By Jeremy Loudenback, Photo: File photo, The Imprint, January 13, 2022
t the end of last year, Bobby Cagle stepped down as leader of Los Angeles County’s child welfare system after four years at the helm, citing the overwhelming pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the past two years, Cagle shepherded the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) through a host of challenges, including a lack of personal protective gear, outbreaks at congregate care facilities, social workers sickened by the coronavirus and the responsibility of upholding vaccination mandates for both staff and caregivers. Caseloads surged to a high not seen in more than a decade, and the disrupted courts and supervision process left many families stuck in the child welfare system, unable to reunify.
“I’m truly exhausted and intend to really take some time off just to kind of recollect myself,” Cagle said in an interview with The Imprint at the end of December.
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