Contra Costa County Grand Jury
• 2010-2011
Our Foster Care Children in Jeopardy Is Everyone In The Loop?
⚠️ 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
CFS lost 119 positions from January 2008 to January 2009. Of those, 65 social workers were eliminated from the foster care program.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
Contra Costa County was serving approximately 1,100 foster children as of December 31, 2009.
No recommendations for this finding
F3
CFS foster care case file information is both computerized and on paper. Information is not consistent between the two types of files and neither contains complete information.
Related Recommendations (2)
R1
CFS shall establish procedures among providers for the exchange of essential information about the children and families they serve.
R2
CFS shall ensure that all service providers including CHDP staff, mental health practitioners, social workers and school personnel have access to all information about the child.
F4
Access to computerized case files is restricted to the social workers.
No recommendations for this finding
F5
The court case files were well-organized and easy to follow. In contrast, the CFS files were cumbersome and incomplete.
No recommendations for this finding
F6
Not all CFS records contain documentation of school attendance. There is no school attendance policy for children under the age of sixteen. Children 16 years and older must attend school for foster parent payments to continue. Foster parents are responsible for the child’s attendance. Social workers may or may not be notified of truancy.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
CFS shall make tracking of school attendance of foster children a top priority.
F7
Frequent changes in home and school placements negatively affect a foster child’s academic performance and future success in life.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
CFS shall make tracking of school attendance of foster children a top priority.
F8
Medical assessments, social assessments, and immunizations are completed within 30 days of the foster child’s removal from the home. Social workers do not automatically receive these records.
No recommendations for this finding
F9
Due to lack of record sharing, immunizations are sometimes done repeatedly in error.
Related Recommendations (2)
R1
CFS shall establish procedures among providers for the exchange of essential information about the children and families they serve.
R2
CFS shall ensure that all service providers including CHDP staff, mental health practitioners, social workers and school personnel have access to all information about the child.
F10
Mental health records require court or parental authorization for release to CFS.
No recommendations for this finding
F11
Training of mental health service providers in the treatment of childhood trauma is insufficient.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
The Board of Supervisors shall ensure that providers of mental health services to foster children shall have training in current trauma-focused therapy.
F12
The staff of Home Finders has been reduced from 8 to 3 workers, leaving each with a caseload of approximately 300 homes to assess for new and continuing foster care placement.
No recommendations for this finding
F13
CFS works toward reunification of foster children with their immediate families as a first priority. If not possible, placement for foster children is with a relative or a licensed foster care home. CONCLUSIONS The enormous cost of foster care in Contra Costa County is not solely monetary. Foster children who must be removed from their homes bear the highest cost. Foster care, designed as a short-term safety net, can often result in extended placement disconnected from any family members. All children deserve a permanent and safe home where they are supported and nurtured on the path to becoming productive and responsible adults (California Blue Ribbon Commission). Bureaucratic constraints often impede the open sharing of communication among the many service providers involved in the foster child’s life. Decisions are best made for a child’s future when all information is shared.
Related Recommendations (2)
R3
After all efforts to reunify the child with his or her parents have failed, the next action of CFS shall be to locate extended family members utilizing the nationwide Family Finding Network.
R5
The Board of Supervisors shall make the needs of foster children a top priority when allocating and administering public resources.
Conclusions 1
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CL1 Page 4The enormous cost of foster care in Contra Costa County is not solely monetary. Foster children who must be removed from their homes bear the highest cost. Foster care, designed as a short-term safety net, can often result in extended placement disconnected from any family members. All children deserve a permanent and safe home where they are supported and nurtured on the path to becoming productive and responsible adults (California Blue Ribbon Commission). Bureaucratic constraints often impede the open sharing of communication among the many service providers involved in the foster child’s life. Decisions are best made for a child’s future when all information is shared.
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors
Elected County Office