Thirty-three children died in foster care in San Diego County from 2000 through 2007. Strict confidentiality laws kept the circumstances of the deaths secret.

OPENING THE SYSTEM A law that went into effect this year makes it easier to find out about children who die in foster care. It requires counties to divulge more information in a set period of time about deaths or near deaths from physical abuse or neglect. A court order is no longer needed to get the information, which is a major change. The law does not cover deaths that result from accidents or natural causes, or whose cause cannot be determined. The law is not retroactive, covering only deaths from 2008 forward.

But a San Diego Union-Tribune  review – preceded by years of petitions in court and Public Records Act requests – found cases that illuminate weaknesses in the system, including gaps in communication and in enforcement of regulations.

The system has addressed some, but not all, of the problems.

Between 6,000 and 7,000 children are in foster care locally each year and, on average, four to five die of natural causes, by accident or for no known reason.

Some child welfare advocates believe the system, and therefore the children, would benefit from greater public scrutiny.

“We're not saying these deaths are typical of the whole system,” said Bob Fellmeth, executive director of the Children's Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego. “We're saying, if these kinds of deaths happen, what does that tell you about the status of the system, about the level of care?”

For the past three years, the institute has compiled statewide data on the deaths by filing Public Records Act requests with each of California's 58 counties. It also has sponsored legislation to make the system that tends to the needs of 75,000 children statewide more open.

At the urging of the institute and other child welfare advocates, California legislators passed the most expansive law in the nation last year on releasing information about foster care deaths. Although it is limited and not retroactive, Fellmeth believes it is a positive step toward transparency.

“Why do you put canaries down a mine shaft?” Fellmeth asked. “To see what is going on down there. If they come back ill or damaged, you say, 'Uh-oh.'

“If they come back dead, you say, 'We better figure out what's wrong down there.' ”