Southern California Lawsuit Alleges Foster Parent Sexual Abuse

A lawsuit was filed last week, on behalf of two minors who claim they were sexually abused by a foster parent operating under the license of Children’s Way Foster Family Agency in San Bernardino County, CA. According to the Desert Dispatch report, the abuse took place between July 17, 2010 and about January 30, 2013. The October 2015 complaint was similar to one filed on May 2, 2014, on behalf of two other foster children in the home. Both suits also name the County of San Bernardino as defendants, stating that the Department of Children and Family Services breached their mandatory duties by failing to discover and/or properly respond to evidence that the children were in an unsafe environment.

According to the Dispatch, in the last five years, 160,000 requests for investigation have come to San Bernardino County, which has moved nearly 14,000 children out of their homes during the period. Nine of the children referred to the county, but not removed from their homes, died. It’s a number county officials acknowledge is “unacceptable.”

In 2014, NBC Los Angeles reported that the foster care industry in California is a $400 million business. The state pays private agencies about $2,000 a month per child. The agencies are allowed to keep as much as 60 percent of the state money to pay for rent, supplies, and personnel to ensure foster children are being cared for.