CPS Worker Kept Job Despite State Investigation Into Foster Abuse
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Blancho Brumfield has been responsible for investigating and reporting child abuse in Sacramento County since 2004, but according to state documents, she's accused of abusing some of our most vulnerable children herself.
Blancho and her husband Greg, had been foster parents in Vallejo since 1999. But in 2004, allegations were made she used gay slurs on her foster children, encouraged them to fight, and even locked them in her garage without air conditioning or heating.
The Brumfields were never charged. Instead they settled with the state. The couple surrendered their foster care license in 2007 and Blancho was allowed to keep her job with CPS.
Children's Advocacy Institute's Ed Howard says what makes this even more outrageous is CPS knew about the abuse allegations. They hired her after the allegations were made and kept her on the job even after the state reported the allegations to CPS.
"State government officials have some real hard questions to answer ," Howard said.
But a spokesperson for CPS told CBS13 over the phone that a "low-level" employee took the complaint and the state never followed up with its findings.
"It's completely pathetic to throw a low-level employee under the bus like that," Howard said. "Everybody knows the problems of this agency are long-standing, stubborn, procedural and systemic.
In February CPS placed Brumfield on paid administrative leave. But CPS refused to comment on the reason. We knocked on Brumfield's door but nobody answered.
We also reached out to the Vallejo Police Department to ask why it didn't press charges against Brumfield for her actions as a foster parent. The department said it found wrongdoing, but not criminal wrongdoing.
