FOSTER KIDS' FUTURE OFTEN BLEAK STUDY FINDS COUNTY RED TAPE ADDS TO WOE.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

After gaining their legal rights as adults at age 18, about half of Los Angeles County foster children end up homeless and large numbers wind up in prison, on welfare and addicted to drugs or alcohol, a report released Tuesday says.

The report by the county Economy and Efficiency Commission found that 60 percent of the young women who emancipate from foster care have children within four years.

Meanwhile, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to call for a review of the adoption policies of the county Department of Children and Family Services, with the goal of streamlining the process and increasing adoptions.

Numerous children, some of whom have been waiting five or more years for adoptive parents, end up emancipated without a family because of the red tape, officials said.

``Unnecessary red tape and repeated delays continue to frustrate those who want to adopt,'' Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said. ``It is critical that an efficient and user-friendly adoption process is in place so that our foster children can receive the attention and guidance that only a permanent, loving family can provide.''

Elan Melamid, DCFS division chief for adoptive services, said 4,584 of the county's 53,593 foster children are waiting to be adopted, and 4,122 single- and two-parent families are waiting to adopt them.

The number of children adopted has tripled from 911 in 1996 to 2,949 last year, as the backlog of children waiting for adoptions has been reduced.

``There are a lot of children in this system, as there are across the country, who have accumulated in the adoption system,'' Melamid said. ``That is what people call the adoptions backlog. When you have to clean up a backlog, you wind up having kids in the system for many, many years.''

Many of the children who do not get adopted wind up homeless after being emancipated at age 18.

The efficiency commission's report found 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 report recommends the county train special case workers to provide advice to the youths about resources available, double the amount of housing to 1,100 beds and improve computer systems that allow social workers to find out where youths are and ensure they receive all the services available. The Board of Supervisors will vote Tuesday whether to adopt the report's recommendations.

The report found numerous problems in the programs designed to provide job services and housing, which it described as ``woefully inadequate.''

The report noted that programs are scattered among many organizations, plagued by high management turnover and crippling problems in computer systems that are outdated and ``haphazardly constructed.''