Charlene San Nicolas, right, acting director of the Department of Public Health and Social Services, speaks during an oversight hearing on improvements to foster parent eligibility and background check requirements Tuesday, April 18, 2023, at the Guam Congress Building in Hagåtña.
HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Officials with the Department of Public Health and Social Services said in a legislative oversight hearing they were being “reactive” in changing the process to vet potential foster parents, after criminal sexual conduct allegations were made against a foster parent.
Joanne Brown
On Tuesday at the Guam Congress Building, the Committee on Land, Health, Justice and Culture held an oversight hearing for DPHSS after foster parent Ryan Joshua Cruz was accused of sexually assaulting a child in his care, despite being previously accused, but not convicted, of similar acts.
With Director Arthur San Agustin absent from the hearing due to a medical issue, and with his deputies also absent, acting Director Charlene San Nicolas took the lead for DPHSS at the hearing. She started by explaining the vetting process for finding a suitable foster parent, which involves looking to see if an individual has been convicted of a crime, but not checking the person’s full criminal background.
A foster parent application obtained by The Guam Daily Post included a questionnaire that asks applicants if they have ever been arrested or convicted, or have a history of being an offender of “substance abuse, sexual abuse, child abuse, and/or family violence.”
However, with the concerns raised by senators after Cruz was charged, San Nicolas added the department is working with the Office of the Attorney General and the Guam Police Department to find other ways of determining an individual’s full criminal history, which includes arrests and active cases.
San Nicolas said the process had been used for years and was considered reliable.
According to court documents, Cruz, prior to being charged last month, has had an active case since September 2022 in which he faces similar charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Cruz, according to Speaker Therese Terlaje, was charged in 2018 with criminal sexual conduct, but the case was dismissed and expunged from his record because a victim’s statement was recanted.
After San Nicolas’ opening remarks, Patricia Mafnas, the chief of the Division of Children’s Wellness at DPHSS, prepared a presentation that details other efforts to strengthen the vetting process that includes coordinating with the Superior Court of Guam and gaining access to a national database, the National Crime Information Center, to provide background checks, as well as doing a general search on the internet.
Questions and concerns
Members of the 37th Guam Legislature present at the oversight hearing included Speaker Terlaje and Sens. Joanne Brown, Telo Taitague and Jesse Lujan, who all voiced their concerns to Public Health regarding the charges against Cruz.
Brown, who was the first to speak among the lawmakers, also asked about the process that eventually deemed Cruz a suitable foster parent. Public Health officials responded they were unable to comment because the investigation is ongoing.
Brown then went on to further express her concern and anger about the case.
“There’s something wrong in the system here for this to happen,” said Brown, who started to question the reliability of visits from social workers.
“I have no other way of expressing this other than anger, because I am very angry, because these are helpless children that we could not protect and if our system is set up not to protect them then, ‘Houston, we have a problem,'” Brown added.
Taitague followed Brown’s comments by explaining she was able to find news stories of Cruz’s past charges by doing a simple search online and praised Public Health for starting the practice, but also urged the agency to continue doing it.
“Go that extra mile for our children, the most vulnerable, those who don’t even have a fighting chance. They deserve that. … So, in the meantime, as we’re trying to figure this out and cover up those holes that our children are falling through, please go online, Google the name of the individual,” Taitague said.
Terlaje credited the DPHSS representatives for their efforts since Cruz was charged, in particular their initiative to confer with GPD, the AG’s office and the courts.
The speaker followed with a question on when Public Health can expect a response from the other agencies. Mafnas said a memo sent to GPD has yet to receive a response.
“I’m going to put a time frame on myself – 10 days – and I’m going to follow up within that time and, if not, we’ll see what we can do,” said Terlaje, who also asked, as did the other senators, for Public Health to suggest legislation that could help with the vetting process.
