{"id":3535,"date":"2026-07-02T04:12:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T04:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535"},"modified":"2026-07-02T04:12:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T04:12:20","slug":"santa-clara-county-moves-to-fire-4-child-welfare-workers-after-toddlers-death-in-relative-foster-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535","title":{"rendered":"Santa Clara County moves to fire 4 child welfare workers after toddler\u2019s death in relative foster home"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Santa Clara County is moving to fire four child welfare agency employees, while three others have resigned or retired, after an internal investigation into how 2-year-old Jaxon Juarez was placed in a relative\u2019s foster home where authorities allege he suffered fatal abuse by a teenage cousin.<\/p>\n

Read more After Pacifica Pier closure, Liccardo bill aims to fund disaster prevention before damage is done<\/a><\/p>\n

The workers were among 12 social workers, supervisors and managers placed on paid administrative leave shortly after Jaxon\u2019s April 9 death. An eighth worker remains on leave pending further investigation, while four others have been cleared of wrongdoing and returned to work, county officials said.<\/p>\n

Wendy Kinnear-Rausch, the head of the county\u2019s Department of Family and Children\u2019s Services, announced Tuesday that she had \u201cbegun the process of terminating\u201d the four workers for their roles in placing Jaxon with a cousin who had a criminal history of felony child endangerment and whose teenage son now is charged with Jaxon\u2019s rape and murder. The county did not name the workers or detail each employee\u2019s specific role.<\/p>\n

\u201cJaxon\u2019s death is a heartbreaking tragedy,\u201d she wrote in a memo to staff. \u201cOur investigation remains ongoing, including with respect to other aspects of how his case was handled.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the terminations are directed at workers \u201cinvolved in placing Jaxon in the home where he experienced abuse,\u201d Kinnear-Rausch said in a statement, she didn\u2019t specify the fate of the workers called out to the foster home two days before Jaxon was found unconscious there and determined he was safe.<\/p>\n

The potential firings in Jaxon\u2019s case mark the first time employees of the department are being held accountable for a string of recent child deaths that have thrown Santa Clara County\u2019s child welfare system into crisis. Jaxon was the third child in county care to die since 2023. All of the deaths, including the 2023 fentanyl overdose death of baby Phoenix Castro and the stabbing death of 7-year-old Jordan Walker allegedly by an uncle, occurred after social workers placed the children with family or extended family. In each case, red flags were overlooked, Bay Area News Group investigations found.<\/p>\n

After Jaxon\u2019s death, District Attorney Jeff Rosen told reporters in April outside Juvenile Hall, \u201cEnough, Enough,\u201d as he called for criminal probes of the agency.<\/p>\n

Rosen declined to comment on the status of possible criminal investigations of agency employees, but on Wednesday said in a statement that \u201cpeople who work for the safety of children have to be held to the highest standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t save Baby Jaxon,\u201dRosen said. \u201cWe can save the next innocent child. Terminations, resignations, and making the systemic changes that will protect our most vulnerable kids all have to happen. I can\u2019t think of a higher priority than the safety of our children.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Jaxon\u2019s mother died and his father\u2019s health problems left him unable to care for his son, Jaxon was ultimately placed in February in the San Jose home of his paternal cousin and her three children, including her 17-year-old son later charged with murder.<\/p>\n

Social workers used the \u201cEmergency Family Placement\u201d process to allow the cousin to serve as his foster caregiver, even though she had what county officials acknowledged was a \u201cdisqualifying\u201d criminal record.<\/p>\n

In 2014, the woman pleaded no contest to \u201cwillful cruelty to a child\u201d \u2014 part of the felony child endangerment statute \u2014 after driving drunk with her 1-year-old daughter in the back seat. This news organization is not naming the woman to protect the identity of her son, who was 17 at the time of Jaxon\u2019s death and is being prosecuted in juvenile court.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Kinnear-Rausch also said in her memo that the county is analyzing the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, known as CLETS, which provides social workers with criminal records of potential foster parents. The county also is reviewing \u201cexisting decision support systems for social workers to see where improvements and efficiencies can be realized.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Sharks acquire Darnell Nurse, huge cap hit included, from Edmonton Oilers<\/a><\/p>\n

The workers designated for firing will be given an opportunity to respond before any formal termination.<\/p>\n

Each of the tragedies has intensified scrutiny of a 2021 \u201cfamily preservation\u201d policy implemented by Dan Little, the agency\u2019s former director who has since been promoted to lead the county\u2019s Department of Social Services. The policy was intended to reduce the removals of children from their homes, which often were children of color, and instead provide parents with classes and other resources to improve their parenting skills.<\/p>\n

