The death of 8-year-old Genesis Mata has left a lasting mark on the community and led many to demand change from Kern County's Child Protective Services.
School counselors say as mandated reporters, they often report cases but see little action from CPS.
"I have seen firsthand how broken Kern County's Child Protective Services System is," said Brooke Malley-Ault, school counselor at Mira Monte High School.
During Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting, mandated reporters — including Malley-Ault — voiced concerns about CPS. The high-profile case of Genesis Mata has put added pressure on social workers and counselors to report suspected child abuse.
Malley-Ault said that in several instances where she's filed reports, almost every time, nothing happened.
"As a mandated reporter, once we file, we are told that our duty is done and to let CPS handle it, but too often what comes back is a letter saying that there is no need to remove the child from the home," Malley-Ault said. "We feel helpless because we know what we've seen, yet we're told to stand back."
While most school districts in Bakersfield chose not to comment, I spoke with Social Worker Mayra Perez with the Arvin Union School District to see how the process of a child abuse case is handled.
"We make sure to pay attention if their appearance changes or if their behavior changes because those could be red flags to abuse or neglect," Perez said.
If a CPS case is filed, depending on their decision, Perez said the school still does its best to provide the student and their family with additional support.
"We can refer them out to outside services. We also can refer them to the FRC, our Family Resource Center, which is right around the corner that way they can get extra support if they need it," Perez said.
A Grand Jury report released in April also drew attention to issues within CPS, stating it was underfunded and understaffed, leading workers to deal with heavy caseloads.
"We have made efforts over the last 2-3 years to increase salaries to help increase retention, as well as we have added social worker positions to our budget," said Maria Bermudez, assistant director of Child Welfare Services.
Despite these efforts, some say it's still not enough and may lead some cases to fall through the cracks.
"8-year-old Genesis Mata should be here today, and she's not," Malley-Ault said. "Let her name remind us that doing nothing is not an option."
Supervisors did support the public's request for an external review of CPS, which will be conducted by an outside firm.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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