Advocates Sue County Over Children’s Home

A youth advocacy group Monday sued Orange County, alleging that its Orangewood Children’s Home has held some abused and neglected children longer than legally allowed and in overcrowded conditions that can cause “severe and permanent psychological and physical harm.”

The suit, filed in Orange County Superior Court by the San Francisco-based Youth Law Center, alleges that children younger than 6 years are being held for up to two months--twice as long as the law allows--and separated from their siblings and other family members.

“Basic things like staff training, subdividing living areas, assigning a specific staff member to each child or even allowing children to keep some of their own clothes and toys are overlooked,” attorney Shannan Wilber said.

“We are left wondering who is the criminal here and why are we punishing our children,” she said.

Because of chronic overcrowding, the suit alleges, children are sleeping on mattresses on the floor in rooms that often house more than 30 youngsters.

Larry Leaman, director of the county’s Social Services Agency, defended Orangewood, saying the county is doing the best it can with limited resources.

“We are disappointed that we have to spend time and money on litigation when we’d rather be using our resources to help kids,” he said. “We are proud of Orangewood, and we think it does a tremendous job as an emergency shelter.”

The suit was prompted in part by a Times series published in May chronicling the problems inside the county’s child welfare system and efforts by the county to improve operations.

Orange County supervisors are expected to hear from Leaman at a meeting today about a master plan for creating a more efficient child welfare system.

Orangewood was designed to be a temporary shelter until children are placed with foster families or returned to their parents. State law prohibits children younger than age 6 from being held in institutions like Orangewood for more than 30 days.

The lawsuit, which seeks an order stopping the county from allegedly violating state law, contends that child care staff members are not required to have any training in early childhood development or education. As a result, it asserts, they are unable to guide the children through any traumas or crises they may be facing.

Carole Shauffer, an attorney with the law center, said Orange County is using antiquated methods to deal with the children younger than 6. Shauffer said that as far back as 1950, child welfare workers and sociologists universally agreed that children younger than 6 should not be placed in institutions.

“I understand they feel that their hands are tied, but other counties don’t use shelters. Most counties use foster homes,” she said. “There are better ways to recruit and better ways to manage your situation.”

The law center is a national nonprofit organization that works on the problems and needs of children who are removed from their homes and placed in foster care or the juvenile justice system.

In June, the Orange County Grand Jury found in its own investigation that the county’s child welfare system is overcrowded and its staff overworked. It also found that the system has a high failure rate for foster care placements.

“Not only are suitable facilities in short supply, the Social Services Agency does not have adequate staff specifically assigned to monitor the facilities on a regular schedule,” the report reads.

Leaman contends that his staff is well-trained but overburdened with a growing population of children in the system. He acknowledges that Orangewood is faced with chronic overcrowding. In the last two months, the shelter housed about 290 children, even though the capacity is 236.

He said there is a shortage of group and foster homes to ease Orangewood’s load. About 3,000 children go through the county’s social services system annually. The number of county-licensed foster homes has changed little--612 homes in 1989 compared to 637 this year--but the number of children referred to nonprofit foster agencies has grown from 72 in 1989 to 900 this year.

Leaman said 30% of the Orangewood children placed in foster care are returned by their foster parents or group homes because they are extremely emotionally disturbed and unmanageable.

His master plan calls for building a 60-bed satellite shelter at the Marine Corps helicopter base in Tustin. Leaman said he also intends to increase prevention services and counseling for foster families dealing with difficult children.

“The inn is full, and we want to try anything new to keep these kids from coming back,” he said. “Orangewood would not be crowded if it were not for those 30% who return.”

Supervisor William G. Steiner, an Orangewood founders, said he was “just astounded that these lawyers from San Francisco--who only had a brief walk-through--would come to these conclusions” and not recognize the program’s strengths.

“We are well aware of the overcrowding phenomenon at Orangewood,” he said. “These are some very, very damaged children. They just don’t move into foster care easily.”