Children’s services must improve on two levels

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Children’s services must improve on two levels

Re: “A host of social workers put on leave” (Page A1, April 23).

Jaxon Juarez’s death was preventable. He was placed with a caregiver who had a felony conviction for child endangerment, in clear violation of the county’s own emergency placement rules and guidelines. That is a failure of safety screening, and those involved must be held accountable.

While a failure of the child welfare system, this is not a failure of family reunification policy. As an MSW student studying child welfare, I worry that the county’s response, with foster care entries nearly tripling in two years and the parent defense bar reducing to minimal levels, is producing what researchers call a “foster care panic.” Removing children unnecessarily causes lifelong harm.

Santa Clara County must do two things at once: screen every placement and protect services that safely reunite children. Anything less leads to failure.

Tristan Dang
San Jose

Social workers need better training, support

Re: “Supervisor confronts officials after third foster are death” (Page A1, April 25).

The recent child welfare tragedy in Santa Clara County is not an isolated failure — it reflects longstanding systemic issues within DFCS. As a social worker and whistleblower, I repeatedly raised concerns about unsafe visitation practices, inconsistent safety protocols and a lack of meaningful training. Those concerns were dismissed.

Supervised visits are critical points for identifying abuse or neglect. Yet, workers are often left without clear, scenario-based guidance or ongoing training to properly assess and report risks in real time. When frontline staff are not adequately supported, children are placed in preventable danger.

Accountability must go beyond individual blame. The county must implement standardized safety protocols, ongoing mandated reporting training specific to visitation, and enforce consistent supervisory oversight.

Without structural reform, these failures will continue — and more children will be at risk.

Macielle Rivera
Sacramento

Paper should focus on first-time homebuyers

Re: “Santa Clara County Home Sale Transactions” (Page H2, May 3).

I see that each week in the Sunday edition, they highlight the most expensive homes sold.

I was thinking it might be of interest to readers to highlight homes purchased by first-time homebuyers. We all know there are plenty of expensive homes to go around, but highlighting first-time homebuyers might broaden your audience and also show people that there are still some affordable homes left for those who are flexible and creative and wish to live in our city.

C. Phelps
San Jose

Trump’s M.O. is causing all of us to suffer

No matter how shocked I am at the actions of this president and his administration, there is always something more shocking on the horizon.

Donald Trump’s narcissism was stoked by the idea of his image on Mt. Rushmore, but then he turned closer to home and decided to add his name to coins and dollar bills. He even went so far as to suggest that his image be on our passports. (Thankfully, I renewed mine last year.)

Too bad he never studied poetry, or he might have read William Wordsworth’s statement in Tintern Abbey, that “The best portion of a person’s life is the little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.” But then, Trump is incapable of nameless anything, let alone acts of kindness and love. He thrives on adulation. His modus operandi is vengeance. And we are all suffering for it. Can we survive much more of this?

Lorraine D’Ambruoso
San Jose

Congress must rein in Trump over Iran

President Trump’s administration has stated that hostilities with Iran have “terminated” and that, therefore, the time limits (60 days) covered by the War Powers Resolution of 1973 are no longer binding.

But the United States is still maintaining a maritime blockade against Iran. Under international law, a blockade is an act of war. Therefore, the United States is still engaged in hostilities with Iran and is violating the War Powers Resolution.

Congress must convene and enforce the provisions of the War Powers Resolution of 1973. Otherwise, they must be condemned as cowards and betrayers of the Constitution.

John Cormode
Mountain View

Time to reclaim public parks for families

Public parks are places where families take their young ones to have fun and enjoy hangouts.

However, the condition of the parks does not reflect what they are trying to achieve. Many parks are littered with trash and vandalized with inappropriate graffiti. On top of that, loiterers around parks may pose a threat to a family’s feeling of safety.

It is important to bring awareness of these situations to the proper authorities so that they are addressed.

Devon Nguyen
San Jose