Still in Our Hands:  A Review of Efforts to Reform Foster Care in California (Report #168, February 2003)

Now in Our Hands:  Caring For California's Abused and Neglected Children (Report #152, August 1999)

Caring For Our Children: Our Most Precious Investment (Report #148, September 1998) WP 6.1 (compressed with winzip 6.3)

Enforcing Child Support: Parental Duty, Public Priority (Report #142, May 1997)
WP 6.1

Mending Our Broken Children: Restructuring Foster Care in California (Report #115, April 1992)
WP 6.1

Despite spending more than $1 billion on welfare services for abused and neglected children, the State has failed to ensure that children taken from their troubled homes are given the necessary nurturing for them to become well-rounded adults and productive citizens. Among the recommendations, the Commission urges legislation that would establish a statewide foster care ombudsman program; make the State Department of Social Services solely responsible for licensing; and establish the Child Development and Education Agency. This report has five findings and 16 recommendations.

This report is a follow-up to a review of runaway/homeless programs conducted as part of the Commission's 1987 report on Children's Services. The initial report found that there were few services directed toward runaway/homeless youths, but that pilot projects were just beginning in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Based on the success of the pilot projects in providing medical care, shelter, food and counseling, the Commission proposes the appropriation of funds to support new runaway/homeless youth programs modeled after the successful pilot projects.

California has recognized its responsibilities for the well-being of its children by establishing numerous programs to serve and protect them, but the State's children's services delivery system is beset with critical problems. This multi-faceted report contains 23 findings regarding the children's services delivery system and the problems of serving children in need of child care services, runaway/homeless youth, and abused and neglected children. Among the report's 36 recommendations to improve the overall performance of children's services in California, the Commission recommends the establishment of a Commission on Children and Youth to set overall State priorities for serving children; adopting a uniform children's policy to address the full range of services necessary to appropriately treat children in need; the expansion of child care services in the public and private sectors; and establishing statewide minimum training requirements for child care teachers and caregivers.