Two members of the California Assembly will call for an audit of Child Protective Services in three counties after the torture death of an 8-year-old Palmdale boy and other recent child abuse cases.
Assemblymen Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) and Tim Donnelly (R-Twin Peaks) plan to present their request at a Wednesday meeting of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. The committee's regular audit hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. in Sacramento.
The lawmakers will request audits at County Child Protective Services in Los Angeles, Orange and Sacramento counties.
The audit request is in response to recent child abuse cases, including the death of an 8-year-old Palmdale boy in May. The boy's mother and boyfriend were charged with capital murder in the death Gabriel Fernandez, who was found May 22 with broken bones at the couple's Palmdale apartment.
But long before the boy's death, child protective case workers were familiar with the couple and boy. Case workers responded to the home after repeated abuse reports, according to several people who knew the child, and confirmed by confidential documents obtained by a newspaper.
The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services has declined to discuss specifics of the case, citing confidentiality laws.