Fight Against Child Abuse in Disarray

The San Diego County Grand Jury on Thursday released a detailed report concluding that the region’s system for handling child-abuse cases is in disarray and cannot adequately protect the young victims it was designed to serve.

After nine months of study, the jurors concluded that everyone from the state Legislature to the district attorney’s office to society at large shoulders some blame for the seriously deficient way in which child abuse is handled in San Diego County.

Overwhelming Proportion

The report documents a dramatic increase in reports of abuse in recent years and notes that there are at least twice as many child-abuse cases here as in similar size counties in California.

The jury, which released its report at a morning news conference, also proposed a laundry list of tough recommendations. But county officials asked to comment on the document warned that many of the jurors’ ideas may require more money and manpower than the agencies handling the cases can possibly come up with.

Among the recommendations are that the Board of Supervisors develop a public/private partnership to build and operate a children’s center for emergency care and family services; study the feasibility of establishing a Department of Children’s Services; and support a Family Relations Division in the Juvenile Court to provide more individualized attention to each case.

The jurors admitted they have no way to force public agencies to follow their advice.

“The county Grand Jury can’t go out and crack a whip over somebody” to make them comply, Jury Foreman Armistead B. Smith Jr. said.

Still, Smith--who opened the press conference by calling the jury’s findings “probably the most important report this jury will issue this year”--said he is hopeful that public opinion will lead to changes.

The county juvenile-dependency system protects abused and neglected children who have been declared wards of the court and removed from their homes for their own protection. Children declared dependents and placed in foster homes system range from sexually molested or physically abused youngsters to those who may be runaways.

The jury’s report suggests that the soaring number of child-abuse cases, disorganization, lack of accountability, and societal trends beyond the control of even the most capable and well-meaning social worker have conspired to overwhelm the system.

“There are many dozens of hard-working people in these organizations, . . . but the child-abuse issue has just exploded, and our system is not keeping pace,” Smith said.

Statistics show child abuse in San Diego County has skyrocketed in recent years. There has been a 97% increase in referrals to the county Children’s Services Bureau here over the past three years, the jury found.

Moreover, in recent years, San Diego’s Child Abuse Hotline has been receiving two to three times the number of calls received by the similar-sized counties of Orange and Santa Clara. The hot line received 57,665 calls reporting abuse in 1987, and 76,577 calls were logged last year--a 33% leap.

5,495 Calls Per Month

The hot line has been fielding an average of 5,495 calls a month in early 1989, up significantly from last year, according to Marilyn Laurence, a spokeswoman for the county Department of Social Services. County statistics show that only about 6% of such calls result in a petition being filed with Juvenile Court to remove a child from the home.

Some attribute the explosion to increased reporting of abuse, while others say it is a result of a burgeoning population and San Diego’s reputed status as the nation’s “methamphetamine capital.”

Carlos Armour, supervisor of the district attorney’s Juvenile Court division, said in an interview that he believes better reporting practices account for some of the higher numbers.

“Kids are now taught about good touching and bad touching in the schools, and the state now mandates teachers, doctors (and others) to report child abuse,” Armour said, adding that he and seven other attorneys review “a couple hundred” cases a day.

The Grand Jury report estimates the Juvenile Court deals with 6,500 to 8,000 children per month, of which 67% are dependency cases in which the court must decide whether to remove the child from the home.

Geri Beattie, clinical coordinator for the Center for Child Protection at Children’s Hospital, said she has seen an increasing number of children suffering from abuse severe enough to require hospitalization.

“I think the single most significant contributing factor is drug abuse. . . . In close to 100% of the cases we have here, one or both of the parents are involved in drugs,” Beattie said.

According to the Grand Jury, many agencies exist to deal with abused children but they have been smothered by the sheer increase in cases. Too few attorneys, social workers and judges are handling too many cases, burnout is high, and many cases aren’t receiving the attention they need, the jury found. Inexperienced workers are often thrust into the position of making life-and-death decisions for dozens of children a day.

‘Abusive System’

Perhaps most distressing, professionals in the field who were interviewed by the Grand Jury voiced concerns that, “Children removed from abusive homes were being abused again by a system designed to protect them.”

The report presented a tough set of recommendations for changing the system. Their ideas will be considered by the Board of Supervisors, the county Department of Social Services, the sheriff, the district attorney, the county Office of Education and the state Juvenile Justice Commission. Most, however, cannot be accomplished without a significant infusion of money and manpower.

“I don’t think all of it is doable,” County Supervisor Brian Bilbray said after hearing of the jury’s recommendations. “A portion of it we’ll be able to implement, but we’re so underfunded that every day the county is open for business we’re half a million dollars short.”

Bilbray agreed with the jury’s conclusion that San Diego has historically been ignored by the state Legislature when it comes time to hand out the public assistance money. For instance, Bilbray said, the County of San Francisco currently receives about $41 per capita in money to be used for mental health programs, while San Diego gets about $13.50.

Slighted on Funding

“San Diego’s been shortchanged for so long,” Bilbray said. “There’s a perception in Sacramento that San Diego is a bunch of rich Republicans, when in fact we have a lot of service needs throughout the county.”

Each agency named in the report must respond within 60 days to the recommendations.

The Grand Jury also took on Sheriff John Duffy, who, complaining of insufficient funds from the county, disbanded his department’s centralized child-abuse unit in October. Duffy has agreed to reinstate the unit this July, but the jurors would like to see it done sooner. Among their recommendations is that the County Board of Supervisors allocate money to the Sheriff’s Department to be used exclusively to fight child abuse, and for no other purpose--a proposal that Supervisor Brian Bilbray called “a definite possibility.”

The Grand Jury also expressed concern about the district attorney’s plans to stop handling juvenile-dependency cases, a change expected to take effect July 1.

“The D.A. is not the person who handles these kinds of cases in other counties,” Armour said. “Our lawyers are trained to handle criminal trials.”

Though the Grand Jury did not comment on that move, it has asked that the transition date be pushed back to Jan. 1, 1990, out of a fear that the county counsel’s office is not equipped to handle such a caseload.

Armour, however, said the transition will be gradual, and he doesn’t see any difficulty with the current schedule.

21 Special Lawyers Wanted

“It doesn’t mean on that day we’re going to walk out. . . . It’s probably realistic to say we’re not going to be completely out of this until the end of the year.”

The county counsel has requested money to hire at least 21 specially trained attorneys, at a minimum salary of $50,000. The Board of Supervisors will decide within the next few weeks whether to grant final approval to the changeover. If it does, the necessary amount of money will be budgeted for the fiscal year starting July 1.