OAKLAND — Attorneys for the family of a foster child who died after ingesting methamphetamine sued Alameda County on Monday, alleging that social workers should have removed the girl from the home two weeks earlier — after she swallowed the narcotic for the first time.

Attorney Darren Kessler, who is representing the girl’s brother identified as Jeremyah P. and his guardian, said county workers missed obvious signs that 3-year-old Mariah was in danger.

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“There’s a problem here in our system,” Kessler said. “These were rules that were violated and I think possibly safety measures that were flawed.”

The suit alleges that defendants Alameda County and Triad Family Services placed the siblings in the care of Maria Moore in Stockton on Sept. 30, 2015. Four days later, on Oct. 3, Moore took Mariah to the hospital after the toddler was “acting strange” and “talking to herself.”

“That afternoon in a park, in Jeremyah’s presence, Mariah’s ‘strange’ behavior was to see monkeys and bunnies running around when none were there, to shake and sweat, and her heart was racing,” the lawsuit said. “She was acting hyper, much different from her natural and previous shy demeanor.”

The girl was diagnosed with “altered level of consciousness” and “amphetamine abuse” after staff at St. Joseph’s Medical Center took a urine sample, according to the lawsuit. Kessler said police, hospital workers and the San Joaquin Human Services Agency notified Alameda County social workers and Triad, but the girl remained in the home.

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Less than two weeks later, on Oct. 16, Mariah died in the arms of her then-5-year-old brother after ingesting methamphetamine for a second time, according to Kessler. Kessler said her death and any investigation into the matter received little to no attention because juvenile and foster systems cases remain confidential.

“They don’t have a voice, they don’t have people who will speak out on their behalf,” Kessler said. “What happens is it’s a system without accountability. The people who are in control of the kids in cases such as this are the ones responsible.”

The lawsuit filed by Jeremyah through his guardian, Shannon Villanueva, lists the county, county employees Diane Davis Maas and Sue May, Triad and Moore as defendants. Messages to Triad and Alameda County Counsel were not returned.

Reach by phone Tuesday, Moore called the death an accident.

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“I didn’t have anything to do with it,” Moore said. “I was cleared. I was not charged with anything.” She declined to say anything more until she speaks to her attorney.

“A lot of people dropped critical balls,” Kessler’s co-counsel, Liza de Vries, said. “I don’t know how anyone can hear that a 2-year-old ingested methamphetamine and not respond to that.”