Could Santa Clara County’s use of unlicensed foster youth group homes — the scenes of runaways, assaults, a drug overdose and alleged rape — lead to criminal charges? State authorities already threatened as much last year, new documents obtained by this news organization show.
Child-welfare advocates say the county should face consequences for failing to appropriately license long-term housing of its most troubled and vulnerable children to ensure proper review and safety, which the Bay Area News Group revealed in May.
“This idea that they’re sending them to fly-by-night places that are unregulated is tragic and horrible,” said Dr. JeoffryGordon, a member of a state citizens advisory board that reviews child abuse cases. “It’s irresponsible to the max. It’s a crime.”
The county said in a statement last week that it has “faced major obstacles and challenges” from state overseers and blamed the state in part for “years-long licensing processes for critically needed” foster care services.
But Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, who’s taken strong stands concerning vulnerable children and recently charged a couple with murder after their child overdosed on fentanyl at their house, told the Bay Area News Group he’s eyeing the situation closely.
“We will pay close attention for any developments that weigh upon the safety of our community’s children,” Rosen said in a statement Monday. “If we discover a crime has been committed we will not shirk our duty.”
Counties across California have grappled with caring for high needs foster children since 2015 when the state legislature adopted landmark child welfare reform intended to place foster youths with relatives and foster families instead of group homes. That led to scores of group homes across California closing by 2019 — including a Santa Clara County shelter called the RAIC that was riddled with problems.
But since then, Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties all have developed, with the help of private providers, fully licensed “short term residential therapeutic program” group homes.
In Santa Clara County, however, private providers either couldn’t meet the state requirements or backed out of providing such services, and the county didn’t develop any of its own. Instead, without enough willing foster families, the county leased private homes around the county, called scattered sites, and without state approval opened them to the most troubled youth.
The California Department of Social Services, which regulates child care facilities, in 2020 called the county’s unlicensed group homes for foster children “unlawful” and said they “must cease.”
On Aug. 9, 2023, the state Department of Social Services sent a letter to the county’s Department of Children and Family Services director, Damion Wright, saying the county was violating the California Health and Safety code and its “continued operation without a license could result in civil and/or criminal action.”
In a Sept. 1 letter of response, Wright said the county had been working “diligently” to address the shortage of placement options, but that youth in the scattered sites are “extraordinarily challenging (if not impossible) to place.” The scattered sites, he said, have a “distinct therapeutic milieu” …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
