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Opinions Page
Los Angeles Daily News

Failing the children

County foster care system corrupted by profits

Wednesday, December 10, 2003 - 

A judge's call this week for a review of foster care cases in Los Angeles 
County should be the just the opening move in a long-overdue overhaul of 
a truly messed-up system.

The action came after the Daily News reported that as many as half of the
kids removed from their families by the Department of Children and Family
Services were placed in foster-care conditions that were often worse or more
dangerous than home and that more than 660 kids had died while in county
foster care since 1991.

This is a tragedy, and it's compounded by the fact that the county and
foster agencies actually get large amounts of federal money by taking kids
away from their families and placing them in foster care.
Foster care should be the measure of last resort, used only in severe cases
to the ultimate benefit of the child. But it now seems clear that the system
has become corrupted and in need of a top-to-bottom investigation to root
out the Dickens-like culture that profits on the suffering of little children.

Dear Tom
How does Utah's foster care system rate? 
From what I understand, the "perverse incentive" 
is a boon to all states...

Would be nice if Utah would lead out and hit the 
unnecessary prescribing of mind-altering drugs as hard as this...
Dawn