State: Fresno County could face penalties for housing children in unlicensed facilities
California has warned Fresno County officials they can’t house children in unlicensed facilities under state law, and could be subject to civil penalties.
The former University Medical Center was made available earlier this month, with proper “bedding, staff, a food service and an onsite pantry” for children who can’t immediately be placed in a home. The UMC facility was prepped by the county after living conditions for children under Fresno County’s custody became public. The UMC facility is not licensed.
County officials said the UMC facility would be available while the county’s child welfare system moves into a new building in Clovis where it would be able to better accommodate children while they await permanent placement. However, that facility is also not licensed.
“California law is clear: a residential care setting serving children or youth must be licensed,” Jason Montiel, a spokesman with the California Department of Social Services, said Friday.
Earlier this month, The Fresno Bee reported children under the county’s custody were living at the CWS Office — the county’s main hub for Child Protective Services — while awaiting for a permanent home. Children would sleep on top of conference room tables and on mats on the floor.
The county scrambled to find an alternative place for the children to stay, but it’s not completely out of the woods since the substitute option is not a licensed facility.
“Generally, the CDSS would first issue a notice of violation of law and give the operator an opportunity to submit an application,” Montiel said Monday. “If the operator does not submit an application and continues to operate, then civil penalties may be assessed.”
The state has not issued a notice of violation, Montiel said.
On Wednesday, the California Department of Social Services sent a letter to Delfino Neira, director of the Fresno County Department of Social Services, that says the county is “currently housing children and youth in unlicensed settings.” That letter was to summarize a call with county officials last week.
Montiel said if the county submits applications for licensure for the UMC facility and the Clovis facility, the state’s Department of Social Services will review them for licensing approval.
Meanwhile, Sonja Dosti, spokeswoman for Fresno County, said the county was trying to establish a transitional shelter facility, but the state had not approved it.
“In our discussion with the California Department of Social Services, our request to develop a Transitional Shelter Facility was denied; however, we are hopeful that further collaboration with the State will generate other solutions,” she said Friday.
On Monday, however, Montiel said the county has “not requested the ability to establish a transitional shelter care facility,” but rather on Friday, his department reminded the county of that licensing option.
When asked to clarify, Dosti on Monday said it was officials’ “recollection” they had inquired about it during the call last week with state officials, and “did not get an affirmation to go forward.”
But an email from the state late on Friday was a “game-changer,” she said. A new transitional shelter would be for kids needing to stay there for more than 24 hours.
Dosti said officials don’t believe the UMC facility would meet licensure requirements, and it was meant to be “a stop-gap measure,” pending the move to Clovis. She didn’t mention any plans by the county to apply for a license for the Clovis facility.
Since the UMC facility opened, a few youth have had to spend the night, while others were quickly placed, Dosti said.
Taylor Dudley, administrative director at the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families, said child welfare systems in California exist and operate according to state laws, state policies and state licensing provisions.
“Where we are not in compliance, the state can come in and say, ‘They need to close,’” she said on Monday.
In 2016, the Children and Youth Welcome Centers at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center closed, largely due to a lawsuit by the California Department of Social Services. The centers were designed to house children while social workers searched for placements, but children were allegedly staying at the centers beyond the 24-hour limit. Several other problems were seen with teens staying at the Youth Welcome Center.
Prior to the establishment of the centers, foster children were also sleeping in offices in LA County.
Immediate fixes
Some of the immediate fixes Fresno County could do is to support relatives and address barriers that prevent placements with extended family, Dudley said. Under California law, when children are removed from their parents’ custody, the children should be placed with relatives whenever possible.
Oftentimes, homes can be “perfectly suitable,” but they may not have the proper number of beds, or they’ll have a smoke detector missing, or they may lack a screen on the windows, Dudley said. If the agency could buy a $25 smoke detector, that would help “add homes to the pool for children.”
“Really looking at what we can do to support relatives is so critical to addressing the shortage of homes,” she said.
Leslie Starr Heimov, executive director for the Children’s Law Center of California, said other solutions include doing more “front-end family finding.”
“We know from lots of data and research that most children have relatives available, we just don’t do a really good job of finding them, and then again, helping them get set up right away,” she said.
Licensing certain foster parents to be “emergency foster parents” is also a fix, Starr Heimov said.
“Fresno County does not have specially designated emergency or short-term foster homes,” Dosti said. “This has been something we have attempted to contract previously and the caregivers who responded were primarily interested in young children and were not open to teens with behavior challenges.”
However, the county does make emergency placements with relatives and mentors, for example, she said.
Transitional care shelters are another option, Starr Heimov said. These shelters are usually licensed to house children for a limited number of days.
But there also needs to be long-term reforms, and those include taking a close look at the removal of children.
“Are we removing children only where there are safety concerns that cannot be remedied, and are we ensuring that when we do remove children, racial bias is not playing into that removal?” Dudley said.
Another reform that has been recommended in child welfare is to examine the background issue for relatives who have a criminal record from 20-30 years ago, and have since changed their lives.
“That would really free up a lot of homes,” Dudley said. “Of course, I’m not suggesting that we place children with folks that are clearly unsafe.”
Same problem seen across California, the nation
Fresno County officials said a shortage of placement options led to children living at the CWS Office while social workers searched for available placements.
Almost identical situations have been seen in other jurisdictions across California, such as in Sacramento and Los Angeles counties. Other states haven’t been immune to this problem, and most recently, Texas has seen a “catastrophe” as more than 200 foster children slept in state offices in March of this year alone.
Officials in Texas say they have a “capacity crisis” as the number of beds available are not enough for children entering the system.
Starr Heimov said this phenomenon isn’t rare. State officials earlier this month said such instances were “uncommon.”
“This happens regularly across the country, not just in California,” she said. “There are statewide and nationwide shortages in.. foster home placements.”
There is a “huge drop-off” when you look at the number of people who express interest in becoming foster parents and those who actually complete the process, Starr Heimov said.
“We lose a lot of foster parents when they are frustrated by not getting the support they need when the child is struggling,” she said.
This story was originally published October 27, 2021 at 8:01 AM.
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