At least 10 social workers put on leave after foster care death of San Jose toddler

SAN JOSE, Calif. — At least 10 Santa Clara County social workers, including supervisors and managers, have been placed on administrative leave by the county’s child welfare agency in the wake of a toddler’s death in foster care — a move union leaders called highly unusual that comes as department leadership faces a barrage of criticism and multiple investigations over the tragedy.

The employees are on paid leave while the county is investigating the death of 2-year-old Jaxon Juarez, and the action is not considered disciplinary, said Zeb Feldman, whose County Employee Management Association union represents two managers on leave.

“Both have just said that they understand it’s part of a larger investigation concerning the death of baby Jaxon,” said Feldman, CEMA’s senior business agent. “I’ve represented workers here in Santa Clara County for about 17 years now, and I’ve never seen this many people placed out on leave.”

That investigation is intended to determine why social workers placed the toddler in the home of a San Jose relative who had a criminal record for felony child endangerment and whether they missed other warning signs during his six weeks in her care. The 40-year-old woman’s 2014 felony conviction involved drunken driving with her 1-year-old daughter in the back seat — a record that child welfare experts say should have disqualified her as a foster parent. The woman’s teenage son is now charged with murder, 6 counts of sexual assault and assault with a hair tie.

The county did not respond to questions about the employees on leave, saying instead that it is “actively investigating” the tragedy.

“While we are taking all relevant actions to fully understand what happened in this horrific case and hold people accountable, as appropriate,” county spokesperson Peter Gallotta said in a statement Wednesday, “we cannot comment on specific personnel matters while investigations are underway.”

The death of the child, who family members say had been involved with the child welfare agency since he was born nearly two months premature with signs of fetal alcohol syndrome, has caused an outcry among child advocates and civil rights leaders demanding accountability. Jaxon’s death is the third death of a child in the care of the county since 2023 — a statistic that compelled District Attorney Jeff Rosen to say outside Juvenile Hall this week, “Enough, Enough,” as he called for criminal probes of the agency.

Steve Baron, a member of the county’s Child Abuse Prevention Council and former child welfare lecturer at Santa Clara University, cautioned against jumping to conclusions.

“Unless somebody knowingly did something that was clearly inappropriate or against the law, I would be reticent to become too judgmental of what happened until all the facts are in,” said Baron, who emphasized he wasn’t speaking for child abuse council. “There needs to be some appropriate measure of accountability, but I want this issue transformed into an enhanced focus on child safety.”

The intense scrutiny on the Department of Family and Children’s Services, as well as its social workers, comes three years after the fentanyl overdose death of baby Phoenix Castro, a newborn sent home with her drug-abusing father despite dire warnings from a social worker that she wouldn’t be safe there. At the time, social workers took their concerns to the Board of Supervisors, calling for the ouster of top officials they blamed for enforcing strict policies aimed more at family preservation than child safety.

In the wake of Jaxon’s death, questions include whether systemic problems or human error contributed to the tragedy.

“Oftentimes line workers and supervisors closest to the problem will be blamed when, in fact, they are executing a policy,” Feldman from the union said. Until an investigation is complete, he said it’s too soon to say whether any workers were negligent or made reckless mistakes.

In the meantime, there’s no estimate for how long the workers will be off the job, he said, “and whether the employer admits it, there is enormous reputational harm to someone the longer they are out.”

Andre Thomas, president of Santa Clara County SEIU Local 521 that represents social worker and supervisors, called for “transparency and truth” in the investigation.

“There can be no excuses and no shortcuts when it comes to proper vetting and safeguarding our communities,” Thomas said in a statement Wednesday. “We remain steadfast in demanding accountability at every level and will continue to fight to ensure systems meant to protect do just that.”

No cause of death has been released in Jaxon’s case, but the District Attorney’s Office said the child had been “repeatedly assaulted, sexually and physically” since he was placed there in late February and that his “bruised and battered” body was found unresponsive in the home April 5. After days on life support, he died April 9.

District Attorney Rosen has filed a motion to move the case to adult court. The teenager, Jaxon’s cousin, turned 18 on April 11. The Mercury News is not naming the teenager because he remains in juvenile court, nor his mother to protect his identity.

Rosen did not explain the hair tie, only saying it left a mark. But Jaxon’s paternal grandmother, Elva Juarez, told the Mercury News she noticed a red line around Jaxon’s neck during a supervised visit in late March and alerted a social worker, whom she says took a photo, an account the county has declined to confirm. This news organization has not independently verified the existence of a photo.

The grandmother, along with Jaxon’s father Albert Juarez, have also raised concerns that social workers missed another chance to protect Jaxon. Two days before he was found unconscious, the female foster relative took him to a medical clinic with concerns about a rash, they said. The father was contacted that afternoon by a social worker through a text message, which Juarez shared with this news organization, to sign documents to allow a more comprehensive exam. Juarez said that the second exam never took place and Jaxon went home with the relative.

The county has declined to answer numerous questions about the case, saying instead that it is conducting an investigation, alongside the California Department of Social Services which is conducting an independent review. The social workers on leave will likely be interviewed about their role with Jaxon, Feldman said.

Juarez said his son was removed from his home last July, a week before Jaxon’s mother died of liver and kidney failure. He said both he and Jaxon’s mother, Brianna Burton, had extensive health issues.

Outside Juvenile Hall Tuesday evening, a group of protesters gathered, calling for “Justice for Jaxon.”

One of them, Evangeline Dominguez-Estrada, said she was a good friend of Jaxon’s late mother. The tragedy, she said, needs to spur fresh reforms.

“If you did everything right, everything by the book, then maybe we need to look at the book and see what we can change,” she said, “because you can’t just say we did everything we were supposed to do and then have this happen.”