Ventura County Grand Jury • 1996-1997

Casa Pacifica

Published: March 15, 1997 11 pages
Ver PDF original

Findings 13 findings

F2
Casa Pacifica is trying to do more kinds of things than it has the space to do. The Shelter and RTC Programs should be more separated. The cottages at Casa Pacifica are not well-designed and need to be modified. Supervision of the children must be top priority. There is not enough space to separate the different programs, ages,g enders, and special problems. As an example, shelter children who are shuffled from one foster home or group home to another will continue the revolving door syndrome until they are retained long enough to get to the root of their problems. They need to be housed in a separate facility away from first time shelter children, and a special effort needs to be made to rehabilitate them before sending them out again.
F3
Casa Pacifica should inquire into the possibility of having local construction companies donate time and materials to construct another building to house the children.
F4
Infants, pre-schoolers, and the first-timers should be placed in foster homes more quickly; then room could be made for older children who need the special and expensive services offered by Casa Pacifica. Foster parents and Casa Pacifica should not be in competition with one another. There is a place for both entities. PSSAh as the responsibility to mend the breach there and to build up the foster parent program to enable children who do not have serious medical or psychiatric problems to live in a normal family atmosphere until they can be returned to their families.
F5
Space could be made available for better use if shelter children were bused to area public schools.
F6
Security of the facility needs improvement. A better surveillance system would reduce AWOLs and alert staff more quickly to potential problems. A large, uniformed, male security guard who visibly patrolled the campus and cottages in the late afternoon and evening hours could add a calming presence during the time when most incidents occur. 121
F7
Communication needs to be improved among all the agencies and personnel involved. Common sense, substantiated by the clear declaration of the Welfare and Institutions Code, of which all the agencies involved should have a thorough knowledge, dictates that confidentiality should be based on a need to know. Known problems affecting the child’s welfare should be divulged during entrance assessment. Staff members at all levels who care for the children need confidential information pertinent to their handling of the child.
F8
Casa Pacifica is an important function of the child care service program in Ventura County. There is a need for better cohesiveness among Casa Pacifica and the county agencies. It is imperative that they share information and cooperate with one another. Along this line, the issue of computer incompat- ibility needs to be addressed because it creates delays in the transmittal of vital information. Records should be available to all relevant parties without rancor.
F9
State regulations which govern Casa Pacifica do not properly reflect its unique situation. Article 22 needs revision. It is designed for 6-bed facilities; however, larger facilities need different specifications. Restrictions need to be reassessed to provide guidelines appropriate for RTC children who are difficult to handle.
F10
California needs to change its laws regarding locking up children who are a danger to themselves or others. Sending them out of state does not keep them - from being locked up, but it does add significant cost to supervision both initially and because the social worker must visit them there once a month.
F11
Casa Paciflca needs to hire staff who are older, have more life experience, can make more mature judgments, and have more experience in working with children who have these kinds of problems. Having more male staff members - would be helpful. The staff needs better training in handling difficult children.
F12
Casa Padflca needs to reassessit s policy of accepting children whose behavioral - problems are more severe than it is equipped to handle. It should concentrate on those for whom there is hope of rehabilitation. However, do shelter children really need all of the analysis to which they are subjected before being sent to foster homes? If not, those children should be placed in foster homes more quickly.
F13
Casa Paclflca’s financial condition is critical; solutions must be found. RTC children, taken in from other counties, might well add revenues.
F14
There is a need for an advisory panel which reports to the Board of Supervisors regarding children’s services. This panel should have accesst o all records, have the authority to investigate, be trusted by the public, be able to evaluate the situation on a long term basis, and to make recommendations. The Board needs to be kept better informed about these important children’s issues. IS. Ventura County taxpayers have invested less than expected in Casa PacIfica, and get more service than they need for Shelter children, especially in the preschool age group for whom foster care would be a better choice. This space could be better utilized for those who need the specialized care. 122

Recommendations 16