2 Blows: Beaten by Ex, Dunned as a Deadbeat

Wendy Lopez survived hammer blows to the skull from her ex-husband. It is the bureaucratic blows since then that have threatened her fragile existence.

Lopez, 29, has the delicate features and prominent cheekbones of a model. It is impossible to tell that there are metal plates holding her skull together, and that her cheekbones are the work not of her parents’ genes or a plastic surgeon, but of emergency room doctors.

Six years ago, as Lopez lay bleeding and gasping after being attacked by her husband, he told their young daughters, “Your mother’s dead.”

But she wasn’t. Left with injuries to her brain, lungs, stomach and jaw, she fought her way out of a coma, off traction and back to a semblance of a normal life. She got counseling, and a divorce. Now, she tries to hide her grief on the rare weekend visits she is allowed with her three daughters at their guardians’ home in Lake Elsinore.

But in recent months, she has battled a different kind of adversary--officials making a no-holds-barred attempt to get her to pay child support for the daughters taken from her. They are not going after her ex-husband, who was convicted of attempted murder and is now on parole.

A Riverside County judge, prompted by the district attorney’s family support office, ruled that Lopez must pay child support from her meager $574-a-month disability payments. Indeed, $175 was docked from her June and July checks.

“I am shocked by this decision,” said Lopez in her soft, thick voice, slurred by brain damage but understandable. “I just don’t understand what they could be thinking.”

Orange County began similar proceedings against Lopez in 1996, but stopped once they realized she was disabled and living on limited income.

Her daughters, now ages 12, 11 and 9, were taken from her by an Orange County judge who followed the recommendations of social workers, according to juvenile court files. The social workers’ reports are sealed in court files, and a judge refused to allow a reporter to see them.

Lopez said a former neighbor had accused her of not feeding the children properly and taking them to a motel when she fled her abusive home. Lopez said the children were always fed and that she had to flee to a motel because she was worried about her daughters’ safety as well as her own.

Lopez provided a copy of a letter by Dr. W.T. Escobar of Tustin, who had helped her with extensive rehabilitation efforts. The letter said that as of Dec. 30, 1993, Lopez “has made substantial neurological and cognitive recovery to a point that she is now physically, emotionally, and cognitively in the position to take care of her children.”

The social worker who originally handled her case, and who said she might have her children returned to her eventually, did not return calls from The Times.

It would be difficult for an Einstein to untangle the mess that Lopez waded into. For a woman who a doctor found had suffered permanent brain damage, she displays a certain mastery over what has happened and how she needs to proceed. She has learned to send all her correspondence by certified mail, to save voicemail messages from caseworkers and attorneys, and never to stop trying to get answers.

After being contacted by The Times in June about Lopez, Cecilia Donnelly, family support administrator for the district attorney, said “her situation will be cleared up.”

Donnelly said the same thing when she was contacted by The Times last March. Instead, it got worse. In January, Lopez was told she owed $1,000 in back child support. The latest notice, from the California Franchise Tax Board, states that she owes $1,800 because of accrued interest and penalties. If she does not clear it up, her bank account, her 1982 Plymouth Reliant and even her clothing could be taken from her.

Donnelly did not return a call from The Times last week about the continued garnishment of Lopez’ checks.

In March, Donnelly said that the crushing caseload her staff handles means that it takes time to get things straight.

The 99 caseworkers there each handle an average of 1,400 to 1,600 cases, according to Donnelly, and there is a backlog of 130,000 cases.

Donnelly explained that because Lopez is receiving federal disability payments, her children are entitled to federal aid as well. Because Lopez, who got her first job when she was 14, worked enough years and contributed enough to the Social Security fund before she was attacked, she is being paid from federal Social Security funds rather than state disability funds.

“She’s not on welfare,” Donnelly said. “The children deserve the money.”

If Lopez hadn’t been a productive, working member of society, Donnelly acknowledged, she would be receiving state payments and she wouldn’t have to worry about child support.

In any case, all Lopez had to do was apply for the federal benefits for her children. The problem was, Donnelly acknowledged, nobody from her office had informed Lopez of that, so a judge ruled that she owed more than $1,000 in back payments, and her case went into default, meaning credit bureaus were notified and her benefits are being garnisheed.

“I don’t know why nobody told her,” said Donnelly in March. “After you [the reporter] called, we sat down and had a long meeting to try and figure out her case, and I realized what we were trying to do was have her apply for Social Security money that is there. As long as she does that, she will be OK.”

Well, maybe. Lopez filled out the application in March and was told by the Social Security office in May that benefits were now being paid to her children’s guardians, but the family support division still did not clear up her case.

In June, Donnelly ordered her staff to talk to the county welfare office, which verified that the guardians had received a $5,000 lump-sum back payment for the children. She spoke with Lopez and promised her that all the paperwork would be taken care of this time. It still hasn’t happened. However, Donnelly did tell Lopez last week after The Times called that a refund check would be coming in the mail.

Lopez’s therapist, Debra Vajcner, a licensed marriage and family practitioner who is paid with state victim/witness funds to help her, said the case was infuriating, especially because Lopez had worked so hard to recover from years of abuse and structure a normal life.

“This is outrageous,” Vajcner said. “She is a shining example of a woman who has survived brutal domestic violence, and to put her through this is just ludicrous.”

But Donnelly said her office was right to pursue the money for the children.

“If there’s money there, yes, maybe I am more zealous than some other offices,” she said.