The County of San Diego disagreed with some findings from a June grand jury report on the lack of data to measure foster care outcomes, and it said it would need to further analyze recommendations before agreeing to make changes, according to its official reply.
County officials responded in a letter this month to findings and recommendations from several reports released earlier in the year by the grand jury, a civil watchdog group. Included in the letter was the county’s response to a June 5 report questioning its lack of data to measure the effectiveness of taxpayer’s $200-million annual investment in child welfare services.
The grand jury concluded in its June 5 report that the county had no way to know how much foster care alumni cost taxpayers in adulthood because it doesn’t track how many go on to rely on social welfare as adults. It also found the lack of data limited the county’s ability to study and fine-tune programs to save money while helping more children succeed.
The county disagreed with the grand jury’s finding that there is “no relationship between the county’s child welfare programs and policies and taxpayer’s contributions to the long-term success of county foster care alumni,” according to its letter of response. The county contended that “the exact linkage between foster care investment and results achieved by San Diego foster care alumni is unknown.”
County officials partially disagreed with the grand jury’s second finding, that the county “has no data to determine if delivery of services by (Child Welfare Services) results in lower/higher dependence on general welfare programs by former county foster care youth,” according to the letter.
County officials said they have the data — they just don’t analyze it themselves because of privacy, legal and logistical constraints, according to the letter. The county said it contributes data to other some state and national studies intended to measure certain foster care outcomes.
The county went on to agree with the grand jury’s third finding, that “data from longitudinal studies of foster care alumni has resulted in improvement and understanding of the foster care program and policies.”
County officials said in their response letter that they would conduct legal and fiscal analysis to see if they could act on the grand jury’s two recommendations: that the county compare existing databases to see how many foster care alumni end up in jail or receive welfare as adults, and that the county partner with a university to study foster care policies and outcomes. The county said it expects to finish the analysis by the end of the year.
August 28, 2017
The San Diego Union-Tribune
By Morgan Cook
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