League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Los Angeles County, CA November 4, 2014 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Supervisor; County of Los Angeles; Supervisorial District 3

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Foster Care, MTA, Oversight of Sheriff's Department Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What steps do you think the Board of Supervisors should take to improve the foster care system and in particular to provide safe emergency or temporary placement for infants and children? Answer from Bobby Shriver: Create transparency and accountability. Multiple agencies and programs are currently responsible for aspects of child welfare but there is inadequate integration and coordination among them. Placing responsibility for overseeing reform and interagency collaboration in a single individual will bring accountability to the County's efforts to keep vulnerable children safe. Increase the number of social workers. Currently, over 66% of current social workers manage a caseload of 31 children and sometimes 40 children. The County CEO, Board of Supervisors and the union have agreed to hire 450 new children's social workers to reduce caseloads. This is a positive step but it may not go far enough and the process of recruiting, training, and retaining highly qualified social workers requires active oversight. Bobby will be a leader in the effort to ensure that vulnerable children get the attention they need from competent social workers. Reduce the number of kids in the system by focusing on prevention. We need to prioritize services for at-risk children and parents by adopting reforms such as mandatory health screenings and the cross-reporting of all abuse cases. We should also increase the number of home visitations and prioritize access to existing services for families in need. Require performance based contracting with foster agencies and reward for better outcomes. Recent investigations have exposed serious problems among private foster agencies. We must review our contracts with private foster agencies and require providers to disclose the criminal histories of foster parents and adopt stricter screening practices. In addition, we must demand full compliance with reporting, staffing, and monitoring requirements to ensure better child outcomes. Increase compensation for relative foster caregiving. California provides among the lowest levels of financial support for foster caregiving by relatives in the nation. Many of these families are already struggling to make ends meet and need help shouldering the financial burden of taking another child into their homes. Relatives should not be discriminated against for fostering a child in their home. Embrace community organizations as models and as partners in reform. There are many examples of best practices here in LA County that should be replicated. For example, Stuart House in Santa Monica collocates resources in a child friendly facility, services of the Rape Treatment Center, law enforcement agencies, the District Attorney's Office, and the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS)." The new facility being built in the San Fernando Valley will have collocation of services and this is a model of how we build the foundation for lasting reforms. Answer from Sheila Kuehl: There must be a designated facility for emergency and temporary placement of infants and children. It is not acceptable to have children sleeping on the floors of offices. The County must hire more social workers and take more time to train them. The recently-opened academy for new hires is a good start, as is the addition of 450 new social workers recently approved by the Supervisors. However, social worker case loads are still too high. The County also must improve the placement of social workers so that experienced case managers also make many of the home visits and are assigned to deal with more of the most difficult and complex cases. The County must also improve its oversight of agencies that identify potential foster parents, as well as homes that house foster youth who are aging out of the system. We must do better at transition services for this population, as well. 2. The County Supervisors sit also on the board of the Metropolitan Transit District. What would be your top priorities for the MTA? Answer from Bobby Shriver: Get people out of traffic! It wastes time and money, pollutes and costs good jobs. Finish the subway to the Westside without the forecasted delay. Provide rail to LAX and connect the Valley to the rest of the region. We need immediate local fixes: traffic officers, easy local access to rail, free student transit passes. Answer from Sheila Kuehl: In order to get people out of their cars we need a comprehensive plan to get people to and from train stations, such as a DASH-like system in various parts of the County, bicycle valets and lockers. I support the creation of a line from the San Fernando Valley through the Sepulveda pass all the way to LAX. I would like to see a hub at LAX that connects the new Valley line with the Crenshaw line and the Green Line, where you can check your luggage, get your seats and hope on a people mover that takes you around to each of the terminals. We must continue to pay attention to our bus riders and find other ways to move Metro from the red to the black that doesn't involve raising fares. I support the expansion of the system through an extension of Measure R, which should soon be on the ballot. 3. Do you support the creation of an independent oversight commission for the Sheriff's Department? Answer from Bobby Shriver: Yes. I support citizen oversight of the Sheriff's Department and implementation of reform including establishing stronger relationships within the diverse communities of our district. Answer from Sheila Kuehl: Yes, I am in favor of a citizen's oversight commission, as well as greater authority to the Inspector General to have access to the information he needs to assess the behavior of jail personnel. I also favor a citizens' oversight commission for the juvenile justice system in the County. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' answers are presented as submitted. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.