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County Supervisors To Vote On Child Protection Commission

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will vote Tuesday whether or not to create a child protection commission in the wake of the beating death of an 8-year-old Palmdale boy.

The board was scheduled to discuss and vote on the creation of a Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Protection at 9 a.m.

The commission would consist of two members appointed by each supervisor and would be charged with analyzing and investigating all previously delayed or failed efforts to implement reforms.

The commission then would provide the board with recommendations for a feasible plan of action at the Department of Children and Family Services. They would also analyze the current structure and scope of DCFS as well as ways to increase cooperation between the departments of Mental Health, Public Health, the Los Angeles County Sheriff, District Attorney, Dependency Court and other commissions to better protect children, officials said.

Gabriel Fernandez, 8, was allegedly tortured and beaten to death by his mother's boyfriend, 32-year-old Isauro Aguiree, in late May.

Fernandez's mother, Pearl, was also arrested after being accused of doing nothing to stop the beating. Both suspects face capital murder charges in the boy's death.

Documents later showed that DCFS failed to intervene despite multiple abuse allegations made by family and teachers.

If approved, the panel's recommendations would be due by Dec. 31.

An additional meeting was scheduled for Tuesday night in Lancaster where Mayor R. Rex Parris plans to demand that county officials explain what they are doing to fix the broken system.

"How are they going to change the system rather than who are they going to point the finger of blame at," Parris told KNX 1070.

County Supervisors To Vote On Child Protection Commission

DCFS director Phillip Browning reportedly will not be at the meeting.

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