The central facility for placing Sacramento County foster kids into homes is under state orders to shut down by the end of September.
That facility is the Centralized Placement Support Unit, operated in space the County leases from the Children's Receiving Home on Auburn Boulevard. That facility was was meant to streamline the process of finding foster homes or other placements for these kids, but which Michelle Callejas, who oversees Sacramento County's Child Protective Services, said has been forced, at times to house them a lot longer than it should. "We don't want kids at our placement unit for more than a few hours where we have time do the assessment," said Callejas. "We want to be able to get them to a loving, caring home or into placement that best meets their needs."Children's Receiving Home of Sacramento must close by the end of September by order of the state. Photo by Ryan Harris, KFBK News
In a previous interview Callejas said they were working with the state and Children's Receiving Home to absorb the Placement Unit and take care of the kids' needs so their placement team could focus on finding them the right homes.
A county spokesperson says that work continues, although they can not talk specifics until a final plan is made.
For now, the county is working on adding to the 800 foster homes it has now because it needs help to house its more than 2,000 foster kids.