social workers handle cars -- handled calls for help. felix: this report is critical of how social workers handled calls to the home of tami huntsman. the report demanded the department make changes.
this apartment is where it is believed children were tortured and abused. it was infested with cockroaches, according to reports by social workers who responded to the apartment five times since 2014 to investigate
reports of neglect or abuse. the reports are providing disturbing details and calling on monterey county social services to change practices. >> we will work hard to address every single one of their findings. felix: the deaths of shaun and
delyl tara, allegedly at the hands of tami huntsman and her then boyfriend, gonzalo curiel, prompted investigation into how social services handle calls. in may, they get their first reports of abuse. state social workers should have done a more thorough physical
investigation of children, looking for signs of abuse. instead, they performed a visual assessment. >> when you're asking a young child to roll up their sleeves, pull up their shirt, pull down their pants, whatever it may be ,
to inspect for bruises, and you are asking that of a six-year-old or nine-year-old, that carries its own trauma. felix: social workers got reports that delylah was zip-tied to the bed for wetting her pants. the children told investigators
they were safe and being fed. at the same time, huntsman is becoming more evasive, not returning calls or answering the door. it is a final call in october that is drawing criticism from investigators.
that report was considered a duplicate. social workers never responded. the children were discovered dead two months later in a storage unit. >> we know that when law enforcement went out, the family did what they had done in the
past -- refuse entry. refuse contact. they were evasive. that fifth referral is something we should have acted on. that is the crack we are closing. felix: how do they plan to do that?
it is a three-step process according to the director of social services that involves hiring more staff, assigning an experienced supervisor to intake, and finally working with local courts to implement a warrant process for investigation.
warran could compel people to talk and allow social workers to remove a child should they feel they are in danger. monterey county social services has 30 days to come up with a plan of action and a timeline for implementing changes.
dan: thank you.
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