Child-Abuse Caseload Is Shifted From D.A. to County Counsel

San Diego County supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved the transfer of child-abuse and neglect cases from the district attorney to the county counsel, after being assured by officials that children involved would not be harmed by the move.

The Board of Supervisors gave its nod to a proposal to grant about $1.5 million to County Counsel Lloyd Harmon to take over child-dependency casework after July 1. The money will pay the first-year costs of a division of 20 attorneys, 12 staff members and a chief deputy county counsel that will deal specifically with cases of child abuse and neglect, officials said.

“This is a move that the board is in full support of,” said Supervisor Susan Golding. “The critical issue is that the transition . . . be handled so that none of the kids are harmed and the cases are taken care of, and I think this has been addressed.”

Repeated Warnings

The board’s move came in response to repeated warnings by Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller that his office would not take any new child-dependency cases after July 1. Miller, citing the growing child-dependency caseload and its strain on his staff, initially informed county officials about two years ago of his intent to transfer child-dependency cases to the county counsel’s office, a spokesman for the district attorney said.

Last year the county removed about 3,700 children from their homes, up from 1,900 in 1984. This year as many as 5,000 children may be removed, county officials said.

Additionally, in most counties child-abuse and neglect cases are handled by the county counsel, officials said.

Supervisors initially were concerned that the cases, which often allow the county to remove abused or neglected children from their families, wouldn’t be attended to during the transition of responsibility.

But county officials assured supervisors that Miller would assist Harmon with the cases after July 1 and would help train the new county counsel attorneys and staff.

“Our understanding is that Miller is going to continue doing dependency cases, as he has been doing for the last 20 years,” Harmon said.

‘Not Going to Abandon Kids’

Added Carlos Armour, chief of the district attorney’s juvenile division: “We’ll keep going on those cases until the transfer is complete. We’re not going to abandon those kids, obviously.”

This has relieved some community child-health officials, who worried about a rocky transfer of responsibility.

“It’s good news,” said Caryl O’Brien, executive director of Voices for Children, a San Diego volunteer organization that assists the county with child-advocacy cases. “If Miller is willing to assist in the transition, things can go smoothly.”

Harmon and other county officials say the division will allow more manpower, money and attention to be devoted specifically to child-abuse and neglect cases, which have put an increasing strain on the district attorney’s office. That office has handled the responsibility since about 1970.

The proposal, introduced by county administrators, was a substantial increase over Miller’s present resources--eight attorneys and four staff members--to handle such cases. But it was significantly less than Harmon’s request for $3.2 million to fund positions for 27 attorneys and a support staff of 29.

However, supervisors indicated that they will increase funding for the division. After next year, the annual cost of handling child-dependency cases could rise to $2.9 million, officials said.

Harmon said he will begin within a week the hiring process for new attorneys and staff members to handle the cases, including a nationwide search for a new chief deputy county counsel, who will oversee the child-dependency division.