Santa Clara County's Department of Family and Children's Services said it is implementing a state-ordered five-year improvement plan and collaborating with other county departments to improve care for high-needs foster teens. The improvement plan followed the fentanyl overdose death of baby Phoenix Castro. Investigations by the Mercury News and the state Department of Social Services found the agency prioritized keeping troubled families together over child safety and identified unlicensed group homes for older foster youths that experienced assaults and runaways; those homes have since been licensed. A civil grand jury found a poor track record helping older youth, a lack of urgency, and expressed reservations about leadership ability to improve care. The Board of Supervisors directed an overhaul and Supervisor Sylvia Arenas called for changes.
Santa Clara County's child welfare agency has taken exception to findings in a critical Civil Grand Jury report that the county lacks urgency in improving care for high-needs foster teens. Not only is the agency actively working on a state-ordered 5-year improvement plan - brought on by the fentanyl overdose death of baby Phoenix Castro - it is also partnering with other county departments to get it done, child welfare officials said in their response this week to the Grand Jury report made public earlier this month.
The county's Department of Family and Children's Services has been under intense scrutiny since baby Phoenix died after being sent home with her drug abusing father two years ago despite warnings from social workers she could be in danger there. Investigations by the Mercury News as well as the state Department of Social Services found that the agency put higher priority on keeping troubled families together than on keeping children safe. The Mercury News also found that when it came to the care of older foster youths, the county was running a string of unlicensed group homes that were the scenes of numerous assaults and runaways. Those have since been licensed.
In a July report titled, "Falling Through the Cracks," the grand jury investigating the county's foster care system determined that the child welfare agency had a "poor track record" of helping older youth, had "no singular sense of urgency" and expressed "serious reservations" that its leaders could effectively improve their care.
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