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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/rivcount...3.3f1eab6.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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