Foster homes to be investigated

Responding to the brutal death of a two-year-old toddler, Los Angeles County’s child welfare chief on Tuesday promised a broad emergency examination of all foster home agencies under contract with the county, which are responsible for the well being of more than 5,800 children.

The goal, said Department of Children and Family Services Director Trish Ploehn, is to swiftly determine that there are “are no children left in danger.” She added: “For the children in foster homes, we are doing a 100 percent review.”

Ploehn, who’s been under fire for a series high-profile child deaths in recent months, told the Board of Supervisors that county social workers will visit 2,500 foster homes with a detailed “physical environment checklist” aimed at determining whether they share the type of unsafe and illegal conditions found in the South Los Angeles home where toddler Viola Vanclief died on March 4. The children themselves, Ploehn said, will be interviewed and asked, among other things, whether they’re being properly fed and how many adults reside in the home.

The review was requested in closed session last week by the supervisors after disclosures of Viola’s death, who, according to a newly released Coroner’s report, suffered blunt force trauma and extensive internal injuries. The homes that will be inspected are part of a network of Foster Family Agencies (FFA), paid by the county and primarily responsible for ensuring the safety of children in homes they oversee, including hiring independent social workers to conduct inspections.

On Tuesday, those 58 agencies were reduced by one.

Acting on a recommendation by Ploehn, the board unanimously voted to terminate the contract of United Care, the foster agency that had placed Viola in one of its 88 homes.

That home was run by Kiana Barker, a licensed foster parent who had been the subject of five earlier neglect or abuse complaints, including one in which it was determined that she’d neglected her own daughter. Barker had an earlier conviction for theft, but had succeeded in obtaining a state license.

She told police investigators that she’d accidentally struck Viola with a hammer while trying to free her from a bed frame in which she’d become tangled. Also living in the house was Barker’s boyfriend, James Julian, a convicted armed robber. Both were arrested on suspicion of murder in Viola’s death and released without charges, pending results of the continuing criminal probe.

Child welfare investigators turned up evidence at Barker’s home of apparent lax supervision by United Care.

The agency failed to notice, for example, that Julian was living there, a violation of state law because of his criminal record. Julian had tried and failed to obtain a license as a foster parent in 2007. He and Barker had a 6 month-old child together.

Appearing before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, United Care’s executive director, Craig Woods, said revocation of his contract would be a “premature rush to action” based in part on “grossly inaccurate” media accounts. “United Care has a stellar 21-year track record,” he said, “and this one event should not warrant the termination of our contract.”

Woods said that the social workers hired by his agency twice made surprise visits to the home in February and found no clothing or other evidence that Barker’s boyfriend was living there. Barker had also signed a sworn statement to that effect, United Care’s executive director said.

In an exchange with Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Woods said he was unaware that padlocks had blocked access to some rooms in the home, contrary to foster home rules. Woods also said he did not know that several video cameras were stationed around the home. The purpose and precise location of the cameras were not clear.

Woods also insisted that Barker’s prior theft conviction should not be considered as part of the revocation. Many foster parents, he suggested, have obtained licenses despite non-serious criminal records. In fact, he contended that “as many as half” of foster parents in Los Angeles County have criminal records and were able to get exemptions from the state to get licenses.

But Gary Palmer of the state’s Department of Social Services said Wood’s number is “totally false.” Palmer, chief of the technical assistance and policy branch for community-care licensing, said the exemption figure in Los Angeles County is an average of 5 percent.

Under the emergency review, meanwhile, county social workers and auditors also will take a more comprehensive examination of a randomly-selected sample of about 600 homes that are overseen by Foster Family Agencies. This review will be conducted by social workers from the Department of Children and Family Services and representatives from the County Counsel and Auditor-Controller offices. Also participating will be agents from the state.

Ploehn promised that the investigation would be complete by early May and that she would come back to supervisors with data and recommendations by May 15.

Posted 3/30/10