With an increase of available foster parents and relatives who can take care of children in need, Casa de los Ni帽os is closing its crisis shelter.
Over the past year, the number of children in the shelter has decreased significantly from previous years, when more than 30 children a month were placed in the facility, officials said.
鈥淐asa鈥檚 work has been shifting for some time to in-home services and education to thousands of families each year,鈥 CEO Susie Huhn said at a news conference Tuesday.
鈥淟ast year we serviced more than 9,000 children and families in the community.鈥
鈥淲hile there once was a time that the crisis shelter was the best way we knew to help children, that鈥檚 changed over the years,鈥 Huhn said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e shifted to prevention and early intervention. We want to protect children, but also preserve their families.鈥
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The shelter鈥檚 closing is bittersweet, but with a new family center opening in the spring, this gives Casa the opportunity to grow and diversify, Huhn said.
鈥淭he fact is that children do best in loving and supportive family homes,鈥 said 蜜柚直播 Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, who previously served as Casa鈥檚 board president. 鈥淭he shelter is no longer necessary because we鈥檙e creating a caring community.鈥
The closure of Casa鈥檚 shelter follows a state trend of other shelters closing, which signals the recovery of 蜜柚直播鈥檚 child-welfare system after 10 years of escalating removals, said Department of Child Services Director Greg McKay.
鈥淭en years ago, 蜜柚直播 grew at the most rapid pace for children who came into the foster-care system,鈥 McKay said. 鈥淭he system toppled.鈥
The number of children in out-of-home care has gone down, from more than 19,000 removals last March to less than 17,000 this March.
鈥淟ast year we had 3,000 kids in group settings, now we鈥檙e at 2,200,鈥 McKay said.
There are more than 11,200 beds available at the homes of licensed foster families, and 6,600 children are living in those settings, McKay said. There are 6,800 children with kinship providers, who are family members, he said.
鈥淢any foster homes have beds available, and we have second or third options before children go to a shelter,鈥 McKay said. 鈥淒CS has more robust services that we didn鈥檛 have two years ago during the crisis.鈥
While the state is always trying to recruit new families as foster parents, DCS has been hearing that foster families are waiting for children to come into their homes.
鈥淲e always are trying to make the right match the first time around,鈥 McKay said.
In many cases, the state loses foster families because they end up adopting children who were placed into their homes, Huhn said.
Oct. 1 will be the last night Casa鈥檚 shelter is open for placements, but staff members don鈥檛 know if the shelter will last until that date, since it doesn鈥檛 have many children coming in, said Joanne Karolzak, Casa鈥檚 director of children and family services.
Casa鈥檚 executive staff will be undertaking a retreat session in the coming weeks that will focus on developing specific programs.
Casa is located in the 85705 ZIP code, which has previously had the highest number of child removals and high poverty rates, Karolzak said.
鈥淥ur mission is all about prevention and doing what鈥檚 relevant for families that need care,鈥 Karolzak said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping to find a way to address these needs.鈥