Alameda County’s Division of Youngsters and Household Providers failed to fulfill state deadlines to analyze alleged baby abuse, present bodily and psychological well being care and keep household connections, in accordance a report revealed Tuesday by State Auditor Grant Parks.
The report admonishes the Alameda County foster care system for ongoing structural deficiencies, together with brief staffing and poor record-keeping, whereas additionally noting that the company’s plan to deal with service gaps should not be sufficient to convey it as much as commonplace.
“Without timely investigations and thorough documentation,” Parks wrote, “the division runs the chance of leaving youth in probably unsafe circumstances or of not offering very important providers that youth in its care require for his or her properly‑being, household connections, and profitable transition into maturity.
Alameda County’s foster care system has confronted vital controversy over the previous decade for a number of deaths of kids of their care. In 2015, 3-year-old Mariah Mustafa died from an overdose of methamphetamine in her foster house. Her older brother, simply 7-years-old on the time, sued over her dying, and Alameda County and a nonprofit paid a $3.5 million settlement.
State Sen. Aisha Wahab penned a letter in April 2024 to the state auditor requesting an investigation of the Alameda County Youngsters and Household Providers Division, citing, “years of issues… especially concerning foster youth.”
“There are clear systemic failures and a lack of administrative planning to support foster youth with emerging and complex needs,” Wahab added.
The state auditor’s workplace investigated company’s data between July 2019 and June 2024, when the Youngsters and Household Providers Division obtained virtually 57,000 reviews of alleged baby abuse and neglect. For essentially the most severe allegations, the company should start an investigation inside 24 hours, whereas much less rapid considerations have to be investigated inside 10 days, in response to state regulation.
“In fiscal year 2023–24, the department initiated investigations of 11 percent of immediate referrals and 48 percent of non‑immediate referrals after the required time frames. Furthermore, the department did not complete investigations within the prescribed 30 days after initiation, and it took the department an average of 105 days to complete investigations for about half of all non‑immediate referrals in fiscal year 2023–24,” in response to the report.
Parks’ audit recommends a sequence of adjustments to the Youngsters and Household Service Division to align itself with state necessities. This contains extra oversight for the company’s dealing with of investigations into baby abuse, an overhaul of its hiring and recruitment practices, and thorough documentation of its data by Oct. 2026.
Alameda County Youngsters and Household Providers Assistant Company Director Michelle Love responded to a draft of the report on Aug. 29, stating her division was devoted to bettering its efficiency and would implement the report’s suggestions.
“The Department intends to take appropriate action in collaboration with its interagency partners and contractors to implement the recommendations,” Love wrote in a response to the audit. “The Department appreciates that the Report notes that delays, both in investigations and in ensuring youth receive the services needed, are often not within the Department’s control.”
