On June 16, 2023, Sacramento County’s Department of Child, Family and Adult Services (DCFAS) will open three Welcoming Centers for foster youth to stay while the department searches for suitable homes and therapeutic programs to meet their needs. The centers are homes located in residential neighborhoods and staff will provide temporary shelter care for up to six children. The goal of the Welcoming Centers is to ensure a safe and supportive environment during the transition process.
DCFAS has submitted licensing applications to the California Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing (CCL) division for each of the houses. The centers will be operated by County staff temporarily while we increase capacity in home-based settings that have trained resource parents who are equipped to meet the needs of our youth. The centers are part of a larger effort by Sacramento County to facilitate timely placements, especially for teens and siblings who may take longer to find suitable home-based settings that fit their needs.
The County has been making significant efforts to transition youth out of the Warren E. Thornton Youth Center (WETYC) and into appropriate home-based placements. Placements are currently being identified or have been identified, for all youth at the facility. Unfortunately, a number of youths have chosen to exercise their right to refuse placements that have been located. These youth have experienced significant past traumas with their families and in home-based family settings that have been unable to meet their needs. Many have also been ejected from congregate care settings and may experience significant stress and difficulty when moving to new environments.
We acknowledge that children thrive in family environments, but we must respect their rights and provide them with the supports they need to increase their willingness to go to a placement. We work collaboratively with the child’s counsel, community-based providers, advocates, and natural supports to accomplish this mutual goal. For the few youth that refuse identified placements, or for whom it takes longer periods of time to find a placement, the Welcoming Centers will provide a safe community-based environment, while the department continues to work diligently to find placements and supports that can meet their needs.
Sacramento County is in the process of building a comprehensive system of care, supervision and supports for youth needing to be in short-term, safe, temporary care. Over the next six months, we will establish a number of emergency family homes that will be able to support individual children, sibling groups and youth with complex needs. We are grateful to our community-based partners who have stepped up to help us build this continuum so we can better support our youth.
In addition, DCFAS is developing prevention and early intervention strategies that will build on our long-term community-based investments in prevention services. The goal is to align with the statewide and national effort to establish a comprehensive framework that promotes child and family well-being by addressing social determinants of health, supporting families and addressing childhood trauma at an early age, while also connecting children and families to services and natural supports. Taking this approach can help prevent contact with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
We have been working closely with other child and family serving partners, including education, behavioral health, human assistance, juvenile justice, Alta Regional Services and many community-based providers to meet the immediate needs we are facing, while also developing the comprehensive system of prevention and early intervention.
