REPORT BY GRAND JURY ASSAILS FOSTER CARE.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

A year after their predecessors detailed dire conditions at county foster care group homes, the 1997-98 Los Angeles County grand jury reported Thursday that while progress has been made, the Department of Children and Family Services still is not meeting all state-mandated requirements.

Specifically, the grand jury reported that:

Social workers are not making the minimum number of face-to-face visits required by law. In a sampling of required visits, 18 percent were not made.

Illegal activities at group homes were not promptly reported to law enforcement agencies.

Staff lacks the expertise to monitor the finances of the group homes.

Overpayments to group homes are continuing and, in fact, are increasing.

Genevra Gilden, division chief of quality assurance, said the department has implemented the large majority of the recommendations from last year's report and is taking the follow-up recommendations just as seriously.

Within the past year, the department has created new group home contracts that clearly delineate program and fiscal goals.

She noted that much of the grand jury's criticism had to do with the department and the group homes being late in meeting audit deadlines.

``We are going through and taking measures that will improve our systems and processes,'' Gilden said.

The group home follow-up report was one of several released Thursday as part of the Los Angeles County grand jury's annual recommendation. The grand jury is a volunteer panel made up of 23 regular citizens who all serve a one-year term. The grand jury conducts criminal indictments, responds to citizen complaints, and reviews and evaluates the procedures and methods used by government agencies to make sure they comply with stated objectives.

Among their other recommendations this year are:

Implementation of a public education program to reduce the number of non-emergency 911 calls. The panel noted that the Los Angeles Police and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's departments reported that some 85 percent of the calls they get to 911 are not emergencies. They endorsed the idea of creating a 311 line that would be designed to handle calls that are not life-threatening. Cities nationwide are considering such a plan.

Calling on federal and state governments to change the rules regarding voter registration. Grand jury members noted that under federal and state laws, the area registrar-recorder does not have to require proof of citizenship, age and residency when people register to vote. Grand jury members assert that this ``honor system'' forces the registrar-recorder to endure a whole series of administrative procedures designed to confirm whether people on the voter rolls are eligible to vote.