SAN JOSE — After years of complaints about conditions at a center for abused and neglected youth, Santa Clara County is ratcheting up a search for another site.
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a series of options for replacing the Receiving, Assessment and Intake Center, a facility that’s supposed to just be a temporary and safe stop for children while they await placement in a more permanent home. Supervisors earlier this month called for an immediate halt to sending children to the center and proposed closing it.
While supervisors are pressuring county staff to quickly develop housing alternatives for children to avoid sending them to the receiving center, they also acknowledged many of those options are not ideal.
“It doesn’t sound to me like you’ve got a lot of good choices, but it does sound like there are choices that would be better than what we’re currently confronting,” Supervisor Joe Simitian told staff.
When children are removed from their home because of neglect or abuse, they enter what’s called the juvenile dependency system and may end up at the receiving center while social workers figure out where to house them.
For years, employees and advocates have complained that the receiving center is unsafe, citing incidents of drug use by older youth, assaults on other children and staff, and a lack of training for employees to deal with children who have significant behavioral or developmental issues.
While most children are placed in homes by the end of their first day there, some must stay weeks or even months.
Over the last several years, the county has discussed overhauling the receiving center until it can eventually be phased out, but little has changed there so far.
Supervisor Cindy Chavez said she blames the persistent issues at the receiving center on a “systemic” problem.
“I’ve had meetings with many of you where we’ve had this exact conversation — there has been no end to the discussions,” she said. “…That is all we’ve had. Now is the time to take action and do what we know we’ve needed to do for years.”
Supervisors Tuesday asked county staff to develop a system where children are either placed into a family or foster home within a day, placed in a home run by a community organization, or housed in a setting directly managed by the county.
Although the county is talking about closing the receiving center, it’s unclear whether some version of it will remain for children who are difficult to house.
A number of employees and children’s advocates — including members of the Child Abuse Prevention Council and the Juvenile Justice Commission — urged supervisors to come up with a solid plan before shuttering the receiving center.
“There will always be emergency situations that require a child to be placed in protective custody. This can happen any time of day or night,” said Andree Patron, a social worker supervisor.
Supervisor Dave Cortese said the emergency moratorium on new placements at the center wasn’t a call to immediately close it, but he was frustrated by timelines in the county staff report that suggest vetting alternative housing solutions through the end of the year and closing the receiving center by mid-January 2020.
He also pushed for “individualized” placement of children, rather than housing them in group settings.
“The intent is for the same individualized placement, and safer circumstances…but to speed up the execution,” Cortese said.
Supervisor Susan Ellenberg said while she’s concerned about conditions at the receiving center, sending kids to a centralized facility gives the county an opportunity to do medical and mental health screenings.
“The concept and institution has a continuing purpose,” Ellenberg said.
Among its options, the county is hoping to “significantly expand” the number of foster homes that provide intensive support services for children. That would require parents to commit to being available almost immediately after children are removed from their homes.
Family and Children’s Services said it has reached out to families within its network and anticipates having 10 homes available by Dec. 15.
But with limited foster homes — partially the result of the region’s high cost of living — the county in emergencies may resort to housing children in motels or hospitals along with support staff, county CEO Jeff Smith said.
“If the place burnt down today, we would either use an outside facility, like a hotel, or possibly screen off part of the hospital beds,” Smith said.
Employees at the center long have complained that children were not separated based on need, with younger ones there for the first time housed alongside those with significant behavioral, developmental or mental health issues, including teenagers who have cycled out of multiple housing placements.
Unlike children in the juvenile justice system who have broken a law and paid with their freedoms restricted, children in the juvenile dependency system can reject housing placements, Smith said.
Some kids become frustrated by rules and restrictions and decide to leave their foster homes for the receiving center, according to staff.
“They have authority on their own to decide where they are going to go, and the only way to ‘control’ them is to have a relationship with a provider that is caring, thoughtful and respectful — and that’s the best solution,” Smith added.
In recent months, children have been separated and sent to one of two locations. Those with no prior experience in the system go to the Keiki Center. Since September, the Department of Family and Children’s Services, which runs the receiving center, said it has intensified efforts to find family or foster placements for the children.
But past fragmented services have made it hard to build relationships with youth, said Robert Menicocci, director of the Social Services Agency. After the receiving center ultimately is closed, the county wants to streamline services so children will have the same providers no matter where they are housed, he said.
The department is reaching out to foster family agencies that provide special mental health services, with the hope they’ll be able to expand their services to provide care to children at separate housing sites.
“The difference is we’re asking a provider to build a continuum, so they can follow a kid through all their ups and downs and needs, and have a care team that follows them [in a way] that’s familiar, safe and consistent,” Menicocci said.
For youth who may take longer than a day to house, the county is exploring the creation of residential homes with 24-hour staff where children “could be cared for individually…on a short term basis,” according to a staff report.
County staff will return at a meeting in two weeks with another update.
Contact Thy Vo at tvo@bayareanewsgroup.com.