L.A. County Supervisors OK $90M for Kids’ Mental Health
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved an approximately $90 million plan to improve mental health services for children monitored by the county's child welfare system, the Los Angeles Times reports (Los Angeles Times, 8/22).
The county expects to recruit and train up to 300 specialized foster parents to care for the children with mental health problems and expand a program that provides intensive services for up to 1,250 families to help keep their children out of foster care.
The plan was developed after a federal judge ruled that the county had not done enough to reform mental health services for foster children following the closure of MacLaren's Children Center.
When the children's shelter was closed, county officials promised to create home-like regional centers to care for the children, but the facilities never were set up (Anderson, Los Angeles Daily News, 8/22).