Motion by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky

December 9, 1997

MOTION BY SUPERVISOR ZEV YAROSLAVSKY

The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has presented the Board with a plan to increase the number of beds throughout the county which will take “hard to place” children who are currently at MacLaren Children’s Center (MCC). Many of these children have severe psychological problems or are high risk youths who have been identified as “300/600.” Optimistically, we can hope to have some of these placements available by October, 1998.

Currently, most of the children at MCC are not receiving the type of services and medical treatment that they are entitled to and need in order to become more stable and move to a permanent placement. Sadly, many of the children are rejected from outside facilities and group homes, or are released from psychiatric hospitals, and are recycled in and out of MCC, in some cases up to 10 times. The only therapy available to children at MCC is a once-a-week group therapy session which only half the children receive. Because of the transitory nature of their lives, they never receive the services and treatment they need and deserve. While there may be an overcrowding problem at MCC, the lack of care and of individualized treatment is a problem of equal significance.

Consequently, reopening Pride House or Lion’s Gate at this time, would only shift our problems from one facility to another. It would be premature at this point to open a satellite facility when we are faced with so many functional problems at our primary location. MCC was never designed to be a treatment facility, but given the crisis situation with which we are faced, this must change. In order for the children who are currently at MCC to be permanently placed, we must begin to accurately diagnose and treat these children now.

The DCFS plan does makes reference to the augmentation of mental health services at MCC to include an expanded mental health assessment potential and mental health day treatment services; however, the plan limits assessment to new admissions only. In fact, each child who has been diagnosed as having a mental illness, is a “300/600", or is developmentally delayed needs a thorough assessment of his/her case file and the preparation of an individualized treatment and placement plan. This is a monumental task for DCFS and the Department of Mental Health to implement alone.

To accomplish this goal, an outside consultant with experience in creating and implementing strength-based wrap-around services for this population needs to be brought in to work with DCFS and DMH to accurately assess and prepare an individualized treatment and placement plan for each one of these children. Much of the cost for these services can be covered with Early Periodic Screening Diagnosis andTreatment monies, a federally funded entitlement program which provides preventative and treatment services, including mental health, for all Medicaid eligible children:

I THEREFORE MOVE that DCFS be directed to engage the services of a consultant to provide expert assistance to DCFS and DMH to accurately assess and provide a treatment and placement plan for each child; and

I FURTHER MOVE that DCFS be instructed to explore the feasibility of placing temporary shelters or bungalows at MCC, and to limit the population of MCC to 124 by May 1, 1998; and

I FURTHER MOVE that in light of the problems occurring at MCC by intermingling children with severe emotional problems with those who have behavioral problems, in the short-term, DCFS be instructed to evaluate the possibility of focusing its placement efforts on either one group or the other until such time that sufficient placement options are available; and

I FURTHER MOVE that DCFS report back to the Board of Supervisors on January 6, 1998, regarding the implementation of these directives and the progress being made thereon.