Sacramento County Fined for Housing Foster Care Youth in Violation of State Order

Sacramento County has been fined $3,600 by the California Department of Social Services for placing two new teens in an unlicensed facility, the Warren E. Thornton Youth Center, two weeks after being warned not to. The county has been placing foster care youth in unlicensed facilities for years, including an office building and the WET Center, a former detention facility. The Youth Law Center has sued the county, and a settlement has been reached that will put the county on notice for five years and require therapy for any child who lived in the facility for more than seven days. The county has secured three welcoming centers for six children so far, but the applications for licensing the homes are still incomplete.