The director of Los Angeles County’s Department of Children and Family Services, Bobby Cagle, told county leaders Tuesday that he planned to step down next month from running the nation’s largest child welfare agency.

The departure of Cagle comes as DCFS faces mounting scrutiny over a series of highly publicized fatalities and abuse of children under the agency’s care.

Last month, a foster mother in Norwalk was charged with torturing and abusing a 4-year-old boy, who was left hospitalized in a coma. The episode prompted county leaders to call for an investigation into DCFS handling of the case and triggered pointed criticism of the agency under Cagle’s leadership.

“This is a good time to reimagine what it really does mean to protect a child in L.A. County,” Supervisor Janice Hahn, who authored the motion calling for the investigation, said at the time.

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