Group homes, which lack the kind of nurturing parental relationships thought to be developmentally necessary for healthy children, have historically been a last resort for foster kids. But a family placement does not guarantee a happy child; as Natasha Vargas-Cooper reported for Pacific Standard in the 2013 September/October issue, foster children typically bounce between at least three family placements, and often as many as 10 or 12 different homes. Vargas-Cooper's piece focused on a lucky few who wound up at an unconventional group home and boarding school near San Diego called the San Pasqual Academy, whose students challenge, "what society has come to expect from kids who've been in group homes," Vargas-Cooper wrote. San Pasqual's 238-acre campus has a high school that graduates students at twice the rate of foster teens across California, along with a farm, a technology center, and cottages where the students live with adults who provide parental-like guidance and supervision.
Unfortunately, the San Pasqual Academy seems to be the exception: Many group homes throughout the state of California have been plagued by controversy for several years. For over a year, ProPublica has documented reports of runaways, suicidal teens, rape, and child abuse allegations in overtaxed group homes across the state. In response to the disorder, last month California Governor Jerry Brownapproved new legislation that promises to overhaul the juvenile group home
[For more of this story, written by Kate Wheeling, go to http://www.psmag.com/politics-...r-care-in-california]
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