Report 2011-101.2 Recommendation 4 Responses

Report 2011-101.2: Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services: Management Instability Hampered Efforts to Better Protect Children (Release Date: March 2012)

Recommendation #4 To: Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services

To ensure that it is placing children only in safe homes, the department should measure its performance and adjust its practices to adhere to state law, which requires that all homes be assessed prior to the placement of the child.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2018

DCFS ensures that children are placed in safe homes by conducting assessments of the prospective caregiver(s) and their home(s) prior to the children being placed, regardless of whether the placement is emergent or not. When emergently placing children with relatives or Non-Related Extended Family Members, DCFS conducts a CLETS,CACI, and CWS/CMS history search for all of the adults residing in the home or having significant contact with the children. If there are any criminal or child welfare hits, or concerns, the placements have to be approved by the Regional Administrator. Additionally, an inspection of the home and grounds is required to ensure the placement is free of conditions that may pose an undue risk to the health and safety of the children.

During an emergency placement, the home has not been referred for nor been approved by the RFA section. The placing Children's Social Worker (CSW), usually it is the Emergency Response (ER) CSW, conducts the criminal check and home inspection. It is the sole responsibility of the Resource Family Recruitment and Approval Division to determine if a prospective home is approved. Basically the ER CSW is doing a check of the adults and home until the RFA section completes the full assessment. The ER CSW will then submit the RFA intake request.

Once placed, the Resource Family Approval (RFA) referral is submitted, which initiates the RFA process. The RFA process includes an in depth screening process inclusive of criminal clearances, background checks, interviews of the prospective caregiver(s) and anyone with significant contacts to the home, as well as, the physical home inspection(s) in order to ensure the appropriateness and safety of the placement. Relative caregivers must sign all necessary placement paperwork, including the RFA payment. For non-emergent placements, the RFA referral is made prior to the children being placed in the home.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Resolved

In our March 2012 audit report we acknowledged that state law allows for abbreviated background checks for emergency placements but also requires an in-home inspection prior to such a placement. At that time, the department was not requiring social workers to document that they completed these in-home inspections prior to the emergency placement.

After reviewing the department's current policies and procedures, the department clearly requires in-home inspections prior to emergency placement and provides social workers with a checklist for them to use in doing so. However, the policies and procedures do not include a specific requirement for social workers to document this inspection. Because social workers may in fact be documenting compliance with policy in their case notes, it would take a detailed audit of records to determine whether the department's social workers are inspecting homes prior to placement.

We consider this recommendation resolved in that department policy mirrors state law and updated guidance from the California Department of Social Services, but not fully implemented because we still lack assurance that home inspections are being completed prior to placement.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2017

DCFS continues to operate within the applicable laws governing this issue as cited in past responses. To ensure child safety, Department policy requires a home assessment and several clearances (California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS), Child Abuse Central Index (CACI), and Child Welfare Services Case Management System) before a child is placed into a home of a prospective relative caregiver or Non-Relative Extended Family Member (NREFM) that has not completed the Resource Family Approval process. The current process allows for emergency placements with a relative/NREFM provided that all adults in the home, and all adults with significant contact, have a clear CACI/CLETS and child welfare history check, and the home's physical environment is appropriate.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Will Not Implement

In its response, LA DCFS reaffirms its existing policies and practices and does not indicate that it is has made any change to its policies and practices in response to our recommendation.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From September 2015

DCFS continues to believe it is operating within the applicable laws governing this issue as cited in past responses. As an update, the Department is also exploring the possibility of contracting out aspects of the home assessment process and is working with the State in planning for the Resource Family Approval (RFA) process, which all counties are required to implement by January 2017. The RFA process will provide one assessment for approval of foster homes, relative/NREFM caregivers, legal guardianship and adoption.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Will Not Implement

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2014

DCFS continues to believe that it is operating within the applicable laws governing this issue as cited in earlier responses. DCFS continues to monitor the referrals and dispositions of requests for assessment of relative and Non-related Extended Family member (NREFM) homes of all children placed in relative/NREFM care. The standards used for assessment and approval remain the same as previously reported. To assist in assuring conformity to State regulations, DCFS continues to participate in the CWDA Southern Counties' Relative Assessment Unit (RAU) bi-monthly meetings, and the Statewide CWDA Licensing/Relative Approval Subcommittee bi-monthly meetings. Children in homes not approved or pending approval are centrally tracked, and Corrective Action Plans (CAPS) and Documented Alternative Plans (DAPS) continue to be encouraged where appropriate to allow safe child placements.

Further, the Department has recently benefited by the review of a Blue Ribbon Commission, which recommended that the relative assessment process be privately contracted. The Department is currently undertaking preliminary steps to explore the recommendation, with the expectation that such action would enhance both conformity and efficiency.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Will Not Implement

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2013

As noted in its initial response, the Department asserts that it adheres to State Law when placing children. DCFS has submitted in prior responses a May 24, 2012 letter from CDSS indicating that WIC section 309 permits the temporary placement of a child with a relative or NREFM before or at the detention hearing based upon the abbreviated assessment of the relative's suitability described in Section 309(d)(1).

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Will Not Implement

The Los Angeles County Department of Children Family Services (department) disagrees with our interpretation of state law; it believes it does not need to complete formal assessments of caregivers and homes before placing children in homes. As described in our comments on pages 81 through 84 of the audit report, we strongly disagree with the department's interpretations and specifically point to the words from state law that the county disingenuously modified in the legal analysis it provided to support its conclusions. On page 82 of the audit report, we provide further detail of the department's lack of effort in assessing homes and caregivers prior to placement of children, at times not even visiting the home to complete required assessments. The department's continued assertion that a May 2012 letter from the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) supports its incorrect interpretation is patently false. CDSS's letter correctly identifies state law and regulations that require assessments of homes and caregivers prior to placement of children. At no time does the CDSS letter affirm that the views of the department are correct.

1-Year Agency Response

Beginning in June 2012, the department's Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) Division began the rollout of training on policies and procedures for ASFA requests and assessment protocols to the regional offices. Between June and November 2012, staff from nine offices participated in ASFA training. The June 30, 2013 deadline for completion of training for all regional offices remains in the ASFA Division Chief's 2012-2013 goals.

In addition to the formal training, the ASFA Division implemented mandatory in-person, and, when necessary, telephone contacts between ASFA social workers and their supervisors, and between assistant regional administrators and regional administrators. Further, ASFA Division's management continues to hold informal and formal case staffing on referrals and cases pending denials. As recently as February 5, 2013, each ASFA social worker was required to provide on-going refresher training regimen for their respective offices. This is being developed in collaboration with the respective regional offices' administration.

The ASFA Division managers and supervisors have also participated in meetings and workgroups with Kinship/Relative Caregivers and the Juvenile Dependency Court to provide training and insight on the ASFA relative approval and the information gathering processes; to address the barriers identified by the group; and to elicit court collaboration in assisting with approval of potential relative caregivers.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: No Action Taken

The department continues to not measure its performance and adjust its practices to adhere to state law, which requires that all homes be assessed prior to the placement of a child.

6-Month Agency Response

The department disagrees with our interpretation of state law; it believes it does not need to complete formal assessments of caregivers and homes before placing children in homes. As described in our comments on pages 81 through 84 of the audit report, we strongly disagree with the department's interpretations. (See 2013-406, p. 124)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: No Action Taken

All Recommendations in 2011-101.2

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.