Lawsuit targets child welfare agency

The family of a toddler who died while in foster care filed a lawsuit last week against the Clark County Department of Family Services, accusing the child welfare agency of failing to properly supervise neglected or abused children in their care.

The federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of Baby Boy Charles, a 7-month-old boy who was found dead with severe head trauma on Aug. 2, 2006, in his foster mother's home.

Authorities accused Baby Boy Charles' foster mother, Melanie Ochs, of killing him. She initially denied intentionally hurting the toddler.

The lawsuit claims that the Department of Family Services doesn't protect children in its care and doesn't supervise foster parents.

The lawsuit, filed by Baby Boy Charles' birth mother, Morgan Charles, and others, also alleges that the county's child welfare agency didn't properly investigate Ochs and wrongly issued her a foster care license.

"Defendants (Department of Family Services) failed to exercise acceptable professional judgment and instead departed from the exercise of acceptable professional judgment," the lawsuit states.

A spokesperson for the Department of Family Services could not be reached for comment late Monday.

In 2006, the Oakland-based nonprofit National Center for Youth Law filed a class-action lawsuit in Las Vegas federal court alleging that the Department of Family Services places foster children in unsafe homes and overcrowded facilities such as Child Haven, the county's emergency shelter for abused and neglected children.

There have been several high-profile deaths involving children in foster care, including that of 2-year-old Zander Martino, who was found dead in July in his birth father's house. Martino's family previously had been investigated by the Department of Family Services for suspected abuse.

Zander's father, Richard Martino, has been charged in the youngster's death.