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There were disturbing
statistics reported this week about the number of foster children
under the care of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and
Families Services (DCFS) that runaway from their foster homes.
Perhaps most disturbing is the department’s admission that they have
permanently lost track of these children.
We are not talking about one or two dozen scattered cases. 913
children under the care of DCFS have been lost in 2005. That
represents a startling 23% increase in the number of missing foster
children in Los Angeles County in the past three years.
Tragically, there are always going to be children in our system that
will runaway from their foster homes. Unless we went to the absurd
extreme of treating foster homes like prisons and these children
like inmates, we will not be able to prevent all of those who want
to runaway from doing so. The one thing we can do and must do is
look at reducing the staggering number from where it now stands.
913 runaways in one year is unacceptable any way you look at it.
There must be a better way. We must do more; as a Department, as a
Board of Supervisors, as a County and as a community. We can do
better by these 913 runaways and all of the 38,000 foster children
under the County’s care.
So what is the only solution proposed by DCFS? Give us more money
and more staff.
To say that growing the bureaucracy of DCFS is the only way to solve
this problem is flawed. We have grown DCFS. We have given them more
staff and funding. We have even seen the caseload of foster children
under the responsibility of the social workers drop over the last
several years in order to expand individual attention on each case.
But even with this growth of DCFS, we still have these alarming
numbers before us. Despite the improvements in this department that
are always cited, hundreds of foster children still do not feel safe
within the system purportedly designed to protect them. It is at
least safe to say that 913 of our foster children feel this way.
We have to look beyond simply padding a bureaucracy as the solution
to ensuring the safety and well-being of children in our care. We
need the community to get involved in the lives of these children.
Earlier this year, I directed the County’s Inter-Agency Council on
Child Abuse and Neglect to form a mentoring program for our foster
youth. I challenged this taskforce to provide a mentor for every
foster child by 2010. I’m pleased to say that much progress has been
achieved towards this goal. There has been an outpouring of
enthusiasm from community agencies and the private sector.
I believe that if any one of those 913 runaways had a caring mentor
in their lives to inspire confidence and teach them to make better
choices for themselves, that they would not have made the decision
to runaway in the first place.
I encourage anyone reading this to look into becoming a mentor to
foster youth. If you are looking for information, a good place to
start is my website, www.knabe.com. There you will find names and
phone numbers of local organizations that can connect you with
mentoring opportunities with foster youth. You might be just the
thing that would give these children hope for a brighter future.
DON KNABE
Supervisor, Fourth District
County of Los Angeles
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