When Justice Fails Our Families: A Call for Accountability in Los Angeles County

By Morris Patrick — Credited by Marissa Hernandez

Introduction

The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is the largest child welfare agency in the United States, responsible for the care of over 31,000 children and youth (County of Los Angeles, 2022). With an annual operating budget exceeding $2.8 billion, DCFS claims to provide safe, nurturing homes and robust services for vulnerable children. But behind the glossy mission statements and strategic goals lies a painful truth: countless families, including Marissa’s, have suffered under policies and practices that fail to uphold the very values the agency was created to protect.

This blog is not just an academic discussion. It is Marissa’s story, and the story of many other parents in Los Angeles County who have experienced firsthand the devastating consequences of a system that too often chooses bureaucracy over justice.

Criminal Justice Programs and Policies in Los Angeles County

DCFS operates under six strategic goals: improving child safety, decreasing timelines to permanency, reducing reliance on out-of-home care, supporting self-sufficiency, increasing child and family well-being, and enhancing organizational excellence (County of Los Angeles, 2022). On paper, these goals should build a foundation of trust and protection for children and families.

In reality, however, these policies often create more harm than healing. Despite the department’s vast budget and partnerships with schools, nonprofits, and faith-based organizations, families continue to encounter systemic failures. For many, the policies intended to protect children are weaponized in ways that separate loving parents from their children without due process or fairness.

Marissa’s Personal Connection

Marissa speaks on this issue not only as a researcher and advocate, but also as an impacted parent. Marissa’s children were removed through judicial deception—an experience that shattered her life and changed her career path forever. She once worked as a software engineer. However, after facing the devastating injustice of DCFS policies, Marissa decided to pursue a career in civil rights law.

No parent should ever have to watch their children taken because of lies, negligence, or policies that prioritize control over compassion. Marissa’s story is one of many. Across Los Angeles County, countless families suffer in silence, living with trauma created not by abuse in the home, but by abuse within the system.

Why Criminal Justice Programs and Policies Must Be Evaluated

Programs like DCFS must be held accountable. The Auditor of the State of California made it clear in a 2019 report: DCFS failed to complete investigations on time, neglected to perform proper safety checks, and left children in unsafe and abusive environments (Auditor of the State of California, 2019).

Even with budget increases and reduced caseloads, DCFS did not follow state-mandated practices. Required home inspections and criminal background checks were skipped before placing children with relatives. Supervisory reviews lacked clear deadlines, and recommendations from child death reviews were ignored (Auditor of the State of California, 2019).

When agencies tasked with protecting children fail to do the basics, the consequences are catastrophic. Families are torn apart. Children are left in dangerous homes. Parents are silenced. And taxpayers are left funding a system that breeds harm instead of healing.

Conclusion

The stakes are too high for us to remain silent. Criminal justice programs and policies, particularly those related to child welfare, must be continually evaluated and reformed. In Los Angeles County, DCFS must be held to the highest standards of accountability, transparency, and humanity.

Children deserve safety. Families deserve fairness. The community deserves a system that lives up to its mission, rather than hiding behind its failures. Until then, Marissa and many other parents will continue to raise their voices, fight in the courts, and demand justice—for their children and for every family still living in the shadow of DCFS’s broken promises.

Acknowledgment

This piece is credited to Marissa Hernandez for her courage, advocacy, and contributions to exposing systemic failures that impact families in Los Angeles County.

References

Auditor of the State of California. (2019). Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services has not adequately ensured the health and safety of all children in its care. https://www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2018-126.pdf

County of Los Angeles. (2022). County of Los Angeles Director of Children and Family Services.