Blog

Jonathan LoPresti went to USC as an undergrad in 1974. And liked it. So much so that he stayed on for a PhD in physiology, and then stuck with the Trojan family for medical school. For his residency, take a wild guess. Yes, USC, and he’s still doctoring at L.A. County-USC Medical Center. LoPresti, who’s had M.D. after his name for 36 years, is a true believer in the mission at one of the oldest and largest public hospitals in the nation. Going back to the late 1800s, Southern Californians by...

According to a recent Los Angeles County report, nearly 10,000 children in the county's foster care system are receiving "reunification services" designed to help repair their families and return them to their parents — and visitation is a core, legally required component. "It's one of the most essential services we can provide," said Diane Iglesias, senior deputy director of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. Visits help keep children connected with their...

The Board of Supervisors voted today to allow dollars once designated for permanent housing to be spent on “crisis housing” to get families off the street until longer-term solutions can be found. Supervisor Janice Hahn recommended creating more flexibility in the way housing dollars are used. With a vacancy rate of less than 2 percent in some cities in Los Angeles County, it can take on average three to nine months to find permanent housing for eligible homeless families. To read more of...

Imagine waiting in jail month after month for your trial. A court has determined that you pose minimal threat to public safety, but still you sit in pretrial incarceration. And while you wait, you lose your job, your home, in some cases even your family, all because you simply don’t have the money to post bail. Nationwide, more than 450,000 people are sitting in local, state and federal jails while they await trial — in essence, serving time before they’re even convicted. The cost is...

In times like these where accessible mental health resources are dwindling or filled to capacity, I am compelled to seek outside the box as a mental health professional. And what I am finding astonishes me. I met with the LA Chapter of B.A.C.A., Bikers Against Child Abuse and what they do, free of charge, for children who have been physically or sexually abused needs to be known. Any child who has a current case in the system (which is a cold and frightening process) is eligible for their...

Los Angeles County is one of the top three points of entry into the U.S. for victims of slavery and trafficking. The diverse communities here make it easier to hide and move victims from place to place, and that in turn makes it difficult for law enforcement to locate and help them. New efforts in Los Angeles and Santa Monica focus on the place to place aspect of trafficking; to find and protect trafficking victims by identifying the places and situations where trafficking occurs or crosses.

In a move long sought by civil rights activists, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Wednesday ordered a comprehensive review of the county’s bail system. In a move long sought by civil rights activists, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Wednesday ordered a comprehensive review of the county’s bail system. “Getting out on bail correlates much more to a person’s ability to pay, than to any likelihood of appearing in court or relative risk to the safety of the public,”...

It costs the taxpayers of L.A. County $177 a day to keep someone in the "largest and most costly local jail system in the United States," according to a motion by county supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Hilda Solis. About half the people in those cells are presumed innocent and awaiting trial, and according to Sheriff Jim McDonnell, most in that group can't afford bail. The proposal is similar to legislation at state and national levels that seeks to address the injustice of bail. State Sen. Bob...

In the past, lawmakers didn’t think twice about how doctors treated foster children suffering from emotional traumas such as abandonment and abuse. Nobody controlled how often practitioners prescribed psychiatric drugs that had serious potential for doing more harm than good. Today, investigations into California’s foster care system shed light on the doctors who fuel medication problems by inappropriately prescribing narcotics to the state’s most vulnerable children – ultimately leading to...

While parental unemployment is a known risk factor for child abuse and neglect, a new study finds that a parent’s satisfaction in the workplace may play an even more important role. The findings , published this January in the Journal of Child and Family Studies , are based on a study of mothers referred by Child Protective Services to a treatment program for child neglect and substance abuse. To gauge a parent’s risk of being reported for child abuse researchers used an assessment tool...

Los Angeles County ranks seventh in income inequality out of the nation’s 150 largest metro regions, according to a new report. The study from PolicyLink and the USC Program for Environment and Regional Equity, with support from the Weingart Foundation, concludes that this high rate of inequality threatens the region’s long-term economic prosperity. The first in a series of reports on inequality in Southern California and its implications, the study examines a wide range of factors...

The state plan, “ California’s Plan for the Prevention of Unintended Pregnancies for Youth and Non-Minor Dependents ,” aims to address the fact that by age 21 over 1 in 3 girls in foster care will have given birth, according to a report by the Children’s Data Network. Representatives from all three departments, the child welfare advocacy community and at least one former foster youth will participate in developing the strategy. “What’s important here is to make sure we’re catering to the...