{"id":4091,"date":"2026-07-09T06:39:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T06:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4091"},"modified":"2026-07-09T06:39:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T06:39:54","slug":"jaxon-juarezs-family-files-legal-claim-against-santa-clara-county-state-over-toddlers-foster-care-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4091","title":{"rendered":"Jaxon Juarez\u2019s family files legal claim against Santa Clara County, state over toddler\u2019s foster care death"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The father and grandmother of Jaxon Juarez filed a legal claim Tuesday against Santa Clara County and the California Department of Social Services, alleging both agencies failed to protect the toddler from severe abuse in a county-approved foster home despite safeguards that should have kept him out of the placement.<\/p>\n

Read more Contra Costa prosecutor arrested on suspicion of domestic battery<\/a><\/p>\n

The 5-page claim cites findings first reported by the Bay Area News Group and\u00a0contends that both the county\u2019s Department of Family and Children\u2019s Services and the state, <\/strong>which was overseeing county child welfare reforms at the time, were \u201cnegligent and reckless\u201d in failing to protect the toddler.<\/p>\n

His foster mother had been convicted of felony child endangerment that, according to county policies, should have disqualified her as a foster parent. Her teenage son is now facing murder and multiple counts of sexual assault in juvenile court over Jaxon\u2019s April 9 death.<\/p>\n

The claim, a required step before suing public agencies, alleges the state and county\u2019s actions \u201cshock the conscience\u201d and says the agencies \u201cknew, or should have known, of the risk of abuse to Jaxon in placing him in the \u2026 home and should never have placed him there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The county said in a statement Tuesday it hasn\u2019t yet reviewed the claim, but \u201cdoes not generally comment on pending claims or lawsuits.\u201d The state also said it does not comment on litigation.The county and state have 45 days to respond before attorney Paul Kiesel, whose Beverly Hills firm filed the claim, can proceed with a lawsuit.<\/p>\n

The claim comes a week after the county completed an internal investigation and began the process of firing four social workers involved in placing Jaxon with his paternal cousins. Three other workers resigned or retired.<\/p>\n

The state also completed its own investigation of Jaxon\u2019s death, but cited confidentiality laws in declining to release its report to anyone but key leaders of the county\u2019s child welfare agency.<\/p>\n

At the time of Jaxon\u2019s death, the state had been overseeing reforms to the county\u2019s child welfare agency brought on by the 2023 fentanyl overdose death of baby Phoenix Castro, who had been sent home from the hospital with her father, who had a history of drug use, over objections from social workers. The claim contends that the California Department of Social Services failed in its oversight of a \u201ccorrective action plan\u201d it imposed on the county 18 months earlier.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBy failing to monitor, detect, or address these severe non-compliance issues, CDSS effectively dismantled the systemic safeguards that were required to protect vulnerable youth, resulting in a failure to prevent the tragic loss of Jaxon,\u201d the claim alleges.<\/p>\n

In public meetings, officials with the county\u2019s Department of Family and Children\u2019s Services have explained that their recent reforms had focused on the problems brought to light by baby Phoenix\u2019s death, including safeguards to vulnerable children still living with their parents after allegations of abuse and neglect \u2014 not issues involving foster care.<\/p>\n

The claim from Jaxon\u2019s father and grandmother comes after weeks of reporting by this news organization about his foster mother\u2019s criminal record, the history of sexual abuse within the extended foster family, and concerns by daycare workers and medical clinic doctors about a rash and red line on Jaxon\u2019s neck two days before he was found unconscious in the home. Social workers responded to those concerns that afternoon by interviewing the foster mother and her son and inspecting Jaxon\u2019s injuries, but marked him as \u201csafe,\u201d public records showed.<\/p>\n

The county is facing at least one other legal action over the death of a child in its care. A 2024 lawsuit brought by the grandfather of 7-year-old Jordan Walker is still pending. Jordan was allegedly stabbed to death by an uncle after being placed in the San Jose home of his grandmother who was also killed. The grandfather, Morian Walker, had warned social workers of the dangers of the grandmother\u2019s home and offered to care for Jordan himself. Jordan\u2019s parents, Glenn Clark and Danielle Walker, have since joined the lawsuit. Unless a settlement is reached, pretrial motions are expected to proceed in October.<\/p>\n