Investigations by the Bay Area News Group and a state audit after baby Phoenix\u2019s death found, however, that parents often didn\u2019t engage with or complete those voluntary safety plans. Nonetheless, over the next two years, the number of removals plummeted. Then baby Phoenix, born with drugs and alcohol in her system, died three months after she was sent home with her drug-abusing father despite dire warnings from a social worker who said she wouldn\u2019t be safe there.\u00a0 The coroner found remnants of fentanyl powder on her pink-flowered onesie.<\/p>\n

Kinnear-Rausch, a longtime agency social worker and leader, helped implement the family preservation policy before replacing then-agency Director Damion Wright last year. More than a year after baby Phoenix\u2019s death, Wright left the agency of his own accord.<\/p>\n

James Williams, now the county executive, also has faced criticism from social workers because he previously led the county counsel\u2019s office, which they say often overrode their recommendations to remove abused children from their parents. Williams is the only county leader with authority to fire agency heads. Only the county Board of Supervisors can terminate the county executive.<\/p>\n

In public meetings since the death of baby Phoenix, social workers have called for the firings of Little, Kinnear-Rausch and Williams.<\/p>\n

Union officials did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Wednesday. When the workers were first placed on leave, however, Zeb Feldman from the County Employee Management Association said workers and supervisors will often be blamed \u201cwhen, in fact, they are executing a policy.\u201d At the time, he said it was too soon to say whether any workers were negligent or made reckless mistakes.<\/p>\n

After investigations by this news organization as well as the state in the wake of baby Phoenix\u2019s death, Williams, Little and Kinnear-Rausch have all vowed to re-prioritize child safety. For the past 18 months, the state has overseen reforms intended to do that.<\/p>\n

Jaxon\u2019s death, however, raised new questions about whether those measures had taken hold.<\/p>\n

Along with the county\u2019s internal investigation, the California Department of Social Services conducted its own investigation of Jaxon\u2019s death. It issued a report last month to the Department of Family and Children\u2019s Services, but both the state and the county have kept the report secret, so it\u2019s not clear whether the state reached the same conclusions about culpability over Jaxon\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\u201cCDSS has deemed their report confidential, and DFCS is not authorized to further disclose it,\u201d the county said in a statement. \u201cDFCS is in communication with CDSS about the report and its findings and, once and if it is permitted by CDSS, will share the information with the Board of Supervisors, County Administration, and the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Borenstein: A Bay Area mayor sexually harassed City Hall workers. For one, it triggered something even darker.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The potential firings in Jaxon\u2019s case mark the first time employees of the department are being held accountable for\u00a0three child deaths since 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSanta Clara County moves to fire 4 child welfare workers after toddler\u2019s death in relative foster home - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Santa Clara County moves to fire 4 child welfare workers after toddler\u2019s death in relative foster home - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The potential firings in Jaxon\u2019s case mark the first time employees of the department are being held accountable for\u00a0three child deaths since 2023.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-02T04:12:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3535#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3535\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Santa Clara County moves to fire 4 child welfare workers after toddler\u2019s death in relative foster home\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-02T04:12:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3535\"},\"wordCount\":1248,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3535#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/832e5a78e8715f30cf04c337e6f40247.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3535#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3535\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3535\",\"name\":\"Santa Clara County moves to fire 4 child welfare workers after toddler\u2019s death in relative foster home - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3535#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3535#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/832e5a78e8715f30cf04c337e6f40247.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-02T04:12:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3535#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3535\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3535#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/832e5a78e8715f30cf04c337e6f40247.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/832e5a78e8715f30cf04c337e6f40247.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3535#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Santa Clara County moves to fire 4 child welfare workers after toddler\u2019s death in relative foster home\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Santa Clara County moves to fire 4 child welfare workers after toddler\u2019s death in relative foster home - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Santa Clara County moves to fire 4 child welfare workers after toddler\u2019s death in relative foster home - Next City Digest","og_description":"The potential firings in Jaxon\u2019s case mark the first time employees of the department are being held accountable for\u00a0three child deaths since 2023.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-07-02T04:12:20+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Santa Clara County moves to fire 4 child welfare workers after toddler\u2019s death in relative foster home","datePublished":"2026-07-02T04:12:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535"},"wordCount":1248,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/832e5a78e8715f30cf04c337e6f40247.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535","name":"Santa Clara County moves to fire 4 child welfare workers after toddler\u2019s death in relative foster home - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/832e5a78e8715f30cf04c337e6f40247.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-02T04:12:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/832e5a78e8715f30cf04c337e6f40247.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/832e5a78e8715f30cf04c337e6f40247.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3535#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Santa Clara County moves to fire 4 child welfare workers after toddler\u2019s death in relative foster home"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}