Grand Jury critical of foster-care system in Tulare County

Grand Jury critical of foster-care system in Tulare County
BY DAVID CASTELLON • DCASTELL@VISALIA.GANNETT.COM • JULY 13, 2010

Children in Tulare County foster homes do not undergo routine mental-health evaluation and not all get monthly visits from their caseworkers, the Tulare County Grand Jury reported this month.



In its final report for 2009-10, the Grand Jury recommended that Child Welfare Services follow its own guidelines. Those guidelines call for caseworkers to visit children in foster care every month and have all children undergo mental-health evaluation.

The Grand Jury also recommends that caseworkers make periodic, unannounced visits to foster homes and that Child Welfare Services provide the Grand Jury with access to foster-care records "to monitor the progress of social workers and ensure the health and safety of children in foster care."

No investigation of the county's foster-care program had previously been conducted by the Grand Jury, officials said.

According to the report, the just-completed investigation stemmed from South Valley news reports of children:


Being placed in abusive homes.

Receiving inadequate medical and mental-health care.

Having poor school attendance.

Being unprepared to cope with life outside the foster-care system.
No incidents in Tulare County were cited.

The Civil Grand Jury is appointed every year to investigate public agencies in Tulare County to determine whether they are working efficiently and within the law.

The foster-care investigation involved interviews with foster parents, Child Welfare Services workers, court-appointed advocates for foster children, court personnel and young adults who recently left the foster-care program.

Records Reviewed

Grand Jury members also reviewed some foster-care records but were denied a review of random case files, according to the report.

Grand Jury members also were not allowed to ride along with child-welfare caseworkers or attend a juvenile court hearing, the report says.

The report states that Child Welfare Services based its denials on two California Welfare and Institutions Codes: Code 827, which restricts access of records and information on minors in the justice system; and Code 10859, which involves confidentiality of information about those receiving public services.

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County Health and Human Services spokeswoman Allison Lambert said Monday that a response to the Grand Jury report is being prepared by her office, which oversees Child Welfare Services.



Health officials did not respond to a request for the number of children in the county's foster care system.

With the information the Grand Jury did receive, members came to these conclusions.


Some foster children have gone six months or more without visits by social workers.

Visits by birth parents often are traumatic for foster children, resulting in disruptive behavior.

Those leaving the foster system are given little or no instruction on how to access medical services, the Social Security system or money for education.
Program Eliminated

The report notes that California has eliminated the Independent Living Program, intended to prepare foster children to live on their own.

"The [program] was very beneficial to the success of foster children becoming productive members of society," the Grand Jury report states.

On a positive note, the Grand Jury reported that court-appointed special advocates provide effective advocacy for foster children.

http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20100713/NEWS01/7130314