attended the Skelly hearing.
     During the hearing, Mr. Gomez explained how he and his subordinates - Ms. Morissey and Mr. Villalobos - had handled the case.
     The history of the case begins with Tyresha J. who was born June 15, 1995, addicted to cocaine. The child was detained by DCFS, placed in foster care and declared a dependent of the Juvenile Court. A dependency petition was sustained against the mother on the ground that the mother's use of cocaine created a danger to her. The court ordered family reunification services for the parents as well as random drug testing for the mother and drug counseling for the father.
     Mr. Gomez said, during the hearing, that after 18 months - from June 1995 to Dec. 1996 - the parents, Tal J. and Josie T., had substantially complied with the case plan. The father had resided in an in-patient treatment center, participating in substance abuse meetings and employment preparation courses from Sept. to Dec. 1995. By Dec. 1996, he'd completed 10 of 10 parenting classes, 2 of 10 chemical education sessions, 9 personal growth sessions and 17 individual counseling sessions.
     In fact, Tyresha J., father had attended 3 and a half years in college in Oregon, wich he attended on a football scholarship. He'd played professional football in Canada.
     Altought not ordered by the court to drug test, the father had tested clean from May to July 1996. He had no record of domestic violence, physical abuse or crimes against children.
     Similarly, the mother had completed parenting courses given by DCFS. She had received a certificate of seven months of sobriety and 75 hours of parenting classes at an in-patient treatment center. She had 6 clean drus tests from Oct. 1995 to Jan. 1996. She had no criminal record of physical abuse or domestic violence.
     In addition, she gave birth to a baby

The documents delivered a day and half before the hearing.

parents told Mr. Villalobos that they were drug testing and that they would get the results to him before the next hearing set for Dec. 1996. In his Dec. 1996 report, Mr. Villalobos reported to the court that the parents claimed to be testing but had not produced the results. Still, he recommended that Tyresha J. remain a dependent of the court but that she be placed in the home of the parents since the parents agreed to participate in a family preservation program. The program would include random drug testing, unannounced home visits and parenting classes. Mr. Gomez and Ms. Morissey signed off on the court repots and recommendations.
     In Dec., the court approved - with

the assent of Tyresha J.s court-appointed attorney - her placement with the parents.
     DCFS is divided into regiaonl offices and cases are assigned geographically. By late 1996, the parents had moved away from Region III, where Mr. Gomez worked. So the Tyresha J. case was tranferred to the DCFS office in Region II, where the parents had moved. Under the department's "Reassignment and Transfer" policy, a DCFS office receiving a case has 7 days to reject it if it fails to meet DCFS standards. Region II did not reject the case.
     Between Jan. and April 4, 1997, there were a combined 15 visits to Tyresha J's home by Laura Pedersen, the CSW assigned the case in Region II (her visits were unannounced) and by the family preservation agency's staff. Ms. Pedersen last visited the home on April 4, a Friday, in the late afternoon.
     On Sunday morning, April 6, 1997, Tyresha J. was killed, a victim of blunt force trauma, according to the coroner. She was pronounced dead on Sunday afternoon at about 1:50 p.m. The coroner believed she had been killed 3 to 4 hours before sha was pronounced dead. Thought initially charged with murder, the parents later pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
     The department denied Mr. Gomez's Skelly appeal, contending that since there was no documentation for the parents' claims that they were drug testing, he had approved an egregiously insufficient and misleading report to the court in Dec. 1996.
     In March 1998, the civil service comission granted Mr. Gomez a hearing. which was consolidated with the hearing of his subordinate, Ms. Morrissey.
     The first hearing date was set for Aug. 28.
     Around June, we issued subpoenas, requesting all documents supporting the suspension, particulary a so-called Office of Human Rights investigation.
     On Aug. 19, attorney Rees Lloyd,

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