Child Welfare Czar

Amid continuing questions about its role and responsibilities, the transition team charged with guiding the implementation of reform in Los Angeles County’s vast child-welfare system issued its first report to the county Board of Supervisors on August 19.

On Monday, July 28, debate about the qualities and powers of a leader for Los Angeles County’s new Office of Child Protection dominated discussions for the “transition team” charged with leading the county’s child welfare reform efforts.

On July 18, the transition team convened by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to follow through on a wide set of child welfare reforms met for the first time.

On Wednesday, June 25, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors announced most of the transition team that will guide the creation of the county’s new Office of Child Protection and implement recommendations from a report issued the Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Protection in April.

Four out of five Los Angeles County supervisors voted yesterday to establish a new Office of Child Protection, led by a “child welfare czar” for the county, and plan to implement other recommendations made by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Protection.

Los Angeles County is looking for a brave soul to head its newly formed Office of Child Protection, and anyone can apply. “It will be a national search, and it is one of the most significant assignments that anyone in the nation can have in respect to child welfare services,” said Mark Ridley-Thomas, one of five members of the County’s Board of Supervisors.

It is going to take more than a Blue Ribbon Commission or a czar to significantly change the trajectory of Los Angeles County’s child welfare system: it will require a re-ordering of political priorities and the will of the entire community.