Read more Pedestrian killed in hit-and-run collision in Gilroy<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a travesty all around,\u201d Morian Walker said Tuesday. \u201cI support Baby Jaxon\u2019s family and what they\u2019re going through and trying to hold Santa Clara County and all of the people involved accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the wake of Jaxon\u2019s death, the county has outlined a list of new reforms to address failures in his case, including inviting the state to become an \u201cestablished presence\u201d onsite to conduct ongoing reviews of the agency\u2019s work, and establishing an independent auditing function to review the agency\u2019s decisions.<\/p>\n

The Santa Clara County District Attorney\u2019s Office, which filed the murder and sexual assault charges against the teenager \u2014 including \u201cassault with a hair tie\u201d that left a mark on his neck \u2014 said that Jaxon had been abused during the duration of his time in the foster home, from late February until he was found not breathing in the home April 5. He was taken off life support four days later. The coroner has yet to release Jaxon\u2019s cause of death, although doctors treating him in his final days found bleeding in his brain, documents obtained by this news organization show.<\/p>\n

Social workers first became involved in Jaxon\u2019s case when he was born nearly 8 weeks premature with signs of fetal alcohol syndrome. Jaxon\u2019s mother died of liver and kidney failure when he was 18 months old.<\/p>\n

Jaxon\u2019s father had serious health issues that required surgery and rehabilitation and numerous pain medications that made him unstable on his feet, Albert Juarez acknowledged to the Bay Area News Group. As part of a safety plan imposed by social workers, Jaxon\u2019s grandmother agreed she would not leave the toddler alone with his father, but she violated that agreement when she was caught running an errand without him. Jaxon was removed from the home after an explosive episode with social workers and relatives last summer over Jaxon\u2019s future. Albert Juarez acknowledged he lost his temper and that a social worker said she felt threatened.<\/p>\n

Jaxon was placed with his maternal grandfather in the Sacramento area for six months until the grandfather could no longer care for the nonverbal and autistic child, the grandfather told this news organization.<\/p>\n

Jaxon was then moved to the home of his San Jose cousins, where social workers were supposed to follow \u201cEmergency Relative Placement\u201d procedures that include checking criminal records and past involvement with social workers. Jaxon died less than six weeks later.<\/p>\n

Albert and Elva Juarez, who filed the claim, had recommended Albert\u2019s first cousin as a foster mother after she helped Jaxon\u2019s new parents learn to bathe the newborn. The Bay Area News Group is not naming the foster mother to protect the identity of her son, who was 17 at the time of Jaxon\u2019s death and whose identity is protected by the juvenile court. In an earlier interview with the Mercury News, Elva said she was vaguely aware of her relative\u2019s 2019 DUI in Stockton, and Albert said he had \u201cno idea\u201d about the felony child endangerment charge from Santa Clara County in 2014, when the cousin pleaded no contest for driving drunk with her 1-year-old daughter in the back seat.<\/p>\n

The lawyer who filed the claim instructed Albert and Elva Juarez not to comment on it. But Morian Walker, who is pursuing his own lawsuit over his grandson\u2019s stabbing death, said more must be done to keep children safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want justice for Jordan,<\/strong> I want reform, and I want accountability,\u201d Walker said. \u201cEvery time I hear a new story about another child going through what Jordan goes through, it brings grief to my heart, to my family\u2019s heart. We have to relive this every time there\u2019s a new case and it\u2019s hard on us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Valkyries\u2019 bench, led by clutch Sala\u00fcn, carries them past Toronto to keep rolling<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claim alleges child welfare officials ignored safeguards that should have kept the 2-year-old San Jose boy out of the foster home where authorities say he was abused.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nJaxon Juarez\u2019s family files legal claim against Santa Clara County, state over toddler\u2019s foster care death - 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=4091\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jaxon Juarez\u2019s family files legal claim against Santa Clara County, state over toddler\u2019s foster care death - 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