GRACIE LYNN JOHNSON - 5 Months - (2010) Ranch Cordova/Sacramento CA

A 5-month-old baby girl lay dead for days and possibly even
weeks in her mother's Rancho Cordova apartment after a communication snafu
between two Sacramento County agencies delayed an investigation into
possible child neglect.The decomposing body of Gracie Lynn Johnson was found Friday in her bassinet,
22 days after a sheriff's deputy first visited the apartment to check
on the sickly child.By the end of his swing shift,
the deputy had placed a report and note on the desk of a social worker
assigned to his station, according to sheriff's and child welfare
officials. Unbeknownst to the deputy, the social worker had just begun a
two-week vacation. Both agencies said Wednesday they are reviewing the case to
determine whether the tragedy could have been avoided."If there's
a lesson to be learned here in the future as to how to do business
better, we certainly want to do better," said Sheriff
John McGinness.The deputy, assigned to Rancho
Cordova Police, went to the apartment complex on Data Drive
on April 8 after a family member expressed concern about how well the
mother was caring for the severely disabled baby.But it was not
until Friday that the case came to a gruesome end when a social worker
from county Child Protective Services followed up on the
officer's report, which had reached CPS on April 26.The discovery
led to the arrest this week of the child's mother, 40-year-old Jennifer
Blanchette, charged with felony child endangerment.The
three-week gap between the officer's report and CPS action is the kind
of communication breakdown the county had hoped to avert by placing
social workers alongside peace officers. The scenario also raises
questions about the duty of mandated reporters. Under state law, all
people required to report suspected child abuse or neglect – including
peace officers – must call Child Protective Services immediately and
file a report within 36 hours.McGinness confirmed that the deputy
did not call CPS. However, he said that was not required in this case
because the deputy and his sergeant found no evidence of abuse or
neglect. Instead, the sheriff said, they filed an "incident report," to
make the agency aware of the situation."The fact they cared
enough to document it ... tells me their heart and minds were in the
right place," he said.McGinness described the baby as a "very,
very, very unhealthy child in a less-than-pristine environment." She was
born with hydrocephalus, he said, meaning she had an enlarged head due
to fluid. She also lacked an esophagus and had extra fingers.Child
Protective Services began to move on the case once they learned of it. Ann Edwards-Buckley, director of the county's Department of Health and Human Services, said that
when the social worker returned to work on April 26, the worker
forwarded the report and note to the agency's hotline.The case
then was referred to a social worker specializing in medical neglect on
April 27. That worker visited the apartment two days later, but found no
one home, the director said. When she returned on April 30, no one
answered – but noises inside prompted her to call for backup.The
Sacramento County Coroner's Office completed its autopsy on Gracie's body
Sunday, but her official cause of death remains unknown, pending test results, said Assistant Coroner Ed Smith. McGinness said the mother was
arrested because the child was found dead in her home and because of the
"overall condition" of the apartment.But McGinness said that the
case may prove to be a tragedy rather than a crime. There is "strong
potential" that the baby's cause of death will be ruled natural, he
said, and the mother's decision to leave the body to decompose could be
attributed to anything from mental instability to overwhelming grief."I,
too, look for somebody to blame when a kid dies," McGinness said, "but
I'm not sure the mother even has any culpability."From the Sacramento County Main Jail – where she was, for a
time, held on the psychiatric floor – Blanchette
declined to be interviewed.A relative of Blanchette's
reached by The Bee said only that "my only concern is that Jennifer
gets the psychological help she needs."The baby's death
highlights another challenge for local agencies: how to deal with
"medically fragile" children. In recent years, CPS began placing
additional emphasis on monitoring children with chronic medical
conditions and special health care needs – a population vulnerable to abuse
and neglect. The perils faced by such children received widespread
attention after the July 2006 death of Daelynn Foreman, a 12-year-old
girl with cerebral palsy who starved to death.The following year,
the CPS emergency response team devoted two full-time social workers to
medically fragile children or medical neglect referrals. A public
health nurse was assigned to consult with the social workers and
accompany them on visits.Edwards-Buckley said it was a
specialized nurse-social worker team that found Gracie's body
Friday. Despite deep budget cuts,
the agency has managed to increase the number of social worker
specialists to five, she said.The case, she said, was unfortunate
as the stationing of social workers alongside law enforcement has been
"very, very successful."

