CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES FLAWED, CHIEF SAYS.

Byline: David Bloom Daily News Staff Writer

The head of Los Angeles County's child protection services said Friday that the system is seriously flawed by public policy that in some cases pits the safety of the child against the preservation of the family.

The Daily News reported Friday that 12 children died last year despite warnings to the county Department of Children and Family Services. In eight of the cases, the children were under the department's active supervision.

Department director Peter Digre acknowledged Friday that worker negligence was a factor in three of the deaths but said the larger problem is that social workers are caught between conflicting missions.

``We hear two outcries: One is that child abuse workers are too aggressive and are disrupting too many families,'' Digre said. ``The other that's put out is that we're not aggressive enough and aren't disrupting enough families. The reality is they swing back and forth.''

Digre said he supports SB 1516 by state Sen. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte, that would require abusive parents seeking reunification with their children to prove they are fit and able to provide a secure environment.

The bill would require the attorney representing a child in reunification hearings to advocate for the child's safety and require the judge to make a finding of safety.

Digre said current law relies on a ``mechanistic'' approach to family reunification that virtually forces judges to send abused children home as long as the parents meet certain easily measurable goals, such as attending 10 parenting classes or testing clean in a series of drug tests.

``But who, knowing a judge is going to be looking at their drug test results, is going to use drugs during that time?'' he asked.

That was the case, he said, with 2-year-old Lance Helms of North Hollywood - who was killed by the girlfriend of his father last summer. The department had argued in eight separate hearings to have the boy removed from his father but was overruled by the court commissioner hearing the case.

``You should err on the side of safety (for the child),'' Digre said.

State Sen. Richard Polanco and Assemblyman Louis Caldera, both Los Angeles-area Democrats, have sponsored six other bills that would make other changes to protect children within the system.

``We have to do a better job,'' Polanco said. ``A whole new set of standards needs to be applied. This whole system is rotten and broken.''

The report on the 12 deaths last year was prepared at the request of the Board of Supervisors. In most cases, social workers were found to have acted properly.

But in three other cases, workers were found to have been negligent. In one case, a worker was assigned to monitor a family in which there had been a history of abuse against a young child.

But when the caseworker went on leave, the supervisor did not reassign the case - and the child died from head trauma and shaken baby syndrome.

Digre said five department workers and supervisors were fired, quit before being fired or otherwise were disciplined for failing to follow ``red flags'' indicating major problems in those three cases.

But, he added, the county protects ``99.5 percent'' of the 65,000 children in its care.

Members of the Board of Supervisors were provided with the report a month ago under a court order after they argued they were entitled to review case files in their role of overseeing the department.

They said they aren't satisfied enough is being done.

``The figures have been startling to me,'' said Supervisor Gloria Molina.

Molina and other supervisors last month agreed to hire an inspector general to review each case of suspected child abuse. Interviews for that position are under way.

``Child safety has to be paramount,'' said Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

Digre and supervisors said the department needs to add as many as 505 social workers and aides to its work force over the next several months to reduce caseloads and allow for better oversight of troubled families.

By the middle of next week, 128 of those social workers will have been added to the system since December, Digre said.

In the five years Digre has headed the department, he said he has instituted 19 basic policies emphasizing child safety as the top priority for the department's 2,600 social workers and their supervisors.

Those include mandating monthly visits with children in the system, criminal background checks of all teens and adults in a home and regular pediatric checkups of abused children, he said. None of those provisions is required by state law.

Digre said the result of emphasizing child safety has been a decline in child deaths at the hands of caretakers from 61 in 1992 to 39 in the county last year, despite rising caseloads.