No End in Sight to Crowding at Orangewood : Social services: Every bed is already taken at the children’s facility. Shelter advocates fear budget crisis will make matters worse.

In the babies’ bungalow at Orangewood Children’s Home, cribs fill the open room that serves as one big nursery, sticking out from every nook unoccupied by strollers and boxes of diapers.

In the bungalow for teen-age girls, twin beds are pressed against the walls of small rooms, and in some, mattresses lie on the floor for a third girl to sleep on.

At Orangewood, the last refuge for the county’s abused and neglected children, every bed, every crib, every pallet, cot and stroller is taken.

Record overcrowding has come from the continuing increase in child abuse in Orange County. And the shelter’s advocates are worried that deep budget cuts sparked by the county’s bankruptcy will send even more children to Orangewood’s doors.

Orangewood’s budget is not targeted for cutbacks. But the county’s Social Services Agency is facing a proposed $54-million reduction--meaning that 725 jobs would be lost and that social workers could see their caseloads increase by one-third.

Social workers say that if they must carry larger caseloads, they will not have time to do the intensive counseling that can prevent abuse and keep families together. So more children would end up at Orangewood, they say.

“At this point, Orangewood Children’s Home is being preserved, but with the dismantling of counseling programs and family support programs, the likelihood that more children end up in Orangewood is quite high,” said County Supervisor William G. Steiner, former director of Orangewood.

But Orangewood is already full.

The shelter was built to house a maximum of 236 children, and rarely are there fewer than 230 living there. On a reporter’s visit earlier this month, about 250 children were there, and in January the number peaked at 297--highest in the home’s 10-year history.

“When we were that full we did a variety of things to cope,” said Orangewood Director Mary Harris. “We got cots for the children and had some of the young teen-age boys camp out in the foyer to the gymnasium. And we turned our meeting room into a mini-nursery.”

Children arrive at Orangewood in various ways. Some are dropped off by police officers who have arrested their parents; others are brought in by social workers when their homes are too dangerous for them to remain. Infants, often born to mothers too addicted or sick to care for them, are sometimes brought straight from the hospital where they were born.

By state law, Orangewood has to admit any child brought there, and not only are more children being brought to Orangewood, they are staying longer.

The average stay at the home is 28 days, but that number is increasing. A Social Services Agency study of Orangewood released last summer showed that 500 of the 2,452 children admitted in 1992 stayed in the shelter for more than two months because social workers could not find a relative, foster home or group home to take them.

Meanwhile, the number of Latino children requiring placement has doubled in six years, and they now make up 36% of the children at Orangewood. That’s partly because there is a chronic shortage of foster families who speak Spanish.

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Most of the county’s abused or neglected children are never admitted to Orangewood. Of the 45,000 reports of child abuse and neglect in Orange County in 1993, only 5% resulted in children being admitted to the shelter.

“Orangewood really is the last resort and it receives only the most damaged and vulnerable of Orange County’s children,” Steiner said.

In the next few weeks, Steiner and other members of the Board of Supervisors will decide whether to implement the cuts proposed by Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy to reduce the county budget by $188 million. Under Popejoy’s plan, almost 73% of the 1,040 county employees targeted for layoffs would come from the Social Services Agency.

A public hearing on the proposed social service cuts will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Hall of Administration in Santa Ana.

Steiner said he will fight the social services cutbacks and seek out other options.

“Economically it doesn’t make sense for the county to have a big increase of children at Orangewood, when kids can be maintained in their own homes at a fraction of the cost,” Steiner said.

It costs about $120 a day to house a child at Orangewood, and that pays for room, board, clothing, education and medical costs. Extras such as toys, Christmas presents, birthday presents and field trips are paid for with donations.

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It is a recent Friday afternoon at Orangewood, and the 2- and 3-year-olds are getting hungry and restless. Lunchtime is coming up soon, followed by an afternoon nap. Noticing visitors, a few toddlers stop playing and wander over. A blond girl in blue overalls and a pink shirt is the most assertive, wrapping her arms around a visitor’s leg. “Up,” she says firmly, raising her arms.

Bob Theemling, county deputy director of Children’s Services, which oversees Orangewood, bends to pat her on the head. Before he can touch her, she grips his dangling tie and pulls with all her 2-year-old might, laughing.

“No, no,” he says gently, prying away her fingers.

A shy, dark-eyed 3-year-old also wants some attention from the new people in the room but seems torn. He stands very close but doesn’t touch anyone.

His name? He says nothing. After some urging, he points to the identification band on his wrist where his name is written, but he remains silent.

Theemling said the smallest children at Orangewood do not show the stresses of their lives the way the older children do. At first, some think they are at a sort of camp. But inevitably they begin to miss their families, Theemling said.

It is hard to generalize about the older children, he said. Some teens are visibly angry, others shutter their feelings. A few are relieved to be out of bad situations--more children hop the fence to get in than to get out, Theemling said. But most want to go home.

“No matter what, it’s still an institution and what they really want is for their families to be all right,” he said. “They may look all right, but their scars are inside.”

It is time to leave the toddlers room. Theemling waves goodby and the little girl in overalls stands at a safety gate, watching as the visitors leave.

The other children return to their games and to the arms of the staff waiting to play with them.