In the 16 days between the time 4-year-old Jahmaurae Allen was beaten to death and Sacramento Child Protective Services publicly released portions of its records, the case file was altered to change the original finding in the case, The Bee has learned.
One early version of the report from the social worker, who began handling an allegation of abuse involving the 4-year-old on June 19, described the allegation as "unfounded," two sources who read the document told The Bee this week.
Another early version obtained by The Bee described the allegation of abuse of the little boy as "inconclusive."
But the portions released by CPS to The Bee this week under a new public records law do not reflect either of those findings. Instead, those files indicate the allegation of abuse was "substantiated," a finding listed as "effective 7/21/08" – the day Jahmaurae was beaten to death, allegedly by his mother's boyfriend.
A top county official said Friday she was unaware of the varying case files until The Bee raised questions.
"We're pulling computer records right now to find out what's happened," said Lynn Frank, director of the Health and Human Services Department, which oversees CPS.
Late Friday, CPS Director Laura Coulthard issued the following statement:
"CPS policy and procedures requires supervisors to review social worker's cases, and update or correct findings based on their independent assessment. In the Jahmuaure (sic) Allen matter, supervisors and management did such a review and made new findings that differed from the social worker's original assessment …
"The county is reviewing allegations by The Sacramento Bee that original documents were altered. If it is established that those documents were altered, the county will take appropriate responses as warranted by this investigation."
Children's advocates outraged
The existence of differing versions of the case file outraged children's advocates who work with the agency. Some had been instrumental in pushing for the new law, which forces child welfare agencies to open files of children who die on their watch.
"This is unbelievable," said Robert Fellmeth, a law professor and director of the San Diego-based Children's Advocacy Institute.
"If you don't take the kid (from the home), the only check you have is this: the record of what you did or did not do … " he said. "If you start playing with that and altering that, you undermine the only check these kids have on failure to protect."
Alarm over child welfare files being falsified or backdated has surfaced elsewhere.
Last week in Philadelphia, criminal charges were filed against two social workers in a case that led to the starvation death of a disabled 14-year-old girl. Workers were accused by the grand jury of falsifying documents after her death to make it appear they had performed their jobs properly.
Jahmaurae's death has spawned a grand jury probe of CPS, and the agency said Tuesday it was planning to launch its own independent review.
CPS has conceded it should have done more to protect Jahmaurae, and suspended the social worker. At the time, the agency said the social worker "worked in isolation and did not follow established department procedures."
Sources familiar with the case say the social worker's entries and narrative about what happened were not accessible until after Jahmaurae was killed. It remains unclear who completed portions of the file.
CPS documents show the social worker evaluated the case after a doctor reported June 17 that Jahmaurae might be the victim of physical abuse. That doctor reported a painful swelling and bruise on the boy's chest the size of an adult fist.
CPS documents indicate the social worker tried to contact the boy and his mother on June 19, going to their Foothill Farms apartment. The worker went to the wrong apartment at first, and when she found the right apartment, no one was home. She left her card on the door and returned June 21, the documents state, and left her card again.
Call The Bee's Marjie Lundstrom, (916) 321-1055. Bee researcher Sheila A. Kern contributed to this report.
