Child Welfare Workers Put on Leave in Wake of Toddler’s Death in Foster Care

At least nine South Bay child welfare workers and managers have been put on paid administrative leave as calls for accountability grow louder following the death this month of a toddler in Santa Clara County’s foster care system.

Union officials confirmed the unusual move on Wednesday, as local and state investigations into the death of Jaxon Juarez, a 2-year-old with special needs, have ramped up.

Two workers in the Department of Family and Children’s Services, represented by the County Employees Management Association and seven workers represented by SEIU Local 521 are included in the group of those on leave, officials said.

A county spokesperson, Peter Gallotta, declined to comment on the workers being placed on leave.

“The county is actively investigating the tragic death of Jaxon Juarez. While we are taking all relevant actions to fully understand what happened in this horrific case and hold people accountable, as appropriate, we cannot comment on specific personnel matters while investigations are underway,” Gallotta said in an emailed statement.

Jaxon was under the supervision of the Department of Family and Children’s Services and living with a paternal relative when authorities allege a 17-year-old cousin repeatedly sexually and physically assaulted the child. He was hospitalized on Easter Sunday and died on April 9.

The cousin, who has since turned 18, has been charged in juvenile court with murder and several counts of sexual assault. Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s office is seeking to transfer the suspect to adult court, where he could face much harsher penalties if convicted.

Jaxon’s death followed the deaths of two other children in the county’s foster care system in 2023 — a 3-month-old named Phoenix Castro who died from fentanyl poisoning in a home with addicted parents, and a 6-year-old named Jordan Walker who was stabbed to death by his half-uncle.

Those deaths occurred, critics said, while the agency pursued policies focused on keeping children with their families, even in the face of safety concerns. Following the deaths, the Department of Family and Children’s Services was put under state oversight and a corrective action plan aimed at rebalancing the priorities of family reunification and child safety.

Despite that oversight, which had been in place for roughly a year and a half, Jaxon was placed by the agency in February in the home of Bridget Michelle Martinez, a relative who was previously convicted of felony child endangerment tied to a DUI in 2014.

County officials confirmed that such a conviction should prevent a child from being placed in Martinez’s care, even in extenuating circumstances. It’s not clear how Jaxon ended up in the home, and the county has not explained.

In the wake of his death, his family members have lambasted the Department of Family and Children’s Services, saying they plan to sue.

This week, Rosen said he would investigate to determine if anyone else should be held liable in the case, including those at the agency or county.

“People in the public and myself as the DA would like to know who is responsible criminally, civilly, morally, ethically, and systemically for what happened in this case, because this is not the first time that this has happened,” Rosen said at a news conference on Monday.

“And I think that we should all be asking questions of county officials at the highest level,” he said. “Why are horrible and tragic crimes happening to children in the care and custody of the Department of Family and Children’s Services over and over and over again?”

Leaders at the San José/Silicon Valley NAACP have also demanded full investigations into what they called “the systemic failures of Santa Clara County’s child welfare system” and called for “structural accountability” up the chain of command.

In an April 20 statement, the civil rights organization said County Executive James Williams, Chief Operating Officer Greta Hansen, County Counsel Tony LoPresti, Social Services Agency Director Daniel Little, and DFCS Director Wendy Kinnear-Rausch all “bear individual and institutional responsibility for the conditions that produced these outcomes.”

The county, in an emailed response, didn’t address those allegations.

The organization’s complaint builds upon an earlier formal complaint that the organization said it filed with Rosen in July 2025, calling on his office to investigate county leaders in relation to the deaths of Castro and Walker. The NAACP said it did not receive a response.

The organization said the county “publicly dismissed the NAACP’s complaint as ‘a distraction,’ stating there was ‘no basis whatsoever’ to suggest criminal conduct.”

The county said that it is “investigating every aspect of this horrific tragedy” involving Jaxon and vowed to share its findings publicly when complete. It has also called on the state Department of Social Services to conduct its own investigation.

The state agency confirmed it is conducting an independent investigation into the case.

“Collectively, we must do better to support our most vulnerable children and youth to ensure they are safe and can thrive,” the agency said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. “We are committed to working with our county partners, local agencies, other state departments, families, communities, and advocates across the state to continuously improve California’s child welfare system.”