By Karen Ocamb

The usually buzzing Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting hushed Nov. 15 as Corri Planck quietly testified about the "preventable" death last month of 2-year-old Sarah Chavez, the foster child she cared for with partner Dianne Hardy-Garcia. Planck spoke in support of motions calling for an independent investigation into Sarah's death and a review of mandatory child abuse reporting laws after a state report indicated that Garfield Medical Center staff failed to report suspected abuse in Sarah's case.

"Sarah was an extraordinary child. We would have adopted her in a minute and we loved her with all our hearts. We believe it's important, in order to prevent further tragedies, that the circumstances and failures that led to her death be [fully and publicly] discussed. This was senseless and it was preventable," Planck told the supervisors. "I think it's [also] important for this body and every other body to understand that what happened at the hospital to Sarah was the last failure in the system, not the first."

"We apologize for what we have -- where we're at on this," said Supervisor Gloria Molina, whose motion called for a Department of Children and Family Services' (DCFS) investigation with the Inspector General's Office of Independent Review (OIR). "The biggest problem about the work that we do here is that every single time when we implement these ordinances, we've put forth these motions, when you start checking through them, they aren't implemented effectively and uniformlyÉ When you start dissecting it, the system failed this child every step of the way É and these people need to be held accountable."

Ten years ago the county faced a similar system failure when 2-and-a half-year-old Lance Helms was removed from his loving foster care home and returned by court order to the custody of his father, despite warnings about the father's violent history and protests from the social worker about the child's safety. On April 6, 1995, Lance was found dead in the father's North Hollywood home of injuries consistent with being hit in the stomach. The uproar over the case led to a 1996 change in state law requiring judges to consider the child's safety a priority before "family reunification." Additionally a state audit of DCFS suggested a system overhaul to better protect children under its jurisdiction.

Molina's motion called for the DCFS-OIR report in 30 days, which the supervisor promised to give Planck. However, DCFS Director David Sanders told KPCC radio reporter John Rabe that state laws regarding release of information about children in protective custody require that the internal report remain confidential.

"It's actually a legislative action that has said that they want to assure that only the court has the right to release information publicly even after a child's death," Sanders told Rabe. When he held a similar post in Minnesota, Sanders said, he "worked to open up the system so the information there is public information."

Supervisor Michael Antonovich's motion called for mandatory training for hospital and clinic personnel and a review of state child abuse/neglect reporting laws by DCFS, due in 90 days, after a report by the California Department of Health Services found numerous "deficiencies" at Garfield Medical Center. He also ordered that the report be sent to the state's Medical Board and Board of Registered Nurses.

An investigation by the State Community Care Licensing Division found that a Garfield Medical Center triage nurse and the primary emergency room doctor and nurse failed to follow several assessment and reporting protocols when Sarah was brought in by her "mother" on Oct. 10 for an injury to her arm.

The triage nurse stated that Sarah "cried out in pain" when her sweater was removed, though the nurse failed to assess Sarah's level of pain. She told the state investigator that "the child was staring at me in a way that had bothered me a lot," yet she "did nothing about it," according to the report. And though the "mother" (believed to be Frances Abundis) said Sarah's arm was dislocated, the nurse said it was "obvious to her the arm was broken." She failed, however, to question the "mother" further.

The second nurse said Sarah, who was also dehydrated, was "just staring and not responding to pain appropriately," causing the nurse to conclude that Sarah was "mentally retarded."

When the "mother" left with Sarah against medical advice, the doctor noted that the child "may have other injuries or lose her limb or life." Sarah died the next day of injuries consistent with a severe beating.

DCFS' Sanders told Rabe that a call from a hospital about a child with a broken arm would have resulted "in an immediate response," including the possible return of the child to previous foster parents.

The district attorney's office has charged Sarah's aunt and uncle, Frances and Armando Abundis, with her murder. The preliminary hearing date will be set on Dec. 1 in Alhambra Division 5. D.A. spokesperson Sandi Gibbons told IN that if the state licensing board determined that a crime had been committed by Garfield staff, they would report that to the DA's office. "So far, no one has," she said. While not confirming that the child described in their report is Sarah, California Department of Health Services spokesperson Patti Roberts told IN that they have ordered a "plan of correction" from Garfield Medical Center to "fix" the "deficiencies." A response is expected by the end of the month. There are no legal provisions for monetary or other penalties for failing to comply with mandatory reporting laws.

Meanwhile Planck and Hardy-Garcia are taking life slowly. "Sometimes we want the impossible -- we want someone to call us and say that there was a mistake. Sarah is OK and that she is coming home to us," the couple told IN. "And then, we have to deal with reality. The reality is that Sarah's tragic story is just beginning to be told. There is much more we will have to do to make sure people know what happened to her. We painfully learn more every day. The only gift we can give Sarah now is tell her story openly and fully so that things can change."