LA County Board

17.\nRedefining the Board Priority around Child Protection and Renaming the\nOffice of Child Protection\nRecommendation as submitted by Supervisors Horvath and Mitchell: Instruct the\nActing Executive Director of the Office of Child Protection to:\nWork with the Acting Chief Executive Office and the Executive Officer of\nthe Board, to immediately redefine the Board Directed Priority from\n“Child Protection” to “Child, Youth, and Family Well-Being” and direct the\nOffice of Child Protection (OCP) to change its name to the “Office of\nChild, Youth, and Family Well-Being.”\nThe priority language should include both language from the\nCounty’s stated mission to protect children, support families, and\nchampion success as well as explicitly reflect community members\nfeedback, that supporting families is the most effective form of\nprevention.\nThe new priority area should frame prevention, stability, family\npreservation, and economic and emotional well-being as core child\nprotection strategies.\nThis change should be reflected and on all County websites,\nmaterials, and work moving forward.\nIntegrate the following structural implementation actions into their\nimplementation of their strategic plan, as well as the Countywide\nPrevention and Promotion Strategic Plan: simplify access to programs\nand reduce system-induced harm; better coordinate a Countywide\nnetwork of care; and outline a strategy for investment in community\ncapacity, workforce stability, and trust. As part of this work, the Acting\nExecutive Director of the Office of Child Protection should work with all\nrelevant County Department Heads and initiative leads to incorporate\nthese actions into their departmental workplans and strategic plans,\nconsistent with the Unified Prevention Framework.\nThe OCP to include accountability mechanisms within the\nPrevention and Promotion Strategic Plan, including: clear\ncommunication with communities about what structural changes\nare being implemented and on what timeline; ongoing engagement\nof lived experts as partners in implementation and evaluation;\nidentify and implement the use of qualitative and quantitative\nindicators to assess whether families report feeling safer seeking\nhelp earlier and experiencing improved access and coordination\nincluding indicators such as early help-seeking, reduced\ncrisis-driven system entry, improved service coordination, and\nfamily-reported trust and access.\nInstruct all County Departments and County initiatives that provide direct\nservices to children, youth and families to operationalize the redefined priority\nthrough Departmental planning, budget decision-making, and performance\nalignment. This should be done by the end of Fiscal Year 2026-27.\nDepartments should prepare Departmental workplans that discuss how\nthey will:\nPrioritize effective prevention and early-intervention investments\nwhen making budgetary decisions, particularly those demonstrated\nto reduce entries and system involvement for children, youth, and\nfamilies. This should include establishing guardrails that prevent\neffective prevention models from being cut from budgets without\nevaluation.\nAlign existing performance measures, where applicable, to\nemphasize prevention and positive family outcomes, such as\nreduced removals, reduced crisis-driven entry, increased family\nstability, and increased engagement in positive, upstream\nsupports, rather than creating new reporting requirements.\nEnhance or integrate existing strategies-or develop new\nstrategies-to address economic stressors for children, youth, and\nfamilies.\nIdentify and address policy or administrative barriers across\nDepartments that unintentionally create access barriers or\nsystem-induced harm for families.\nContinue working to align or integrate data systems that support\ncoordinated prevention and family well-being efforts.\nThese written workplans should be submitted to the Board by June 30,\n2027.\nThe OCP and relevant County Departments integrate addressing basic needs\nand economic stability into the Prevention and Promotion Strategic Plan and\nDepartmental workplans, rather than treating them as ancillary or separate\nefforts. Economic stability should be recognized as a core child safety and\nmaltreatment prevention strategy. As part of the ongoing work through the\nPrevention and Promotion Strategic Plan, Departments should identify how\nexisting programs and initiatives address economic stress for families they\nserve and where gaps remain. This should be done on an annual basis.\nDepartments administering housing and homelessness programs,\nincluding Department of Children and Family Services, Department of\nHomeless Services and Housing, Department of Mental Health,\nDepartment of Youth Development, to align housing stability efforts as a\ncore prevention strategy for children and families.\nDepartments supporting childcare and early learning, including the\nDepartment of Children and Family Services, Department of Public\nHealth, Los Angeles County Office of Education, to explore ways to\nexpand access to childcare, including extended-hour childcare (e.g.,\nearly morning, evening, and non-traditional-hour care) to support working\nfamilies.\nDepartments focused on workforce development, including the\nDepartment of Economic Opportunity, to align workforce pathways and\nlivable-wage strategies with family-serving systems.\nDepartments and initiatives implementing direct financial assistance or\nguaranteed income pilots, including the Poverty Alleviation Initiative, to\ncoordinate learning and explore expansion where evidence supports\nprevention and family stability outcome. (26-1590)\nMotion by Supervisor Horvath\nMotion by Supervisors Horvath and Mitchell (Updates Following Cluster)