State investigates County Social Services following child murders.

There is no amount of paperwork that can make sense of a tragedy like this, but state officials are doing what they can to identify any gaps in the Monterey County Department of Social Services.

The bodies of two children, 6-year-old Shaun Tara and his 3-year-old sister Delylah Tara, were found in a storage locker in Redding in December. Their father's cousin, Tami Joy Huntsman, was the children's guardian. She and her reputed boyfriend, Gonazlo Curiel, have been charged with murdering the young kids and severely abusing a 9-year-old girl who survived.

Social Services did not select Huntsman's home as the placement for these kids, but did investigate four complaints alleging neglect at the family's Salinas home in the year before they died. 

Child fatalities automatically trigger an investigation by the California Department of Social Services, says Elliott Robinson, director of the county department.

State investigators spent an entire week at the department's Salinas office early in January interviewing employees and reviewing records, Robinson said at a Jan. 21 meeting of the County Health and Human Services Committee. 

State officials looked at general office procedures as well as the specifics in the case of the Huntsman family, and are expected to provide recommendations in February. 

"When we get recommendations, we will be working to implement them," Robinson said at the health committee meeting. 

"Our joint goal is to make sure the systems are strong." 

Separate from the state's recommendations, the county department is trying to beef up certain procedures itself, starting with a hotline that in many cases is the first stage of contact between county officials and families. 

"In light of the recent homicides, for us, it is important we are introspective," Robinson said. "We decided it was important to strengthen our child abuse and neglect hotline. 

That means staffing adjustments, specifically having a devoted high-level supervisor overseeing the hotline. "The stability of someone who’s been there several years will help strengthen that system," Robinson said. 

Robert Taniguchi, director of Family and Children's Services (within the Department of Social Services) says that staffing change will take effect next week. 

In addition, Robinson will be asking the county budget committee to approve an additional child welfare unit. 

At the end of 2015, Robinson received word from the state controller's office that his county department can expect an additional $1.1 million a year in funds, thanks to a realignment formula that was coupled with California's prison realignment plan, AB 109, and also affects funding formulas for social services providers. 

The basis for devoting the funding to child welfare is volume, Robinson added, not necessarily the recent homocides. Referrals to the child welfare division rose by more than 20 percent over the past year. 

"We think it’s critical now that we have the financing, that we use the financing to add resources," Robinson said.