Rise in Abuse of Sacramento Foster Children
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Sexual Assault Lawyer. A 55% increase in substantiated reports of maltreatment in Sacramento foster homes is raising concern among advocates.
California Foster Care Abuse
From July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017, the Department of Social Services substantiated 85 claims against Sacramento foster placements. These violations included physical and sexual abuse in foster homes, group homes, and other residential facilities. Sacramento County has the sixth highest rate of foster child maltreatment cases in the state.
Abuse in Sacramento
Reports over the last year contain horrifying accounts of abuse. One such document from January 2017 details an investigation into a child being starved in a foster home. A June complaint even documents sexual abuse against children in foster care. In one particularly egregious case, a facility was found to not have adequate food for it’s six foster children twice in 2017 alone. This facility was also implicated in reports that a staff member abused a youth and left the child with a concussion.
Sacramento has not experienced this volume of complaints since 2006, when nearly twice as many children were in foster care. Sacramento county has also reported a decrease in successful placement of children with relatives, coupled with an increased reliance on group home placements.
Understanding the Statistics
The rise in reports of child abuse does not necessarily mean that caretakers are mistreating their wards or failing to provide a safe home at higher rates. The numbers could indicate systematic problems with how data is being processed by social workers, increased awareness and reporting requirements around sex trafficking, postponed reports of past abuse, and instances of abuse by a third-parties. Furthermore, updates to the Department of Social Services internal tracking systems have resulted in a glitch affecting assessments of first placement with relatives. The State and County are conducting a review of the data but have not provided a timeline for their findings.
Sacramento Child Protective Services
Sacramento County’s Child Protective Services (CPS) has had several issues over the past few years including understaffing. A report by the CPS oversight committee in May noted that heavy workload and inadequate support and training were most commonly cited by departing employees. The county was also recently forced to stop using one of its administrative facilities [see video below] as temporary housing for youths.
Watch Youtube Video – State Orders Sacramento County Foster Care Office to do better. If you will recall, Sacramento County had until September 30 to improve the foster care intake process which reports say allowed neglected and abused teens and children to sleep on a floor in a county-run building.
Related Articles by Sacramento Sexual Assault Lawyer, Ed Smith:
- Child Sexual Abuse Warning Signs
- New Sexual Assault Laws in California
- Supporting Survivors of Sexual Assault
Sacramento Sexual Assault Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Sexual Assault Lawyer. If you or someone you care about has been sexually assaulted, I am here for you. Please call me any time at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400 for compassionate, free and friendly advice. I can also be contacted online via my website, just click here.
I have practiced law in California since 1982, helping injured people and their families recover after accidents and the unexpected. Some of my valued client’s reviews can be found on: Google, Yelp, and Avvo.
I have been honored by the Million Dollar Forum, a group that recognizes trial lawyers for their work achieving settlements and verdicts in excess of one million dollars.
You can find summaries of some of my past Verdicts and Settlements here.
