Another 2 local kids die under CPS' watch

Before I bring you yet another tragic case involving CPS I feel the need to say..

THESE AGENCIES NEED TO BE DISMANTLED!!!!!!

THEY ARE NOT HELPING CHILDREN THE PROOF IS IN THE NEWSPAPERS!!

Read it for yourselves!

Go through this blog and see for yourself, CPS are NOT protecting children!!!!

Forget reform- Forget open records THEY LIE- they need to be DISMANTLED!

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Intervention was attempted for infant, 4-year-old boy

By Josh Brodesky

Arizona daily star 2/10/08

Two Tucson children who died in January under questionable circumstances had been under the watch of Child Protective Services.

Officials with the state agency confirmed last week that a child-abuse hot line report had been filed for 5-month-old Jahyr Holguin, who died on Jan. 19. His mother's live-in boyfriend, Alejandro A. Alvarez, 21, has been charged with first-degree murder and child abuse.

The second child, 4-year-old Fabian Silva, had been under CPS' watch since Halloween after family members say he was taken to a hospital for a concussion and other injuries. His mother was not home at the time, and he was being watched by her live-in boyfriend.

The boy's grandmother said doctors at the hospital alerted CPS after noticing some suspicious bruising. CPS officials confirmed that they had a file on Fabian, but they would not say who called them or release a case summary because the death is still under investigation.

Fabian was taken to the hospital again on Jan. 26, arriving at University Medical Center "life less" according to police reports. Again, the mother was not home, according to police reports. Fabian died the next day.

The case remains under investigation, and no one has been charged in the boy's death.

Although Fabian's grandparents said the CPS case was closed the day before the boy died, CPS officials said they have an open case on him, but they wouldn't elaborate.
CPS officials also refused to comment on the Jahyr Holguin case or release the case report, even though his mother's boyfriend already has been charged.

Spokeswoman Vicki Gaubeca said the file would be sent to the Pima county attorney for review to make sure its release doesn't hinder the prosecution of the case, in accordance with agency policy.

However, four days after the file was requested, she was uncertain whether it had been sent it to the County Attorney's Office yet, or when it would be available. "But we want to get that to you as soon as possible," she said.

The two boys are the fourth and fifth Tucson children to die in the last year despite having some type of CPS involvement. The agency has been under intense public scrutiny since the deaths last February and March of Ariana Payne, 4; Brandon Williams, 5; and the presumed death of Tyler Payne, 5, whose body has never been recovered.

The deaths also come at a time when state legislators are considering a number of changes in CPS regulations, including making CPS records — particularly those involving child deaths or near-deaths — more open to the public.

"Five kids in a period of a year is a red flag by anybody's standards," said state Rep. Jonathan Paton, a Tucson Republican who has led legislative hearings on CPS. "And it calls out the need to have access for these records."

While CPS officials have acknowledged that the agency was involved with both Fabian and Jahyr in the times leading up to their deaths, the extent of that involvement remains unclear.

"We can confirm we have an open case," Gaubeca said of Fabian's death. However, the records can't be released because "there is an ongoing investigation that is looking into the circumstances of the death," she said.

But she said that just because there is a case doesn't mean there was necessarily abuse or neglect. "The circumstances around the death are still being looked into."

CPS officials would not comment on the nature of the original hot-line complaint that led them to Jahyr.

Alvarez, the live-in boyfriend charged with murder in Jahyr's death, has said the baby was injured when he fell from a bed onto a magazine rack, according to Star archives.
Efforts to reach Jahyr's mother, who was at work at the time of her son's death, were unsuccessful.

Reportedly rebuffed by CPS

In the case of Fabian, several family members have said they asked to be interviewed by CPS officials after the initial report of abuse on Halloween but were rebuffed.

They said they were concerned that CPS would separate the 4-year-old boy from his older brother, and they were worried about the safety of both children.

"They never came over here to interview us," said Martin Rodriguez, one of Fabian's grandfathers. "How can CPS conduct a good investigation with only interviewing the mom and the boyfriend?"

Rodriguez said he and his wife, Marina, saw their grandchildren nearly every day and felt they could have at the very least provided insight on the family and expressed concerns they had. They made numerous efforts to speak with the investigator, they said, but they were never formally interviewed.

Since making those attempts to speak with CPS, there has been a split with their daughter, they said, and during the months leading up to Fabian's death they were not able to see the boy. If they had, Rodriguez said, they would have done "spot checks" on their grandchildren.

"Once CPS puts their nose in that situation, they are obligated to make sure the child is safe," he said. "We're not trying to put the ax to CPS, but you learn from your mistakes. You correct them and improve."

Fabian's father, Oscar Silva, also said he never was interviewed by CPS.

Silva acknowledged that he wasn't very involved with his children at the time, but he did see them on occasion. After Fabian's first hospitalization, he said that he questioned Fabian's older brother about what was going on in the home, even asking his older son to write down any problems that might have existed.

"I was never interviewed," he said. "They felt that I wasn't there at the present time, and they felt that I shouldn't be interviewed at all."

Gaubeca said she couldn't respond to the family's criticism because of the ongoing investigation.

Rodriguez said Fabian's older brother has been placed with another set of grandparents.

Efforts to reach those grandparents and Fabian's mother were unsuccessful.

Gaubeca said CPS rules require investigators to interview all children and adults in a home, as well as anyone else who might have information on the case.

Pending legislation

Several legislators have proposed legislation that, to varying degrees, would make CPS records more transparent.

Paton, the Tucson Republican who has led recent legislative hearings on CPS, said these new deaths, and the lack of information available, only underscore the need to make CPS records public.

In Fabian's case, "the grandfather felt there were issues, and we have to see the record in order to determine that's correct or not," he said.

In addition to opening CPS records in death or near-death cases, Paton has proposed requiring CPS workers to follow protocols in terms of contacting prosecutors and law enforcement when criminal issues arise during CPS investigations.

Fellow state Rep. Pete Hersh- berger, also a Tucson Republican with long-standing ties to the non-profit sector, said Paton's proposal is too broad and doesn't take into account concerns about the privacy of siblings.

He has proposed an alternative that would leave it to county attorneys and the courts to decide if information should be made public.

● Contact reporter Josh Brodesky at 807-7789 or jbrodesky@azstarnet.com.

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