Embattled child welfare agency appoints new director in Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County has appointed an assistant director and veteran social worker to lead its embattled child welfare agency as it implements changes brought on by investigations from both the state and the Bay Area News Group, replacing the much-maligned former director who resigned in January.

Wendy Kinnear-Rausch, who started her social work career with the county in 1999 and has been in charge since former director Damion Wright left, will become the permanent director of the Department of Family and Children’s Services on July 7, the county announced Wednesday.

Kinnear-Rausch will be leading a team of social workers who frequently appeared before the Board of Supervisors to voice their complaints about the agency’s leadership. In particular, they objected to leadership’s failure to take accountability for the 2023 fentanyl overdose death of baby Phoenix Castro, who was sent home from the hospital with her drug-abusing father over written objections from a social worker. They have also complained of staffing shortages and low morale.

“Protecting children and supporting families in our community has always been at the heart of my work,” Kinnear-Rausch said in a statement Wednesday. “I recognize the unique challenges we are facing right now, and I am committed to leading with compassion, integrity, and a deep sense of responsibility.”

The department is in the midst of a 5-year “corrective action plan” after an investigation by the California Department of Social Services found that the agency prioritized family preservation over child safety. The state’s investigation calling for changes followed investigations by the Bay Area News Group.

Kinnear-Rausch, who is working to implement those changes, was part of the leadership team as an assistant director in 2021 when then-agency Director Daniel Little implemented the new focus on keeping families together over removing children from their parents — a noble concept intended to give abusive and neglectful parents the tools they need to improve. Little has since been promoted to director of the county’s Social Services Department.

“Even though she was supportive of that old philosophy back in the day,  hopefully she understands that some of those well-intended procedures and protocols were counterproductive and endangering of children,” said Steve Baron, a member of the county’s Child Abuse Prevention Council who emphasized he was expressing his personal opinion.

Baron said that in her interim role, he has heard that Kinnear-Rausch has been “very responsive” to supervisors and pediatricians working with children in the welfare system.

“She knows the agency inside and out and is probably the best qualified to be there,” Baron said.

The problems with the family-first philosophy came into sharp focus with baby Phoenix’s overdose death at three months old. Social worker Matthew Kraft, whose warnings about the danger to the infant were brushed aside in favor of the father taking her home, has said that he has shouldered the burden of the baby’s death because the agency’s leaders never apologized or acknowledged that their family preservation policies played a role.

Kraft said Wednesday he hasn’t decided how he feels about Kinnear-Rausch’s appointment.

“I think people see her as being more open than our previous two directors,” Kraft said. “However that bar was on the ground, so it’s not hard to be over it.”

Social worker Alex Lesniak, the union steward, said there may be mixed feelings among agency workers.

“For the sake of morale, I hope she’s willing to take ownership as director for her role back then and her responsibility now to heal the agency and rebuild trust,” Lesniak said.

Kinnear-Rausch worked as a frontline social worker for years before being promoted through the ranks as supervisor, program manager and assistant director. She launched the county’s extended foster care program and held a key role in redesigning the Independent Living Program, among other accomplishments, the county said. The county said it had conducted a nationwide search for Wright’s replacement before choosing Kinnear-Rausch.

In a statement, County Executive James Williams said that he’s confident that Kinnear-Rausch is committed to “always putting the safety and wellbeing of children at the center of the department’s work” and that he is confident that she will “continue to lead swift progress on key reform efforts.”

Juvenile Dependency Court Judge Shawna Schwarz said that Kinnear-Rausch has a “track record of being responsive to and passionate about the needs of those children and families.”