AUSTIN, Texas -- According to a report released by the Department of Family and Protective on Thursday, Child Protective Services workers "failed to follow policy" regarding six reports and four investigations into allegations of child abuse and neglect involving Colton Turner, the Cedar Park toddler whose remains were found in southeast Austin last month.
"The failures in the Colton Turner investigations are unacceptable," the report says.
DFPS has terminated three employees following the investigation: the investigation caseworker, the supervisor and the program director responsible for the latest of four investigations. DFPS identified the fired employees as Diana Cortinaz, Liza De Leon and Liza Nash.
The DFPS report says the agency has added more master investigators to assist with Travis County investigations, and special investigators from other parts of the state will be temporarily reassigned to Travis County to assist with investigations.
Investigation 1: July 27, 2012 -- Sept. 11, 2012
According to the DFPS report, officials received a report that Colton was being abused and neglected by the boyfriend of Meagan Work, Turner's mother. The report said Turner had been seen with scrapes and bruises and that there was drug use in the home.
A CPS investigator visited the home and interviewed Work and her boyfriend. Turner, 9 months old at the time, appeared in good condition, and the caseworker didn't see any scrapes or bruises.
The report says several CPS policies were violated in this case, saying the caseworker did not organize a joint investigation with law enforcement, take photographs of Turner and or reach out to other sources to discuss Work's boyfriend.
Investigation 2: March 23, 2013 -- June 13, 2013
The DFPS report says the second investigation was launched after a report accused Work of abusing and neglecting her son.
The report alleged sexual abuse and chronic drug use on Work's behalf, but the report says when a caseworker visited twice in spring 2013, Turner had no injuries or signs of neglect, but Work did admit to occasional drug use. The report says the caseworker classified the case as "unable to determine" because there was no evidence that her drug use impacted her care for her son.
The DFPS report says two policies were violated during this investigation: It wasn't completed within 60 days, and the caseworker didn't address the alleged sexual abuse. The report also says the living conditions were not appropriately investigated.
Investigation 3: June 27, 2013 - March 3, 2014
The third investigation was launched when CPS received more reports of neglect, abuse, drug use in the home and the risk of sexual abuse.
According to the report, the investigation caseworker again observed no injuries on Turner and drug tests administered to Work were negative. A special investigator was assigned to the case in August 2013, but when the caseworker visited in December 2013, no photographs were taken and Turner's condition wasn't documented.
The final time CPS saw Turner was on March 3, 2014.
The DFPS report says policies were again violated in this investigation because Turner was not seen between June 19 and Dec. 18, 2014. The report was also downgraded, caseworkers did not address all of the allegations, the special investigator did not document Turner's health, no photographs were taken and the investigation was not completed within 60 days.
Investigation 4: May 21, 2014 (investigation ongoing)
The fourth investigation was launched when CPS received a report that Turner had bruises and slap marks, and alleged continued drug use by Work and her boyfriend. Although the report said there were photos of Turner's injuries, the DFPS report says the caseworker never requested the photos.
On June 14, CPS received a tip that Turner had "visible injuries and looked ill in photographs posted on his mother's Facebook page."
The DFPS report says from May 21 to Aug. 28, no effort was made to locate the family, and the caseworker never saw Turner.
CPS received another report on Aug. 28, and a new investigator worked closely with law enforcement until learning of Turner's death on Sept. 12.
