Child welfare officials plan to reduce foster placements by offering services to families facing hardship.
A new Child and Family Well-Being Department within the county’s Health and Human Services Agency aims to prevent child abuse and neglect before it can happen.
The new department will combine the county’s child welfare services, the First 5 Commission of San Diego and other programs and services, with the goal of addressing poverty and other economic hardships to make sure children are safe at home, officials said.The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted this week to establish the agency. “If families experience at least one material hardship, the likelihood of being investigated for neglect increases nearly three times,” the board letter said.
The department would also address concerns that Child Welfare Services receives disproportionate numbers of calls about Black, Hispanic and Native American children compared to White or Asian children. By contrast, non-Hispanic White families make up 46 percent of the population but just over a quarter of child welfare complaints, and Asian families constitute 11 percent of San Diego’s population but 4 percent of child abuse or neglect calls.
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