Workers in Santa Clara County, California, were placed on leave as officials investigated the death of 2-year-old Jaxon Juarez and addressed allegations that the county’s child welfare practices failed to protect children. County Executive James Williams said Thursday that 10 employees connected to Juarez’s case file were on leave, expanding an earlier count of employees who had been placed on leave between April 8 and April 16.
Williams said the state is tightening its oversight of the county’s Department of Family and Children’s Services, including expanding a corrective action plan that had been scheduled to end in June. He said state officials acted after voicing concerns that the county prioritized keeping families together over child safety in the wake of earlier deaths: the drug overdose death of baby Phoenix Castro and the fatal stabbing of 7-year-old Jordan Walker in 2023. State officials were expected to be on-site at the department to conduct ongoing reviews of the agency’s work.
Juarez’s death followed a county medical examiner report in February that raised concerns about how child welfare referrals are handled. The report said three child abuse-related deaths between 2022 and 2026 happened after multiple referrals to the child welfare agency were dismissed, and it questioned whether the agency’s policies minimize parental neglect and conflate it with environments tied to socioeconomic disadvantage.
Prosecutors said Juarez’s killing involved a placement made by the child welfare agency. The Department of Family and Children’s Services placed Juarez in the home of a cousin who had a criminal record of child endangerment, and the case then led to criminal charges: District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s office has filed murder and felony assault charges against the cousin’s teenage son accused of killing Juarez. Rosen told San José Spotlight, “A child under the watch of our (Social Services Agency) was murdered in Santa Clara County. Again,” and said, “We will relentlessly follow our investigation in any direction the evidence leads.”
Williams and others also pointed to ongoing state review beyond the corrective action plan. He said he requested that the California Department of Social Services expand its investigation into all of the county’s foster placements, and he said the department is also conducting an independent probe into Juarez’s death. Jason Montiel, a spokesperson for the state agency, told San José Spotlight, “The (California Department of Social Services) team was heartbroken to learn of this tragic incident,” and said: “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.”
Local elected officials and advocates have also pressed for accountability and raised questions about whether county leadership was providing consistent direction. District 1 Supervisor Sylvia Arenas said at a Thursday news conference, “Those involved must be held accountable,” and said, “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.” Arenas has also publicly rebuked the department’s progress and criticized the withholding of critical state reports on the corrective action plan during child welfare committee meetings.
The renewed scrutiny comes amid prior internal leadership changes at the Department of Family and Children’s Services. Williams said Juarez’s case was under investigation while the child was still hospitalized. The reporting said the department’s director, Damion Wright, resigned after the Castro death and was replaced last June by Wendy Kinnear-Rausch, who has been with the department since 1999. The earlier Mercury News reporting cited in the Associated Press story said Wright’s predecessor, Daniel Little, gave county lawyers more power to block removal of children from troubled families and aimed the agency’s work more toward family healing through classes and programs, while social workers said those policies put child safety at risk.
A separate union and civil-rights effort also called for deeper review. The NAACP of San Jose/Silicon Valley sent a letter to the county calling for accountability at top levels, with President Sean Allen saying resignations were no longer enough. SEIU Local 521 Chapter President Andre Thomas said in a statement, “We are deeply saddened and outraged by the tragic loss of an innocent child — an unthinkable outcome that demands urgent attention,” and called for “a fully independent investigation to ensure transparency and truth,” adding, “There can be no excuses and no shortcuts when it comes to proper vetting and safeguarding our communities.”
County officials said a report is expected after the county completes its investigation into Juarez’s death. Williams told San José Spotlight he is committed to getting to the bottom of what happened and holding people accountable where appropriate, and he said the county is sending condolences to Juarez’s family. Allen also told San José Spotlight that the same handful of county leaders has been in charge during the three high-profile child welfare scandals, and he argued that criminal charges have reached adopters while accountability for officials who made child welfare decisions has not yet followed.