In wake of San Jose toddler's foster care death, county supervisor brings head of child welfare agency to tears

In an explosive, emotional meeting two weeks after the death in foster care of a San Jose toddler, Santa Clara County Supervisor Sylvia Arena brought to tears the director of the county's child welfare agency as she demanded she and other county leaders explain why they should keep their jobs after the third child in three years died in their care.

"You tell me or or you all tell me, how many children could die under your leadership and you still have a job?" Arenas asked Thursday during a county committee meeting on child welfare with several department leaders sitting on the dais. "If they're brown, maybe five? What is it if they're White - none? What is it? What's the quota?"

No one answered as a deathly quiet hung over the board chambers. Wendy Kinnear-Rausch, the director of the Department of Family and Children's Services that placed 2-year-old Jaxon Juarez in the home where authorities say he was repeatedly sexually assaulted, broke down in tears, covering her face and reaching for tissues. A colleague sitting next to her put her arms around her.

The prescheduled meeting of the county's Children, Seniors and Family committee, established to reform the agency after the fentanyl overdose death of baby Phoenix Castro in 2023, turned into a repudiation of the county's child welfare system, its leadership and the inadequacy of the reforms implemented since Phoenix's death.

The three children who died under the supervision of the county since 2023 are two Latino children, baby Phoenix and Jaxon Juarez, and one Black child, 7-year-old Jordan Walker, who was stabbed to death in 2024 allegedly by an uncle despite family concerns he wouldn't be safe there.

Arenas's biting remarks at the committee meeting come after a week of calls for accountability in the wake of Jaxon's death, from the toddler's relatives to District Attorney Jeff Rosen who filed murder and sexual assault charges against the foster mother's teenage son. Rosen said he would investigate charges against anyone criminally responsible for Jaxon's death, including county employees.

At the committee meeting, Arenas, who had a previous career in child welfare, also broke down, questioning her own accountability despite her efforts since she took office shortly before baby Phoenix's death.

"I don't want to hear from anybody who's sorry about this loss if you're not going to move the stars, the moon, everything to make sure that this system is different this time," Arenas told Kinnear-Rausch, along with her boss, Social Services Agency Director Daniel Little and his boss, County Executive James Williams who all sat in the semi-circular dais. "And I expect you to reflect on your own leadership, just as I'm reflecting on mine, where did we go wrong?"

A state investigation is expected to be complete in about two weeks, Kinnear-Rausch said, and county officials have pledged to release it quickly, as well as the entire case file with redactions for privacy some time after that.

Ten employees involved in Jaxon's case have been placed on administrative leave, Williams confirmed.

"Depending on the findings of our investigation," Williams said, "staff may face disciplinary action up to and including termination."

Questions remain about why social workers placed Jaxon in February with a 40-year-old cousin who had a felony conviction for child endangerment, and whether they missed red flags. Two days before he was found unconscious, his foster mother took him to a health clinic and was referred for further care, which he apparently never got.

In an email obtained by the Mercury News, Kinnear-Rausch offered clues as to the mistakes that led to Jaxon's April 9 death.

That letter sent to staff before midnight Wednesday reminds social workers of two key policies: one that prohibits social workers from placing kids on an emergency basis people with felony convictions involving crimes against children, suggesting that social workers may have disregarded the foster mother's record. Jaxon's foster mother pleaded no contest in 2014 to felony child endangerment after drunken driving with her 1-year-old daughter in the back seat.

The letter also reminded social workers that they must consult with the Child Advocacy Center when they learn of an allegation of mistreatment, suggesting that Jaxon should have been taken there after his health clinic appointment.

Before the emotional outbursts at the meeting Thursday, Kinnear-Rausch, Little and Williams all expressed their heartbreak over the death of Jaxon and pledged to fix problems that led to the tragedy. Kinnear-Rausch also said they are instituting immediate changes, and referenced her directive to staff.

"We did realize early on that there are some urgent actions that we need to take and to shore things up," she said. "Not only do we need to get to the bottom of what's occurred and how this fatality occurred, but at the same time I need to support a dedicated workforce to make sure they're continuing to show up for every single child."

She said the county is reviewing all the cases of children now in the care of foster relatives under their emergency placement system to make sure no other child could fall victim to the agency's same mistakes.

At a news conference called by Arenas shortly before the committee meeting, Arenas said the deaths of children in the county's care are unacceptable.

"Children should not be dying under the care and custody of a system that exists to protect them," Arenas said Thursday. "This level of system failure demands immediate action, course correction and accountability in a way that we haven't done before."

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This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 9:41 PM.