Friday, April 8, 2005 | 10:59 a.m.
A California-based non-profit law firm is considering bringing legal action against the Clark County Department of Family Services for allegedly failing to provide children in foster care adequate services and allowing foster children to languish in the foster care system too long.
The law firm, the National Center for Youth Law, has been investigating the county's child protective services for about three months and says it has found a variety of problems in the county system, including a lack of mental health services for youths and overcrowding at Child Haven, the county's temporary shelter.
Clark County Manager Thom Reilly told the county commissioners Monday that the county is facing a lawsuit threat over Child Haven and its "severe staffing issues." William Grimm, senior attorney with National Center for Youth Law, said Thursday that his organization has not yet formally threatened the county with a lawsuit but is considering legal action if the county's family services division does not improve conditions.
Grimm met on March 23 with Clark County officials, including the department of family services director Susan Klein-Rothschild and county counselor Mary-Anne Miller, to discuss its investigation and possible legal action.
He said he is unsure when he will again meet with county officials or when the firm's scrutiny of the county's foster care system will be complete.
Approximately 1,800 children in Clark County are currently in the foster care system. From 2003 to 2004, the number of children placed into foster care because of abuse and neglect increased 29 percent.
On Sunday, 14-month-old Jushai Akua Spurgeon, a foster child, died in the foster home of 58-year-old Sallye Jones-Johnson in North Las Vegas. Jones-Johnson was arrested and is facing six counts of child neglect.
That death and the recent surge in kids going into the county's foster care system all point to a failing system, critics of the county's foster care system have said.
One of the main issues the law firm is looking to correct is the alleged overcrowding at Child Haven. There are currently 33 infants staying at the shelter, and Grimm considers housing infants at the shelter unsuitable.
"This is not the appropriate setting for raising infants," he said.
The department of family services is also not placing youths in the system into proper foster care situations, he said.
He described Child Haven as a "revolving door" situation. Mostly older children move from foster home to foster home because the department doesn't match them with the correct living situation, he said.
Also, he said, some of the foster children are not receiving the proper mental health placements, or "high-needs placements," and therefore face serious difficulties.
"As the legal guardian, (the department of family services) has the responsibility to provide appropriate care. While we sympathize with the obstacles the department faces, they are still required to provide these services and placements," he said.
Klein-Rothschild essentially agreed with much of what Grimm said. She characterized the foster care system as overburdened with the increase in children coming into the system and lacking resources and funds.
"Most of the time, we (the county and Grimm) want the same thing," she said. "He's challenging me and he's challenging the system to improve."
She said there are between 130 or 140 children in Child Haven at any given time, and about 100 foster children in temporary homes. The number is increasing every day, she said.
"Three years ago we had 20 kids a day. Now we have 230 to 240 in emergency shelters," she said.
Klein-Rothschild agreed that the number was high but said that there is a shortage of licensed foster care homes and individuals willing to take the children.
She could not say how many infants were staying at Child Care but said the ultimate goal of the temporary placements is to find appropriate housing for the children.
Finding appropriate placements, however, is an issue the department of family services has been working on, she said. Stable placements of children in foster care are a priority, she said, but the department is struggling to find adequate foster homes and families.
"The system is not helping to solve that," she said. "We need more families to develop more placement options."
Even though the department increased the number of foster beds by 200 from 2004 to 2005, the demand for beds still far outstrips the resources, she said.
The county, meanwhile, has approved eight temporary staff to work at a new housing cottage at Child Haven, Reilly said. He said the county recognizes the child welfare system as a top concern.
But foster care advocates are not satisfied.
Donna Coleman, president of the local Children's Advocacy Alliance, said that there is a clear need for better training of foster care families, especially in light of the recent death of the Spurgeon.
Authorities allege that Spurgeon's caretaker, Jones-Johnson, had neglected 6 foster children whose ages ranged from 7 months to 6 years, according to previous reports.
The Children's Advocacy Alliance is working with the National Center for Youth Law on any possible legal action and a representative from the organization joined Grimm in the meeting with county officials.
Coleman said the range of problems, from the children remaining at Child Haven for too long to not providing adequate mental health services to the overcrowding at Child Haven all point to a system that needs serious reform.
"This cannot go on," she said.
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