The special hearing was called by Santa Clara County Supervisors Cindy Chavez and Sylvia Arenas after extensive reporting by the Bay Area News Group found that the Department of Family and Children’s Services discarded numerous red flags before sending baby Phoenix Castro home with her father.
The death of the Bay Area’s tiniest fentanyl victim is a towering illustration of a child welfare system that became so focused on "family preservation" that it looked right past histories of neglect and the perils of a growing drug epidemic.
Nikita Garcia’s turnaround is what advocates envision from Santa Clara County’s commitment to keep families together instead of removing children from abusive or neglectful homes.