The vulnerable children were sleeping on conference tables, eating fast food and urinating into water bottles until social workers could find homes for them.
The Associated Press
Fresno County Administrative Officer Jean Rousseau apologized Thursday to the children forced to stay at the office building that is the main hub for Fresno County’s Child Protective Services and to the workers who oversee them, The Fresno Bee reported Friday. The news organization first reported about the conditions on Wednesday.
Social workers told The Bee that the county's child welfare system is understaffed and overwhelmed and there's a lack of housing for children who have been removed from their homes for their own safety. As a result, some children stay at the offices of Child Protective Services until foster homes can be found for them.
Lorraine Ramirez, a veteran social worker with Fresno County Department of Social Services’ child welfare agency, told The Bee that children stay in the building for a few hours to several weeks. Some days, there are no children in the building and on other days there can be a dozen, she said. They vary in age and in their medical needs.Rousseau said he toured the office Wednesday and on Thursday staffers were sent to buy cots and inflatable mattresses.
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