Social Services

Top Story: Insider tapped to probe children’s services

Insider tapped to probe children’s services

Rose Belda hit the ground floor running. Working from a basement office in the Hall of Administration, the newly hired chief of the Children’s Special Investigations Unit already had been directed by the Board of Supervisors to examine the deaths of 36 children. With no staff yet, she was doing her own photocopying of... [Read more]

Children and Families
Stepping up oversight for troubled children

Stepping up oversight for troubled children

In the wake of several high-profile deaths, the Board of Supervisors has taken steps to improve investigations and accountability at the Department of Children and Family Services and other agencies that intersect the lives of vulnerable youngsters. Two of those measures are focused on technology as a way to strengthen management oversight and improve communication... [Read more]


Homelessness
Project 50: watch us grow

Project 50: watch us grow

Call it “Project 250.” Spurred by the success of Project 50, the paradigm-busting homeless program targeting Skid Row’s most vulnerable residents, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky earlier this year proposed a countywide expansion he dubbed Project 500. But when the full Board of Supervisors asked the Auditor Controller to further study the program’s benefits... [Read more]

Housing
A new roof for homeless kids and their parents

A new roof for homeless kids and their parents

A rundown budget motel in Culver City is being transformed into an oasis for homeless families, a place where they can find emergency housing and comprehensive services designed to stabilize and restore their lives. Set to open in late January, 2010, the Family Shelter, operated by the Santa Monica-based Upward Bound House, will become the first emergency family... [Read more]