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'We deserve answers': Advocate says Sacramento County CPS can release more details about investigation before baby's death

'We deserve answers': Advocate says Sacramento County CPS can release more details about investigation before baby's death
UNDER SOME DEBRIS. TONIGHT WE CONTINUE TO PRESS FOR ANSWERS FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF AN EIGHT MONTH OLD BABY, ALLEGEDLY AT THE HANDS OF HER OWN PARENTS. THEY’RE NOW IN JAIL ON MURDER CHARGES. KCRA THREE INVESTIGATES OBTAINED THE RECORD SHOWING THE FAMILY’S HISTORY WITH CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES. BUT WHAT’S NOT IN THOSE RECORDS IS ALSO TELLING. HERE’S INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER LYSEE MITRI. SHE DIDN’T EVEN DESERVE IT. SHE DIDN’T EVEN LIVE HALF A LIFE. SHE IS ONLY EIGHT MONTHS OLD. EVEN BEFORE JENNA ABU GHAZALI DIED IN AUGUST AND HER PARENTS WERE CHARGED WITH HER MURDER. FAMILY MEMBERS SAY THERE WERE SIGNS OF TROUBLE, AND THEY TRIED TO ALERT SACRAMENTO COUNTY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES OR CPS. I CAN’T FATHOM WHAT’S GOING ON. WHY DIDN’T YOU TAKE THE BABY OUT? REPORTER IN LOOKING FOR ANSWERS, KCRA THREE INVESTIGATES ASKED FOR RECORDS. THIS IS WHAT CPS PROVIDED. THERE ARE FAR TOO MANY PARTS OF THE RECORDS THAT ARE BLACKED OUT. ED HOWARD IS SENIOR COUNSEL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO’S CHILDREN’S ADVOCACY INSTITUTE, AN ORGANIZATION THAT HELPED WRITE THE LAW THAT MAKES THESE CPS FILES PUBLIC. IT’S INTENDED TO PROMOTE A COUNTY CONVERSATION ABOUT, OH MY GOD, WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS BABY? AND CAN WE LEARN SOMETHING FROM WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS BABY TO MAKE SURE IT NEVER HAPPENS TO ANY OTHER BABY EVER AGAIN? IN THIS CASE, NAOMI MAGNESS ALERTED CPS WHEN HER GRANDDAUGHTER JENNA WAS BORN LAST DECEMBER. SHE WAS WORRIED ABOUT HER SAFETY, SAYING THE PARENTS, HUSSEIN ABU GHAZALI AND CHRISTINA SIEDLECKI, ALREADY HAD A CHILD BEFORE. JENNA, WHO WASN’T LIVING WITH THEM. CPS RECORDS SHOW THE FATHER HAD SUBSTANTIATED CLAIMS OF PHYSICAL AND SEXUAL ABUSE AGAINST HIM. THE LAW, SPECIFICALLY SAYS THAT THAT’S SOMETHING THAT CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES CAN CONSIDER, BECAUSE IT’S OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED. CPS OWN ASSESSMENT SHOWED NEARLY A YEAR AGO THE RISK OF ABUSE AND NEGLECT IN THE HOUSEHOLD WAS HIGH. ITS AUTOMATED SYSTEM RECOMMENDED PROMOTING THIS TO THE NEXT STEP, BUT CPS WENT AGAINST THAT RECOMMENDATION FOR SOME REASON. THESE THREE LETHAL WORDS DO NOT PROMOTE. WE’RE ABLE TO OVERRIDE ALL OF THAT. CPS REFERRED THE COUPLE TO AN IN-HOME PARENTING SPECIALIST AND CLOSED THE CASE. SO THIS OPENED UP THAT BIG QUESTION OF WHY? WHY DID THAT HAPPEN? WE TRIED TO ASK CPS AND THEY SAID THEY COULDN’T COMMENT BECAUSE OF CONFIDENTIALITY LAWS. THAT’S BALDERDASH. THAT’S JUST NOT TRUE. THERE’S A PROVISION IN THE LAW THAT SPECIFICALLY AUTHORIZES COUNTIES TO BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE RELEASE. WHEN POINTING THIS OUT TO CPS, THEY SENT US A STATEMENT ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN A SOCIAL WORKER OR SUPERVISOR WILL QUOTE APPROPRIATELY OVERRIDE THE OUTCOME. BUT THEY DID NOT ANSWER OUR QUESTION ABOUT WHY THAT HAPPENED IN THIS CASE. IT’S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSCORE THERE MAY BE PERFECTLY LEGITIMATE REASONS. YOU KNOW, WHEN I GO TO WORK EVERY DAY AND I GET SOMETHING WRONG, NOBODY DIES. THE JOB THAT SOCIAL WORKERS HAVE IS AMONG THE MOST, IF NOT THE MOST DIFFICULT JOB THAT WE PAY ANYBODY TO DO. BUT IT DOES MEAN THAT WE DESERVE ANSWERS. WHEN SOMETHING AS TRAGIC AND HORRIFYING AS WHAT HAPPENED HERE HAPPENS ON OUR WATCH, FUNDED BY OUR TAX DOLLARS. IN SACRAMENTO COUNTY, LYSEE MITRI KCRA 3 INVESTIGATES. CPS SAYS THAT BEFORE THE BABY’S DEATH, ALONG WITH THE IN-HOME PARENTING SERVICES IT PROVIDED THE FAMILY WITH RESOURCES LIKE A PAMPHLET CALLED 20 FACTS ABOUT CHILD ABUSE. KCRA THREE INVESTIGATES WILL CONTINUE TO LOOK INTO THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR FAMILIES IN THESE SITUATIONS, AND THE OUTCOMES. AND TONIGHT, WE STILL HAVE NOT HEARD BACK FROM CPS ON THOSE MORE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS PARTICULAR CASE, BUT KCRA INV
