A 35-year-old Eureka woman was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of child neglect, endangering the health of a child and failing to send a child to school after she came to the attention of officials due to her school-age children being habitually absent from school.

Cynthia Eunice Brissette was arrested at about 11:20 a.m. and booked into the Humboldt County jail, where she remains pending arraignment, a statement from the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office said. Three of her five children were taken into protective custody by DA investigators and released to Humboldt County Child Welfare Services for placement.

The DA’s office said Brissette failed to properly address the severe medical issues one or more of her children had. She also made no apparent attempt to resolve the issues, failed to respond to letters from the DA’s office and failed to appear in court Tuesday.

“Due to her flagrant lack of parental control and care, coupled with the health concerns for her children, HCDA investigators obtained a warrant for her arrest, charging one count each of…child neglect, endangering the health of a child and failing to send a child to compulsory school.” The warrant was issued by Humboldt County Superior Court Judge J. Michael Brown Wednesday with a bail amount of $15,000.

DA investigators received confidential information regarding Brissette’s possible location at 11 a.m. A fugitive investigation was initiated and she was located on the 1800 block of F Street in Eureka. She was arrested without incident, the DA’s office said.

“My office has no tolerance for parents that completely neglect the educational and medical well-being of their children,” DA Paul Gallegos said in a statement. “In extreme cases such as this, my investigators go above and beyond the normal course and scope of their duties to ensure that the children are removed from the harmful environment and placed in an environment where they have a chance to thrive, be successful, and most importantly, be safe, healthy and happy.

“We do not take lightly the challenges facing our school systems and will do everything in our power to ensure compliance with (School Attendance Review Board) guidelines.”

All Humboldt County schools use a SARB to address problems with students who are habitually truant. The intent of the SARB is to address problems early on, when attendance issues are first identified, and to work closely with the student and his/her family to find solutions to the problem.

SARB is usually successful with intervention efforts and most attendance issues are resolved after the first or second intervention. In severe cases, when regular compliance can’t be attained through intervention efforts, the case is referred to the DA’s office for review. When appropriate, the DA’s office files charges against the students parents for violations of the state education code. Letters are sent to parents, advising them of a court date to resolve the charges against them. In extreme cases, warrants are issued – commanding that the defendant be brought before a magistrate to address the charges against them.