Number of Children Going to Foster Homes Growing

The number of California children going into foster homes is increasing at an alarming rate, and until preventive measures are taken the figure is expected to continue rising, according to a report issued Thursday by a coalition of children’s welfare groups.

The Chief Probation Officers Assn. of California, the County Welfare Directors Assn. of California, the Los Angeles County Department of Children’s Services and 14 other groups released the report during a news conference at a children’s service center in Hollywood.

The report’s findings support a pair of legislative proposals that would direct more of the state’s child welfare money to services that will help families remain intact.

“Our state is really upside down in the way it approaches the family care issue,” said Assemblyman Bruce Bronzan (D-Fresno), author of the two bills. “Our attention has all gone into placing children in foster homes--the most expensive and least effective use of money.”

The report states that California has “over-invested” in foster care programs, and that for every $10 of the $875 million spent last year on housing displaced children in California, about $1 is spent on programs that try to keep children and their parents together. Los Angeles County alone spent $186 million for foster care last year.

Because so little money went to preventive programs, the number of children in out-of-home care statewide increased by 65% between 1985 and 1989, the report said. More disturbing, the report stated, the number of infants in foster care rose by 235% during the same period. In the state, about 4,400 infants were in foster care in 1989.

Anne Powell, a consultant to Bronzan, said his bill takes into account the “disproportionately high number of minority children who are being placed” outside of the home.

“The bill states that preference be given to serving minority communities,” she said. “We are not doing a very good job of reaching those families.”

Many factors lead to children being separated from their parents, said Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Paul Boland. Parents’ drug use, their lack of parenting knowledge and a lack of affordable child care are some, said Boland, who presides over the court’s juvenile departments.

The Assembly bill proposes that some of the funds now being used for foster care be applied to drug treatment, parenting instruction--particularly classes for new mothers--and an emergency fund to help pay for minor home repairs, furniture, and unexpected transportation costs, the report stated.

About 18,000 cases of child abuse or neglect entered the county court system last year. In about two-thirds of those cases, Boland said, the child was sent to live with relatives, in a county-funded group home, or with a foster family. Boland estimated that half of the “out-of-home placements” can be avoided if more emphasis were placed on prevention.