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County reports progress on placing high‑acuity foster youth; more specialized foster homes still needed
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Summary
Social services and behavioral‑health staff said the county now has 15 active ISFC plus homes (of 27 contracted) and plans to increase capacity, while Seneca and other providers progress on STRTP sites. The board accepted the joint update and urged continued recruitment and funding work.
County departments told the board they are expanding in‑county placement options for foster youth with the highest behavioral‑health needs, but staff and community commissioners said recruiting and retaining specialized caregivers remains the key bottleneck.
Deputy County Executive Key Lee introduced the joint report from the Department of Family & Children's Services and Behavioral Health Services. The county's three contracted Family Foster Agency (FFA) providers for Intensive Treatment Foster Care (ISFC plus) are Pacific Clinics, Rebecca Children's Services and Seneca. DFCS reported contracted capacity for 27 ISFC plus homes; 15 homes were active on the day of the report and three new caregivers are in training with Pacific Clinics to accept youth in spring/summer 2026. DFCS said some caregivers moved off the program for personal reasons or to accept lower‑acuity placements.
'These caregivers are doing incredibly difficult family‑based treatment work and we continue to recruit and support them through COLA and housing strategies,' DFCS said.
The presentation also described transitional residential shelter care facilities (TRCFs) that serve as short‑term safety nets while placements are found; DFCS said those sites have improved programming and onsite behavioral‑health support through partnerships with Pacific Clinics, including behavior specialists and a clinical lead on site. Staff said that improvements have coincided with fewer incident reports and higher school attendance for youth placed at TRCFs.
For enhanced short‑term residential treatment programs (STRTPs), Seneca reported it has identified a site and is completing renovations to meet licensing and program requirements; Seneca is also pursuing a second site and doing neighborhood outreach. DFCS said the county is moving to design a county‑operated enhanced STRTP in parallel and is working through staffing models, licensing and real‑estate needs.
Public commenters from the Juvenile Justice Commission praised progress but urged faster expansion of specialized homes to repatriate youth currently placed out of county. The board accepted the report and directed continued recruitment, retention measures (including COLA, caregiver stipends and housing support) and further cost analysis of in‑county versus out‑of‑county placements. The motion to accept the update was approved 4‑0 with Supervisor Abakova absent.
Ending: Staff said recruitment and capacity building will remain an ongoing priority and solicited partnership from community groups and the board to accelerate caregiver recruitment and housing supports.
