A two-month old baby abducted by his mother under the care of a Child Welfare Services employee this month is back in the care of the agency, the San Diego County confirmed with NBC 7 on Monday.
After questioning county officials about what went wrong, NBC 7 learned the agency does not have any specific procedure in place for when a child is taken.
Maximus Garcia was kidnapped on Nov. 8 by his 36-year old mother, Erika Ramos Saucedo. She did not have custody to her son and was visiting him for a supervised visit at the South Bay Womens Recovery Center in National City.
But the county worker overseeing the visit left Saucedo alone with Maximus, who took her son and fled to Mexico.
According to the county, social worker Monica Bonilla was assigned to oversee the supervised visit with Saucedo but a different employee took Maximus, breaking protocol.
National City Police (NCPD) said it took the worker about two hours to contact authorities after Maximus went missing. According to the county, the worker did "what any reasonable person may do" and contacted relatives, a supervisor and then law enforcement.
But the baby's father, Jose Garcia believes if the worker had contacted law enforcement right away, his son would not been taken to Mexico.
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"I don't wish this upon nobody in the world," Garcia said.
A county spokesman told NBC 7 that this incident was not a result of workers handling too many cases, adding that child welfare cases have decreased in recent years. He said all social workers take 20 hours of training a year, which includes online courses covering visitation.
Maximus was found after a three-day search and placed in a foster home in Mazatlán, Mexico. He was later brought to Rady Childrens Hospital for treatment.
The county spokesman said the incident was not a result of social workers handling too many cases. In fact, he said, child welfare cases have decreased in recent years.
He added all social workers take 20 hours of training a year, which includes online courses on visitation.
Garcia said since he does't have custody of his son, he isn't being updated on Maximus' condition.
Two employees were placed on administrative leave as county continues to investigate the incident.
Saucedo also reached out to NBC 7 from Mexico, saying she wanted to apologize for her actions. She said she wants to return to the U.S. sometime later in the week.
