Countywide

Seeking to alleviate what San Diego County Supervisor Susan Golding calls a “foster care crisis,” the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday took steps to recruit more foster parents for abused and neglected children.

Between 1984 and 1986, the number of children needing foster care in the county rose 35%, to 2,825, Golding said, while the number of foster homes available increased by only 6%, or 81. The shortage has led to foster parents being asked to take more children--in some cases, more than they can reasonably accommodate--resulting in many foster parents’ removing themselves from the program because of “burnout,” she said.

Under the board’s unanimous action, the county will work with private agencies to recruit more foster parents, and will try to increase the retention rate among existing ones. Toward that end, the county plans to shift more personnel to handle foster home licensing.