Capital Region Cares Capital Region Cares 2018-2019 | Page 97

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Opinion
safe haven for children
DAVID BAKER, CEO, SACRAMENTO CHILDREN’S HOME
C
management and crisis-intervention services to empower
them to handle future crisis situations on their own.
Data shows that when parents have access to early inter-
vention through home visitations, programs that teach effec-
tive parenting skills and case management services, the like-
lihood of adverse outcomes greatly diminishes. For example,
more than 96 percent of the families served by home visitors
from the Sacramento Children’s Home Family Resource
Centers were free of new substantiated Child Protective Ser-
vices reports when they completed the program.
We also know that funding prevention programs is a
cost-saving investment. According to The Child Abuse Pre-
vention Center, early intervention programs provided by
Family Resource Centers cost on average of $1,000 per family
each year. In contrast, the national average for a child in the
child welfare system is $200,000 per year. Even greater than
the savings for taxpayers is the inherent value in building
and preserving strong families. By providing a safe haven
for children and connecting parents and caregivers with vi-
tal resources to address their crisis, these early intervention
programs reduce the chance of children entering into child
protection and foster care systems.
For children who do face removal, programs such as Fos-
terHope Sacramento and Lilliput Families provide support,
family finding, and permanency efforts to ensure a quick
return to their biological family or secure placement with a
permanent, caring, loving family. To increase the likelihood
of successful placements, the Sacramento Children’s Home
is launching a 24-hour urgent-response program called The
Source this spring to give foster youth and resource families
the support they need.
To achieve the goal of every child living in a loving, safe
and permanent family environment, there needs to be addi-
tional investment in critical services such as mental health
treatment, wraparound care for youth with emotional or be-
havioral disabilities, family preservation services, adoption
and kinship care that many providers in Sacramento County
and around the country provide. Investing in prevention and
early intervention programs is the best way to build strong
communities and break the cycle of abuse that plagues many
at-risk families. n
ILIE
alifornia is embarking on a massive reform of the child
welfare system through the adoption of the Continuum
of Care Reform. This means that instead of having long-
term group homes where children would spend most of their
childhood, there is a focus on ensuring that foster children
are reunited with their families as soon as possible. The goal
of CCR is for all children to live with a committed, nurturing
and permanent family, and fewer group homes mean more
foster parents are needed. I believe if implemented properly,
CCR will greatly improve the lives of the nearly 65,000 youth
living in foster care in California.
CCR is designed to reduce the number of children living
in a group home and reduce the length of their stay. Sacra-
mento County is making progress on both fronts, as less than
10 percent of the 2,200 youth currently in the foster care sys-
tem are placed in group homes. In California, the number
of youth in group homes has decreased from 11,300 in 2003
to fewer than 4,300 in 2018. For those youth who need more
intensive services provided in a group setting, we are seeing
progress in reducing their length of stay and transitioning
them back to community settings quicker.
However, the effort to recruit and train qualified foster
families is not progressing at the rate needed. According to
a report by The Chronicle of Social Change, from 2012 to 2017,
there has been a net decrease of more than 700 licensed,
nonrelative foster homes in California. The challenge of se-
curing and training enough families to meet current and fu-
ture demand remains daunting.
Having worked with youth and families in the foster care
system for nearly 30 years, I believe the best long-term solu-
tion is to reduce the number of children entering the foster
system in the first place. By investing in prevention and ear-
ly intervention programs, we can save families from being
torn apart and protect children who are at risk of neglect and
abuse.
Prevention programs provide support, treatment and
interventions prior to children needing to be removed from
their home. For many families, a crisis such as unemploy-
ment, lack of permanent housing, domestic violence, health
issues, or emotional distress can lead to child neglect and
abuse. Programs like the Sacramento Children’s Home Crisis
Nursery allow caregivers to bring children, newborn through
age 5, during an emergency for free child care or overnight
care during difficult times. It provides children a safe place
to stay during a crisis, whether it’s for a few hours or up to 30
days. Parents are connected to community resources, case
P H O T O : R YA N G R E E N L E A F. C O U R T E S Y O F D AV I D B A K E R

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