Garrett Therolf

Two award-winning California journalists focused on child welfare recently ended long-term stints with newspapers in order to work for news outlets where they will have the resources necessary to do in-depth, investigative reporting on vulnerable children.

Garrett Therolf, a longtime Los Angeles Times reporter who focused on the nation’s largest child welfare system, will be leaving his post on Wednesday, Therolf confirmed today in an email to The Imprint.

It is a county within a county. Los Angeles County’s fifth is the largest of the five supervisorial districts, where the suburban sprawl of Pasadena gives way to the exurban expanse of the Antelope Valley.

In December, just before the holidays, the L.A. Times published a lengthy story by reporter Garrett Therolf that called into question the state’s use of private foster family agencies. The state has relied on private providers for the bulk of foster parent recruitment and training for the past 27 years, and spends approximately $400 million each year on those organizations.