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and
Child Protective Services are both are looking into how their agencies
handled the case of a Rancho Cordova infant who was found dead in a
bassinet.At issue is whether there was a lack of communication
between deputies and social workers.Jennifer Blanchette is
charged with endangering the life or health of a child.The baby,
Gracie Lynn Johnson, had severe birth defects and medical needs.A
family member asked deputies to check on the woman and the child on
April 8. Deputies went to the apartment but did not find evidence of
neglect or abuse. However, they did write a report and referral to CPS.The
deputy left the referral on the desk of a CPS worker who works out of
the Rancho Cordova Police Department. However, that social worker was on
vacation at the time. She found the report when she returned 18 days
later.She immediately referred the case to the CPS hotline.A
medical neglect team went out three days later but no one came to the
door.The next day, they went back out with deputies and found the
child dead in the apartment.Sacramento County Sheriff John
McGinness said deputies acted appropriately, based on what they
witnessed."No evidence of abuse or neglect, none whatsoever, and I
believe they did exactly what we as a society would expect them to do.
They documented their concerns and caused a series of events to go into
motion that would cause some follow up to occur," McGinness said.Johnson's
cause of death is still unknown. The coroner said it could be weeks
before they release a cause and manner of death.The sheriff said
the deputy didn't know the social worker was on vacation. But CPS said
the vacation was planned and the worker posted a note saying she was out
and not to place referrals on the desk.Both agencies said that's
not relevant, because what deputies saw in the apartment did not
warrant an immediate report or response.

RANCHO CORDOVA, CA - Investigators with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department have arrested a Rancho Cordova mother in connection with the death of her 5-month old baby.

According to the sheriff's department, deputies performed a welfare check just after 4:30 Friday afternoon at an apartment in Zinfandel Village on the 3500 block of Data Drive.

The child's mother, Jennifer Derose Blanchette, 40, allowed deputies and Child Protective Services to enter the apartment and that is when officers found the baby's body, said sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran.

The Sacramento County coroner identified the child as Gracie Lynn Johnson.

An investigation into the child's well-being, however dates back to April 8. According to Curran, a family member called the Rancho Cordova Police Department to conduct a welfare check on the mother and child.

An sheriff's deputy was sent to the home that day, and according to Curran, the officer determined that Blanchette could take care of the baby.

However, Curran, "Something in his gut made him feel that he needed to report it to CPS and that's what he did."

On Friday April 30, CPS and a Rancho Cordova police officer went to Blachette's home again, according to Curran. That is when they found the dead infant in a bassinet. Curran said investigators suspect the child had been dead for at least a week.

Curran said the child had several medical conditions. While the autopsy is not complete and the coroner has not identified the cause of death, Curran said investigators believe Blanchette willfully allowed the health of her daughter to suffer, placing her in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury.

Curran said, "The baby was a special needs baby and was born with a number of birth defects. The hospital actually required this mother as it would have with any mother to take some classes," to help her care for the child.

"The totality of the circumstances led us to believe that she should have been able to care for this baby. She should have provided for the care of the baby and she did not and that's why she was arrested," said Curran.

Blanchette was in court Monday afternoon on charges of child endangerment. Her arraignment was continued.

Sentence Summary:
	Count Sent. Type Sentence Date Prob. Status Prob. Term Prob. Supervision Custody Program Custody Length Prob. Type CASE O 02/10/2011 GS 5Y Yes ST 365D F

https://services.saccourt.com/indexsearchnew/CaseNumberList.aspx?SearchValues=BLANCHETTE,JENNIFER,DEROSE,4433032