There’s some rare good news for a change on the county health and welfare front. Thanks to First 5 Sacramento, all young children whom Sacramento County takes into custody because of suspected abuse or neglect once again will receive medical and dental screenings before they are placed in foster homes. These screenings protect children as well as adults.
Under state law, only children taken into protective custody because of allegations of physical abuse must undergo a medical exam. Sacramento County had gone further than the state mandate, examining all children, suspected victims of physical abuse as well as those removed from their homes because of allegations of neglect or drug use in the home or other reasons.
Those expanded exams have proved to be worthwhile. According to the UC Davis Medical Center, which previously performed the exams, 38 percent of all physical injuries were found in children who were in county custody for reasons other than physical abuse. The early exams not only accelerated treatment for the injured kids, they served to protect foster parents from false allegations of abuse.
Budget cuts forced county supervisors to curtail the extra screenings last October. First 5 Sacramento initially declined to backfill the funding, in part because Child Protective Services had failed to specify exactly how the money was to be spent.
Whatever confusion existed has been cleared up. First 5 Sacramento commissioners voted unanimously this week to provide $743,281 in tobacco tax revenues for the new program. That money will be matched dollar for dollar with federal funds. In all, the county will have almost $1.5 million. That’s enough not only to restore screenings through June 2012 but to expand the program to include home visitations, developmental screenings and prevention and education services, too.
Although there are not many silver linings in the county’s bleak budget, it’s a relief to see Sacramento’s most vulnerable kids get a boost.