Report on Group Homes

The Assn. of Children’s Services Agencies represents 35 private, not-for-profit community agencies that provide a range of services for vulnerable, multiple-problem children and their families in Los Angeles County. We are deeply distressed by the inflammatory charges made in the report of the grand jury’s Juvenile Services Committee (April 9, 10).

Twenty-eight of our member agencies provide residential treatment services, which offer therapeutic services to all children in residence, including individual, group and family therapy, as well as adjunct therapies, recreation and educational services. These agencies all subscribe to standards that exceed those required by licensing or the Department of Children and Family Services contract, and participate in external reviews by accrediting organizations to ensure compliance with such standards. One would not recognize the excellent facilities and programs of any of these agencies in the descriptions offered in the report, though several were visited in the course of the investigation and were praised by the jurors visiting.

We welcome Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky’s call for hearings. We are eager to participate, along with other children’s advocacy groups and DCFS, in constructive efforts to ensure that all children who are under the care and supervision of the county receive the care and treatment they need and deserve.

LINDA LEWIS

Executive Director

ACSA, Los Angeles