Agenda - 05-02-2023; 8-a - Minutes

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22 1 Commissioner Richards said one of the things she hears most in this process is the rights 2 of grandparents and single dads. 3 Crystal Mitchell said relatives are an important part of this process. She said that 4 preference is given for placement with family. She said that kinship assessment of relatives is 5 conducted to see if it is a safe and appropriate placement. She said that 40% are placed with a 6 relative, and many times a relative adopts or becomes the guardian. She said that some relatives 7 cannot be a placement but want to be part of the child's life and that is also allowed. She said 8 fathers are definitely important in the process. She said if there is an unknown father or father 9 who is not actively engaged, they are tasked with getting them involved in different ways and 10 report to the court each parent and other relative options for children. 11 Commissioner Fowler asked if it is typically a foster family, relative, or other that adopts. 12 Crystal Mitchell said it is typically a foster family or a relative. 13 Commissioner Fowler asked what guardianship means for permanent placements. 14 Crystal Mitchell said that it is children in custody with a permanent plan and when 15 terminating the parent child relationship is not in the child's best interest. She said that relatives 16 can take guardianship. 17 Commissioner Fowler asked how much time DSS staff spend in court. 18 Crystal Mitchell said they are in court two full calendar days per month. She said that in 19 FY 2021-2022, they held over 450 court hearings. 20 Commissioner Richards asked how FY 22-23 compares to previous years. 21 Crystal Mitchell said the numbers have remained consistent except for with permanent 22 placements. She said that the number of kids in custody dropped in 2020-2021 but has trended 23 upward in 2022. 24 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked if they track cases for kids already placed in foster care 25 or in natural families. 26 Crystal Mitchell said both. 27 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked if they are tracking cases of kids that are already 28 placed in foster care or just natural families and where the higher number of incidents are 29 happening. 30 Crystal Mitchell clarified that Commissioner Portie-Ascott was referring to incidents of 31 abuse or neglect and said there are higher incidents in families than in foster families. She said if 32 a claim is made against a child in Orange County custody, it becomes a conflict of interest, and a 33 neighboring county has to investigate. 34 Commissioner Greene asked how many social workers handle the work and if there are 35 enough of them. 36 Crystal Mitchell said there are 20 social workers that have blended in-home and foster 37 care cases, and everyone is at caseload standards right now. She said there are four vacancies 38 for in-home foster care teams. She said they have looked at ways to assign administrative tasks 39 a social worker may have to other social services staff in other areas of the agency.