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'We deserve answers': Advocate says Sacramento County CPS can release more details about investigation before baby's death
Advocates say Sacramento County Child Protective Services can and should be more transparent in the case of an 8-month-old baby who died in August. Jannah Abughazaleh died after her parents said she was burned in the bathtub. Her parents, Hussein Abughazaleh and Kristina Siedlecki, were later arrested and charged with murder. Following the baby's death, KCRA 3 Investigates asked CPS for records showing previous reports from the household and the results of any investigations. CPS sent us more than 100 pages of documents, but many portions were redacted. "There are far too many parts of the records that are blacked out," said Ed Howard of the University of San Diego Children's Advocacy Institute. The organization helped write the law that makes certain details of CPS files public in the event a child passes away. "It's intended to promote a countywide conversation about, 'oh my God, what happened to this baby, and can we learn from something, from what happened to this baby, to make sure it never happens to any other baby ever again,'" Howard said. In this case, the baby's grandmother Naomi Magness says she alerted CPS when Jannah was born last December. She was worried about her safety because she said the parents already had another child before Jannah who wasn't living with them. CPS records showed the father had substantiated claims of physical and sexual abuse against him. Referring to whether CPS can and should consider the previous placement of an older sibling in its investigations, Howard said, "The law specifically says that's something that Child Protective Services can consider, because it's obviously something that should be considered." CPS' own assessment showed nearly a year ago, the risk of abuse and neglect in the household was 'high.' Its automated system recommended promoting this to the next step, but CPS went against that recommendation. "For some reason, these three lethal words, 'do not promote' were able to override all of that," said Howard. CPS referred the couple to an in-home parenting specialist and closed the case. They also gave the family a series of pamphlets including "20 Facts About Child Abuse" and "Never Shake a Baby."KCRA 3 Investigates asked CPS why they did not decide to open a case and promote this to the next level, and they said they could not comment due to confidentiality laws. "That's balderdash," said Howard. "That's just not true. There is a provision in the law that specifically authorizes counties to be able to talk about what happened within the scope of the release." When KCRA 3 Investigates pointed this out to CPS, they sent us the statement below, but did not answer our question about why this happened in this case. "When determining whether to open a case, Sacramento County Child Protective Services (CPS) conducts a comprehensive assessment and uses Structured Decision-Making (SDM). SDM is an evidence-based tool that helps guide decision-making. SDM is not definitive – the social worker must consider all information gathered during the investigation when arriving at a conclusion. There are times when the social worker or supervisor will appropriately override the outcome.""It's important to underscore there may be perfectly legitimate reasons," Howard said. "You know, when I go to work every day and I get something wrong, nobody dies. The job that social workers have is among the most, if not the most, difficult job that we pay anybody to do. But it does mean that we deserve answers when something as tragic and horrifying as what happened here, happens on our watch, funded by our tax dollars." Previous Coverage BelowKCRA 3 Investigates: Baby killed, parents arrested on murder charges in Sacramento CountyKCRA Investigates: Sacramento Co. CPS records reveal warning signs before baby died

