Orangewood’s Crunch

Orange County officials have taken an important first step in planning how to meet the need for more temporary shelters for abused and neglected children. But the major challenges remain: carrying out the plans and financing the facilities.

The Orangewood Children’s Home opened more than a dozen years ago. It serves as a fine example of the willingness of county residents to donate time and money to help children requiring emergency, short-term assistance.

An extensive fund-raising campaign produced the donations to build Orangewood. The complex still benefits from assistance from the Orangewood Children’s Foundation and donations from county residents.

Unfortunately, the Orange facility is subject to periodic overcrowding. It has enough beds for 236 children, from infants to age 18. In August it averaged 256 children; a few days ago the tally was 186. When the overcrowding becomes severe, children are forced to sleep in hallways and on the floors, adding to the trauma imposed on youngsters already suffering from being separated from their families.

In a year, more than 3,000 children pass through Orangewood. By 2010, the estimate is that more than 5,000 children will need emergency shelter each year. The graceful, Spanish-style buildings have been added to over the years; there is no more room to expand.

The county’s master plan for new temporary shelters is the work of a year’s discussion. It includes building 10 homes on the closed Marine helicopter base in Tustin. Those homes each would hold six infants and toddlers. Another facility with 220 beds would be built at El Toro, the other Marine base, after that is vacated next year. The El Toro shelter would house children from families in South County and, importantly, those deemed “court returns.”

That category refers to children taken from their families by the courts. The parents may be in jail or have so abused the youngsters that a judge decides removing the children is the only solution.

Because Orangewood is designed to provide temporary shelter, social workers try to put children sent there by the courts with foster parents. If none are available, the next choice is group homes, with small numbers of children living in houses in the community, cared for by professional staff. But about one-third of the children at Orangewood have been returned by foster families or group homes, usually because their behavior has been violent or otherwise disruptive.

For children who do not cause problems, an increase in the availability of foster parents would be a welcome remedy for at least part of the overcrowding problem. County officials several years ago launched campaigns to get more foster parents. But they say the number has leveled off at around 600 foster families. Each year, about one-third of those stop being foster parents and a new group of the same size agrees to accept children into their homes.

County supervisors could vote this month to spend $250,000 for child care for foster parents, which would be money well spent. If the county does provide the appropriation, there’s another $250,000 available in federal funds. County officials say foster parents tell them it would be easier to attract others if the funds are provided, because many work and are worried about taking in children but having nowhere to put them during the day.

The supervisors did rightly approve hiring 70 more workers at Orangewood if the state implements new regulations requiring more and better-trained staff. But the shelter has come under increased pressure from a lawsuit filed this month that contends Orangewood has held some children longer than the law allows. Children under 6 are required to be placed in foster or group homes within a month.

Last year the county’s Juvenile Justice Commission found that Orangewood psychiatrists failed to keep accurate records of what drugs were being prescribed and in what doses. It was a shocking finding, especially considering the vulnerability of young children in an institutional setting. It also contrasted sharply with the deserved praise Orangewood has received for years.

Facilities like Orangewood can’t rest on their laurels. Each troubled child requires individual assessment and treatment. The county has to care for abused and neglected youngsters because it’s the right thing to do, not just because it’s required by law. Planning to meet the needs of the county in this important area is a necessity.