BOARD BLASTS FOSTER-CARE FAILURES.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Shocked by the rising number of children killed in foster care, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday condemned the failure to do a better job of protecting children in the nation's largest foster care system.

Board members ordered the head of children's services to report back March 19 on steps being taken to improve children's safety.

Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich requested the report from Department of Children and Family Services Director Anita Bock after discovering that the department had implemented only five of 23 recommendations made by a foster care task force in 1999 to improve the safety of foster children.

The task force found that children were being abused in foster care and that the county was failing to protect them or to track the quality of care provided to them.

``This pathetic response to a vital, life-threatening problem is alarming,'' Antonovich said Tuesday. ``Especially considering the recent failure of the department to perform. We've had increased deaths, a court- ordered visitation waiver, federal and state audits and a class-action lawsuit for injuries at MacLaren (Children's Center).''

Amy Pellman, a supervising staff attorney at the nonprofit Alliance for Children's Rights, which helped develop the task force recommendations, said it is time for the department to be held accountable for not implementing the reforms.

``All these recommendations went toward the safety and protection of Los Angeles County's most vulnerable children,'' Pellman said. ``It seems the county is more willing to pay out more money on lawsuits than take proactive steps to change the system in a more productive way to better protect the lives of children.''

Antonovich's motion follows a Feb. 17 Daily News story outlining an increasing number of deaths of children in foster care, state and federal probes of the system, and a growing number of class-action lawsuits filed against the department.

Also on Tuesday, the supervisors voted to look into the possibility of creating an emergency shelter and to create a task force to address problems for the thousands of foster youths who are emancipated from the system each year at age 18, many of whom wind up homeless, in prison or on welfare.

``It's a major issue,'' Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said. ``It's one of these things where if we do it right, we'll not only create a better quality of life for these kids, but it will save the government countless dollars.''

The action follows a report by the Economy and Efficiency Commission, which found that the county does a poor job of helping emancipated youths find apartments and jobs. Of the 12,976 foster children eligible for emancipation services, only 8,384 are receiving help.

The supervisors said the existing transitional housing programs have numerous vacancies and have experienced countless problems in the past few years. Of the 864 beds available for emancipated foster youths and runaways, 60 beds are vacant.

``We have thousands of teens who are eligible for housing assistance and the county will need to double the amount of shelter, transitional and permanent housing for these youths over the next three years, just to reach 50 percent of the anticipated need,'' Supervisor Gloria Molina said.