What happens when foster care children go missing in California?
Sometimes, the state follows federal guidelines and reports the child missing. Other times, the state neglects that obligation.
An audit from the Office of the Inspector General of the federal Department of Health and Human Services found that many state agencies, including the California Department of Social Services, are failing to properly report foster care children missing – if they report these children missing at all.
The Inspector General's office conducted an audit of 100 children who went missing from foster care between July 1, 2018. to December 31, 2020. It used instances where children went missing for more than two calendar days when conducting the audit.
Source:
The Center Square