Contra Costa County Grand Jury
• 2008-2009
Restrictions Impede Grand Jury Investigation Children and Family Services Bureau Prevents Oversight To: Contra Costa
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 13 findings
F1
Section 925 of the California Penal Code requires that “The grand jury shall investigate and report on the operations, accounts, and records of the officers, departments, or functions of (Contra Costa) county ”
No recommendations for this finding
F2
Section 919(c) of the California Penal Code requires “The grand jury shall inquire into the willful or corrupt misconduct in office of public officers of every description within (Contra Costa) county.”
No recommendations for this finding
F3
Section 939.9 of the California Penal Code requires that “A grand jury shall make no report . . . on any matter except on the basis of its own investigation of the matter made by such grand jury.”
No recommendations for this finding
F4
Section 827 (a) (1) (P) of the Welfare and Institutions code provides that a case file may be inspected by: “Any other person who may be designated by court order of the judge of the juvenile court upon filing a petition.”
No recommendations for this finding
F5
The Contra Costa County Children & Family Services Bureau of the Employment & Human Services Department of Contra Costa County is subject to the oversight responsibilities of the Contra Costa County Grand Jury.
No recommendations for this finding
F6
There have been numerous newspaper articles and anecdotal stories state-wide about foster children being placed in unsafe or abusive homes, not attending school and not receiving appropriate medical treatment. There have also been reported incidents during which a lack of oversight resulted in death.
No recommendations for this finding
F7
Interviews by the Grand Jury suggest that the rapid turnover of assigned caseworkers and recent budget reductions are detrimental to the welfare of the foster children.
No recommendations for this finding
F8
CFS establishes a case file for each foster child. CFS maintains that they have detailed records covering such things as the cleanliness of the living facilities, school attendance, indications of domestic violence, substance abuse and all medical records. CFS has taken the position that these files may not be reviewed in their entirety by the Grand Jury.
No recommendations for this finding
F9
The Grand Jury spent many months attempting to gain full access to a random selection of case files. This effort began in September, 2008 and has continued to the present. These efforts included numerous meetings, electronic correspondence, and telephone conversations with CFS senior personnel as well as attendance at court hearings.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department.
F10
The Grand Jury has repeatedly requested that CFS provide access to review a random selection of complete current case files. This review would be conducted by a select group of Grand Jurors in a secure CFS location. Each request has been denied or indefinitely postponed. CFS contends that significant portions of the files be redacted before they can be reviewed by Grand Jurors. The redaction included all parties’ names (including children, parents and mandated reporters) and addresses, excluding the names of towns. The first names of the children did not have to be redacted.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department.
F11
As a result of a Superior Court hearing dated January 21, 2009, and based on of Welfare and Institution Code 827, CFS agreed to provide Grand Jury access to requested case files, but due to the lengthy redaction process imposed by CFS, the Grand Jury has been unable to review any complete files.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department.
F12
Over 200 Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) have immediate and direct access to the complete current un-redacted case files of County foster children to which they are assigned. Conversely, the Grand Jury, in its legally authorized oversight role has consistently been denied access to complete case files.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department.
F13
The oversight provided by federal and state authorities appears to involve comparing reported CFS statistical information with similar statistical information from other foster care agencies. No review or oversight is apparent from any non-agency personnel inspecting actual current and complete case files. (Note: No peer review documentation, though requested, has been made available.) CONCLUSION It is the Grand Jury’s understanding that CFS has not previously been asked or directed to make its foster care case files available for inspection and review by an outside, independent entity. It has become evident that CFS believes it should not be subject to any Grand Jury oversight. Specifically, CFS has required substantial alterations be made to any case file requested for review. The outcome of the CFS policy is to delay and deny the Grand Jury the ability to review complete un-redacted case files in a timely manner.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department.
Conclusions 1
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CL1 Page 3It is the Grand Jury’s understanding that CFS has not previously been asked or directed to make its foster care case files available for inspection and review by an outside, independent entity. It has become evident that CFS believes it should not be subject to any Grand Jury oversight. Specifically, CFS has required substantial alterations be made to any case file requested for review. The outcome of the CFS policy is to delay and deny the Grand Jury the ability to review complete un-redacted case files in a timely manner.
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
County of Contra Costa
Agency