Title
Receive a preliminary response regarding monitoring of Family and Children Programs and Services.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
Receive a preliminary response regarding monitoring of Family and Children Programs and Services.
SUMMARY:
On August 23, 2022, Supervisors Luis Alejo and Wendy Root-Askew submitted a Board referral No. 2022.18 specifically requesting that:
- The HHHSC Roles and Responsibilities be amended to include “Review and make recommendations for the effective operations of Family and Children’s services.”
- The Dept of Social Services provide a regular consent agenda report to the HHHSC on the programs and services provided by Family and Children’s Services, generated from data provided to the State, with a scheduled presentation on FCS occurring at least twice per year
- The Dept of Social Services provide a regular consent report to the HHHCS on the staffing of Family and Children’s Services, including recruitment data.
- The Dept of Social Services provide a yearly report to the Board of Supervisors with a summary of annual programs and services for Family and Child Services and the System Improvement Plan submitted to the State.
DISCUSSION:
The Family & Children’s Services (FCS) Branch of the Department of Social Services offers child protective services, foster care services, and adoption services to children and youth in Monterey County. FCS strives to keep all children and youth safe and strives to prevent the occurrence of child abuse and neglect. The California Department of Social Services provides formal oversight of FCS, with local programs administered by the County. The County is committed to protecting confidentiality of FCS cases while also ensuring full transparency and accountability of this exceptionally challenging work.
Other California counties have assigned specific committees with the responsibility to monitor and study the operations of Family and Children’s Services to ensure that the systems involved in protecting children and supporting families are effective. In Monterey County the Board of Supervisors Health, Housing, and Human Services Committee (HHHSC) is tasked with reviewing requests and recommendations for policies regarding health and human services issues impacting the County of Monterey. This referral requests that the HHHSC Committee roles and responsibilities be amended to explicitly include responsibility for monitoring the programs and services of Family and Children’s Services.
The Department of Social Services has reviewed the recommendations made and concurs that the HHHSC would be the appropriate venue to receive and consider the aforementioned reports. The recommendations align with the mission and purpose of the HHHSC. Additionally, this venue provides the public and interested parties to more transparently see the operations of this very important work and provide feedback when necessary.
The Department of Social Services will be experiencing a transition in Leadership for FCS and will need approximately 60 days to develop the appropriate reports related to operations and staffing, but will not require any additional staffing or budget to comply with the recommendations.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The Department of Social Services has conferred with the County Administrative Office, who concurs with the recommended actions.
FINANCING:
There is no financial impact to the Department or County Operations.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
This referral will support the Board of Supervisors’ Strategic Initiatives by amending the HHHSC Roles and Responsibilities and the provision of receiving regular reports on Family and Children services on the important programs and services provided to vulnerable children and youth in the community.
Mark a check to the related Board of Supervisors Strategic Initiatives
__Economic Development
__Administration
X Health & Human Services
__Infrastructure
__Public Safety
Prepared by: Lori Medina, MSW, Director x4430
Approved by: Lori Medina, MSW, Director x4430