forced out as supervisors complained of a failure to adequately staff the child-abuse hotline, quickly investigate abuse, streamline adoption and prepare children in the system for adulthood. David Sanders was later named director.

February 2004: Supervisor Gloria Molina tore into Sanders after a Canoga Park toddler was beaten to death by a mother who had been the subject of six previous abuse complaints.

January 2005: A 3-month-old baby was found dead in a washing machine after the mother burned down the house. The mother had been convicted of child abuse 10 years earlier.

October 2005: Sarah Chavez, 2, was beaten to death by her great-uncle, who later was convicted of manslaughter. The girl had been removed from a loving foster home months before.

June 2006: Sanders resigned. Trish Ploehn was later promoted to director.

April 2007: Two-year-old Angel Montiel died after being moved from foster care back to his parents. His mother later pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter after his battered body showed signs of burns and untreated fractures.

August 2007: A 2-month-old girl died, apparently of malnutrition and neglect, on skid row a day after a social worker investigated reports of possible abuse and left the 4-pound child with her mentally ill mother.

May 2008: A 2-year-old Pomona girl starved to death. She and her siblings had been taken from foster care and returned to their parents. Months earlier, social workers found they were doing well.

June 2008: A 5-year-old boy suffered what police called "unbearable physical and psychological abuse" at the hands of a mother and her girlfriend, both with histories of violence. Numerous agencies in the county interacted with the family but didn't communicate with one another.

April 2009: The Times reported that 14 children died of abuse and neglect in 2008 despite having been under the scrutiny of the Department of Children and Family Services. The next day, supervisors expressed shock but county officials acknowledged that 12 died under similar circumstances in 2007 and 14 in 2006.

June 2009: The Times reported that for at least 18 years, the county had ignored urgent and sometimes gruesome reminders that its agencies didn't share key information about neglected children.

July 2009: Six-year-old Dae'von Bailey was beaten to death by his mother's ex-boyfriend, who later pleaded guilty to his murder. The boy's family had been the subject of roughly a dozen abuse complaints, most of which were not substantiated by social workers.

December 2009: A 4-month-old in Santa Monica was beaten to death, allegedly by her stepfather. The girl was left in the home despite the recent removal of siblings because of allegations of abuse.

March 2010: A 2-year-old was beaten to death in the home of a foster mother who had been the subject of five previous abuse complaints. The woman lived with her boyfriend, a convicted armed robber.

March 2010: Deandre Green, 2, was beaten to death, allegedly by his mother's boyfriend. Family members said they had warned police and child-welfare officials about bruises and other injuries.

Source: Times reports

Los Angeles Times