Advocates say Sacramento County Child Protective Services can and should be more transparent in the case of an 8-month-old baby who died in August.

Jannah Abughazaleh died after her parents said she was burned in the bathtub. Her parents, Hussein Abughazaleh and Kristina Siedlecki, were later arrested and charged with murder.

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Following the baby's death, KCRA 3 Investigates asked CPS for records showing previous reports from the household and the results of any investigations. CPS sent us more than 100 pages of documents, but many portions were redacted.

"There are far too many parts of the records that are blacked out," said Ed Howard of the University of San Diego Children's Advocacy Institute. The organization helped write the law that makes certain details of CPS files public in the event a child passes away.

"It's intended to promote a countywide conversation about, 'oh my God, what happened to this baby, and can we learn from something, from what happened to this baby, to make sure it never happens to any other baby ever again,'" Howard said.

In this case, the baby's grandmother Naomi Magness says she alerted CPS when Jannah was born last December. She was worried about her safety because she said the parents already had another child before Jannah who wasn't living with them. CPS records showed the father had substantiated claims of physical and sexual abuse against him.

Referring to whether CPS can and should consider the previous placement of an older sibling in its investigations, Howard said, "The law specifically says that's something that Child Protective Services can consider, because it's obviously something that should be considered."

CPS' own assessment showed nearly a year ago, the risk of abuse and neglect in the household was 'high.' Its automated system recommended promoting this to the next step, but CPS went against that recommendation.

"For some reason, these three lethal words, 'do not promote' were able to override all of that," said Howard.

CPS referred the couple to an in-home parenting specialist and closed the case. They also gave the family a series of pamphlets including "20 Facts About Child Abuse" and "Never Shake a Baby."

KCRA 3 Investigates asked CPS why they did not decide to open a case and promote this to the next level, and they said they could not comment due to confidentiality laws.

"That's balderdash," said Howard. "That's just not true. There is a provision in the law that specifically authorizes counties to be able to talk about what happened within the scope of the release."

When KCRA 3 Investigates pointed this out to CPS, they sent us the statement below, but did not answer our question about why this happened in this case.

"When determining whether to open a case, Sacramento County Child Protective Services (CPS) conducts a comprehensive assessment and uses Structured Decision-Making (SDM). SDM is an evidence-based tool that helps guide decision-making. SDM is not definitive – the social worker must consider all information gathered during the investigation when arriving at a conclusion. There are times when the social worker or supervisor will appropriately override the outcome."

"It's important to underscore there may be perfectly legitimate reasons," Howard said. "You know, when I go to work every day and I get something wrong, nobody dies. The job that social workers have is among the most, if not the most, difficult job that we pay anybody to do. But it does mean that we deserve answers when something as tragic and horrifying as what happened here, happens on our watch, funded by our tax dollars."

Previous Coverage Below