Since becoming the director of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services two years back, Brandon Nichols says he has been using data and information gathered from social workers and others who work with families to help develop programs.
“I go out into the field. I have expectations that my managers go out into the field,” Nichols said.
And when the most unfortunate outcome – a child death -- happens, he says, they follow up.
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"We do try to learn lessons from those bad events. And so we look at every single one. I have a team that that is their job to just look at kids that have been hurt,” he said.
Child deaths with DCFS history reported to the Child Protection Hotline reached a peak in 2021 and have decreased each year through 2023, according to department data reviewed by the I-Team.
Five service regions in the county did see a slight increase from 2022 to 2023, including communities where the deaths of Anthony Avalos and Gabriel Fernandez brought scrutiny of the department.
"I will say caseloads are lower in the Antelope Valley than they've ever been. There are more social workers in the Antelope Valley than we've ever had. But it still is an area that is under-resourced, and it's an area that receives our attention especially,” Nichols said.
It is where, Nichols says, much of his community approach is focused, getting families access to services before any suspected abuse happens, including the Hotline to Helpline program the I-Team first told you about this summer. It diverts calls that do not meet the standard for an abuse investigation and connects people to community groups near them who can help.
"There's mental health needs, there's substance abuse needs,” he said.
He is also focused on bringing more technology to assist social workers in the field, adding that he has outfitted social workers this year with smart phones and is looking into artificial intelligence, as well.
“Grandmother has a cousin in Texas, or mom used to have a history of drug use 15 years ago. It's hard for a social worker who goes out in the middle of the night to have all that knowledge with him or her. AI can data-mine those case files, and AI can flag for the social worker when he or she is going out,” he said
“I'll be honest, it's one of my concerns about our department, our technology, is lagging behind what I see in private industry. And so we are trying to make investments in getting social workers better, real-time, easier access to the information that's available,” Nichols said. “And so, we are investing in community to try to make sure that families never need to have to deal with DCFS. A hotline call never has to be made.”
