Foster Homes
In reply to your editorial, “Anybody Care About These Kids?” March 12:
My concern is that The Times uses a letter written by the director of the State Department of Social Services which inaccurately describes the overall status of the licensing program in Los Angeles County.
In fact, Los Angeles County has made significant enhancements in the foster-home licensing program since the Department of Children’s Services became operational in 1985. We have modernized the licensing process to benefit children.
In addition to the licensing program enhancements, we have vigorously implemented training for foster parents, developed specialized homes to care for drug-addicted babies and have continued to support efforts of the foster parent associations throughout the county to advocate for program enrichments that benefit foster children.
In my opinion, the letter from the state was unnecessary. We have continually met with state licensing staff to keep them informed as we made changes in the program.
Your point that the foster care system is “fuzzy” and lacks focus is misleading. The purpose of foster care is to provide a temporary home while the social worker attempts to reunite the child with the family or, if that fails, find a permanent home for the child. As you say in your editorial, “no government agency can replace the loving parent,” but this is precisely what the many excellent individual foster parents do: provide a home filled with love and comfort to special children who have no other home.
The Times needs to know, and to inform its readers, that more than 50,000 abused, neglected and abandoned children (at any given time) are served by professionally trained and dedicated social workers and thousands of excellent, caring foster parents. They need the support of the community. Unfortunately, your editorial shoots from the hip and does a disservice to the dedicated social workers and foster parents in Los Angeles County.
ROBERT L. CHAFFEE
Director
Department of Children’s Services
Los Angeles County