Auditors Have Been Warning California for Over a Decade

What State and Federal Reviews Reveal About Los Angeles County DCFS and San Bernardino County CFS

For more than 12 years, independent state and federal auditors have issued repeated and data driven warnings about California’s child welfare system. These reports consistently documented delayed investigations, unsafe placements, deficient safety assessments, weak supervision, and ineffective oversight. Despite corrective plans and reform initiatives, the same deficiencies continued to reappear across audit cycles, counties, and administrations.

When read together, the California State Auditor reports issued between 2012 and 2024 and the federal Child and Family Services Reviews issued in 2016, 2023, and 2024 establish a clear and uninterrupted record of systemic failure. These findings directly implicate Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and San Bernardino County Children and Family Services, two of the largest county agencies operating under the state’s authority.

Los Angeles County DCFS: State Audit Findings From 2012 Through 2024

Investigation Delays and Failure to Protect Children

The March 2012 California State Auditor report found that Los Angeles County DCFS routinely failed to initiate and complete child abuse and neglect investigations within legally required timeframes. Thousands of referrals remained open beyond statutory deadlines, leaving children in potentially unsafe environments without timely intervention (California State Auditor, 2012).

Subsequent State Auditor reports issued in February 2013 and January 2014, which reviewed statewide child welfare oversight systems, confirmed that Los Angeles County continued to struggle with investigation timeliness and supervisory enforcement. These reports noted that high caseloads, weak monitoring, and inconsistent corrective action contributed to repeated delays in frontline response (California State Auditor, 2013; California State Auditor, 2014).

The January 2015 and January 2016 State Auditor reports again identified deficiencies in California’s ability to enforce investigation timelines at the county level. These reports emphasized that corrective actions adopted after earlier audits had not resolved underlying operational failures in large counties such as Los Angeles (California State Auditor, 2015; California State Auditor, 2016).

The May 2019 audit confirmed that these failures persisted. Auditors found that Los Angeles County DCFS continued to miss investigation deadlines and delay safety assessments for weeks or months. The report explicitly concluded that DCFS unnecessarily risked children’s safety by failing to complete investigations and assessments in a timely and accurate manner (California State Auditor, 2019).

The January 2024 State Auditor report reviewing statewide child welfare oversight again noted that counties struggled to ensure consistent compliance with safety and assessment requirements, demonstrating that long standing deficiencies identified in earlier audits had not been fully corrected (California State Auditor, 2024).

Inaccurate Safety and Risk Assessments

Across multiple audit cycles, the State Auditor documented failures in the quality and integrity of safety and risk assessments. The 2012 audit found that assessments were frequently completed without sufficient documentation or supervisory verification, undermining the reliability of safety decisions (California State Auditor, 2012).

The 2019 audit provided explicit evidence that some safety assessments were completed without required home visits. In multiple cases, conclusions regarding child safety were unsupported by any direct observation of the child’s living conditions (California State Auditor, 2019).

The 2024 State Auditor report reaffirmed that counties lacked effective systems to ensure safety assessments were consistently accurate, timely, and reviewed for quality, indicating systemic breakdown rather than isolated worker error (California State Auditor, 2024).

Unsafe Relative and Foster Placements

The March 2012 audit reviewed placement practices from 2008 to 2010 and found that Los Angeles County DCFS completed fewer than 33 percent of required home and caregiver assessments before placing children with relatives. Nearly 900 children were placed into homes later determined to be unsafe or inappropriate, with many remaining in those placements for approximately 6 weeks before corrective action occurred (California State Auditor, 2012).

The January 2015 and January 2016 audits addressing foster care oversight documented continued weaknesses in caregiver approval, background checks, and placement safeguards. Counties frequently placed children without completing required criminal history reviews and home approvals (California State Auditor, 2015; California State Auditor, 2016).

The May 2019 audit confirmed these failures continued. Of 22 relative placements reviewed, Los Angeles County DCFS completed required in home inspections prior to placement in only 16 cases and documented required pre placement criminal background checks in only 5 cases. The majority of children were placed without full verification that the home was safe or that the caregiver was eligible (California State Auditor, 2019).

Supervision, Quality Assurance, and Leadership Instability

The State Auditor consistently identified weak supervision and ineffective quality assurance as root causes of persistent noncompliance. The 2012 audit linked repeated failures to instability in executive leadership, noting frequent turnover among DCFS directors that undermined sustained reform (California State Auditor, 2012).

The 2019 audit found that DCFS lacked specific timelines for supervisory review of safety assessments and failed to evaluate the quality of supervisory decisions. The department also lacked processes to ensure implementation of recommendations following child fatality reviews (California State Auditor, 2019).

The 2024 State Auditor report reaffirmed that counties continued to lack effective systems to monitor compliance and ensure corrective actions were sustained over time (California State Auditor, 2024).

San Bernardino County CFS: Federal Audit Findings Demonstrating Elevated Risk

While the State Auditor reports focus primarily on Los Angeles County DCFS, federal audits provide quantitative data identifying San Bernardino County CFS as a high risk jurisdiction.

The 2024 Child and Family Services Review found that California’s maltreatment in foster care rate was statistically worse than national performance. The report identified San Bernardino County and Orange County as accounting for approximately 16 percent of all days children spent in foster care while representing approximately 25 percent of substantiated maltreatment victimizations statewide. This disparity demonstrates that children placed in foster care in San Bernardino County experienced a disproportionately high risk of abuse or neglect while under government supervision (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2024).

The 2024 review also reported a 10 percent increase in maltreatment victimizations over the most recent 3 year reporting period and documented persistent racial disparities, with Black children experiencing higher rates of maltreatment in foster care (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2024).

The 2023 Federal Auditor

Statewide Admissions Before Final Determination

In August 2023, the United States Department of Health and Human Services issued California’s Child and Family Services Review Round 4 Statewide Assessment. This document is critical because it represents California’s own admission of systemic deficiencies prior to the 2024 federal determination (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2023).

The 2023 assessment acknowledged ongoing failures in safety outcomes, investigation timeliness, workforce stability, and quality assurance. It reported that counties experienced workforce vacancy rates as high as 45 percent, directly impairing the ability to conduct timely investigations and caseworker visits. The assessment also acknowledged that the state lacked direct access to county workforce data, limiting its ability to correct known deficiencies.

The assessment further confirmed continued problems with foster and relative caregiver approval, background checks, and inconsistent application of Resource Family Approval standards across counties. These failures were identified as contributing factors to unsafe placements and maltreatment in foster care (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2023).

Federal Reviews Across Multiple Cycles

Failure to Achieve Substantial Conformity

The 2016 Child and Family Services Review found that California failed to achieve substantial conformity in any of the 7 federal child welfare outcomes. The state was rated as an area needing improvement in safety assessments, caseworker visits, family engagement, and caregiver background checks (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2016).

Eight years later, the 2024 Child and Family Services Review reached the same conclusion. California again failed to achieve substantial conformity in any outcome area, confirming that deficiencies identified in earlier audits were not resolved despite corrective action plans and ongoing federal oversight (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2024).

What the Combined Audit Record Establishes

Taken together, the State Auditor reports from 2012 through 2024 and the federal reviews from 2016, 2023, and 2024 establish an uninterrupted pattern of known risk. Investigations were delayed. Safety assessments were incomplete or inaccurate. Required placement safeguards were skipped. Maltreatment in foster care increased rather than declined. Leadership and oversight failures allowed these practices to persist after formal notice.

These reports demonstrate knowledge without correction. The harm that followed was not accidental. It was foreseeable, documented, and repeated.

Why This Matters

Audits matter because they provide independent, government issued confirmation of systemic failure. They show what agencies knew, when they knew it, and how often they failed to act. The data removes any claim that harms were isolated or unforeseeable.

For courts, advocates, and policymakers, the combined audit record provides a factual foundation for accountability, reform, and enforcement of constitutional and statutory protections for children and families.

References

California State Auditor. 2012. Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. Sacramento CA. https://information.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2011-101.2.pdf

California State Auditor. 2013. Child Welfare Services Oversight and Monitoring. Sacramento CA. https://information.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2013-110.pdf

California State Auditor. 2014. Child Welfare Services Program Review. Sacramento CA. https://information.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2013-041.pdf

California State Auditor. 2015. Foster Care Placement and Approval Oversight. Sacramento CA. https://information.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2015-131.pdf

California State Auditor. 2016. Child Welfare Services Performance and Compliance Review. Sacramento CA. https://information.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2016-701.pdf

California State Auditor. 2019. Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services Has Not Adequately Ensured the Safety of Children in Its Care. Sacramento CA. https://information.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2018-126.pdf

California State Auditor. 2024. Child Welfare Services Oversight and Accountability Review. Sacramento CA. https://information.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2023-041.pdf

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2016. Child and Family Services Review Round 3 California Final Report. Administration for Children and Families Children’s Bureau. https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/ca-cfsr-r3-final.pdf

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2023. Child and Family Services Review Round 4 Statewide Assessment California. Administration for Children and Families Children’s Bureau. https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/ca-cfsr-r4-swa.pdf

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2024. Child and Family Services Review Round 4 California Final Report. Administration for Children and Families Children’s Bureau. https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/ca-cfsr-r4-final.pdf

Over A Decade of Warnings in California