San Mateo County (Map, News) - A county audit has revealed that two registered sex offenders were living in child care and foster care facilities in the Peninsula, though no children were harmed on the two cases, county officials said.

The two instances were revealed by an audit by the county’s Human Services Agency, in which the agency compared 530 addresses of child care and foster care facilities to a state database of registered sex offenders.

The investigation was requested by Supervisor Jerry Hill after a state audit was released in April. That audit compared state-licensed facilities with the database of sex offenders, but Hill believed the audit had major flaws because not all child care facilities are licensed with the state.

Hill and Assemblymember Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, said the audit revealed major communication breakdowns between law enforcement and human-service agencies, as well as between state and county governments.

In one of the cases identified in the audit, a sex offender had been living at a foster care home in East Palo Alto. In the second case, a sex offender was living in a child care facility, but because the child or children were being cared for by a close relative, the home was not licensed — and therefore no background check was made on residents living there, according to a release issued by both Ma and Hill.

As soon as the two cases were discovered, the Human Services Agency turned them over to law enforcement officials, HSA Deputy Director Deborah Torres said. In both cases, the sex offenders had already moved out of the facilities and there was no evidence that children had been harmed.

Both Hill and Ma said changes were in order. Ma said she would introduce a new state law requiring the Attorney General’s Office, which controls the registry of sex offenders also known as Megan’s List, to share all of that information with licensing agencies.

While most of the list is made public, about 25 percent is not, Ma said.

Hill said he would create a committee to link law enforcement with county agencies.

“We didn’t find that any children were harmed in these cases, but we want to be able to guarantee that it doesn’t ever happen,” he said.

kworth@examiner.com

Comments from Examiner Readers

1:38 PM MST on Sat., Jan. 19, 2008 re: "Governor seeks 1,000 foster parents"

Examiner Reader said:
Only one good parent is needed for each good child. BRAC has nothing to do with our educational system. BRAC gets their own schools. These foster kids have always been dysfuntional and no one can handle them in the past. The parental training program suggested is the first to ever have any kind of progress. Thats a proud accomplishent. No drugs, ever for these children.

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1:16 PM MST on Sat., Jan. 19, 2008 re: "Governor seeks 1,000 foster parents"

Examiner Reader said:
Recruiting more foster parents is a great start, but it is only one part of the solution. A fundamental chamge in our education system are the best chances of moving this society forward. If the Gov tried these he couls realize his stated goals. Mandatory school uniforms; longer school days and year -round school with a revised curriculum that includes "mandatory" social skills, physical education and arts as part of the curriculum); a comprehensive truancy program, and return of the Public Technical Schools (paid for with private dollars). BRAC will require electricians, plumbers, motor vehicle repair persons, welders, brick masons, heating/air conditioning, appliance repair persons, and etc on an on-going basis. These jobs will pay more than any street-level drug dealer could ever make, and they are much safer.

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12:07 PM MST on Sat., Jan. 19, 2008 re: "Governor seeks 1,000 foster parents"

Examiner Reader said:
Some sick people to watch out for, minds are in the gutter, best to do a backround check on 11:13.

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11:50 AM MST on Sat., Jan. 19, 2008 re: "Governor seeks 1,000 foster parents"

Examiner Reader said:
When the government starts paying for these childrens lives, only then will they have a say so in their present, past and future. As a matter of a fact tehy may just run away and waste all of our tax money. Thats usually the case.

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11:13 AM MST on Sat., Jan. 19, 2008 re: "Governor seeks 1,000 foster parents"

Examiner Reader said:
Will these be same race placements? Placements within the same community? Those are crucial issues. Or will this become an effort to redistribute foster children to other jurisdictions, communities and schools. Is the goal to seek 1,000 affluent Black families just like they want a 1,000 educated Black males to mentor. How did that project go?

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8:48 AM MST on Sat., Jan. 19, 2008 re: "Governor seeks 1,000 foster parents"

Examiner Reader said:
Beleive this solution and care when you see it. Our tax dollars finally to good use with the cost of living increase.

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8:20 AM MST on Sat., Jan. 19, 2008 re: "Governor seeks 1,000 foster parents"

Examiner Reader said:
Foster parents, hmmmmmmmmm , Maybe O'malley and his judge wife can take on a couple of someone elses kids. She can bring them home right from the courthouse. Its an ideal situation for her.

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8:16 AM MST on Sat., Jan. 19, 2008 re: "Governor seeks 1,000 foster parents"

Examiner Reader said:
Everytime theres a problem O'malley's answer is to spend more money on yet another compain. Why not HOLD PARENTS RESPONSIBLE. Theres already laws but he won't inforce them.

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8:12 AM MST on Sat., Jan. 19, 2008 re: "Governor seeks 1,000 foster parents"

Examiner Reader said:
Many foster children come with issues. They can become a negative influence in the home and most importantly on the birth child of the parents. These are children who often have been traumatized and were born into situations that no child should be born into. Many people are unwilling to put their families and especially their children at risk.

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7:33 AM MST on Sat., Jan. 19, 2008 re: "Governor seeks 1,000 foster parents"

Examiner Reader said:
Most of these problems come from Baltimore City where they refuse to be fixed.

And if being a foster-parent is such a good idea, how come the three appointees that O'Malley brought with him to Annapolis -- the ones with the cabinet level salaries but not the cabinet level positions -- don't become foster parents? Better yet? Why doesn't O'Malley become a foster parent?

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6:58 AM MST on Sat., Jan. 19, 2008 re: "Governor seeks 1,000 foster parents"

Examiner Reader said:
Oh Yeah, this brillant idea will stop crime. Give me a break. O'Malley has gone crazy in his mind.

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5:45 AM MST on Sat., Jan. 19, 2008 re: "Governor seeks 1,000 foster parents"

Examiner Reader said:
For most people it isn't the money that prevents them from taking in a foster kid. It is the intrusion of the government in every other aspect of their lives: medical, psychological, financial. It isn't enough to give the kids love, and devotion, and a safe place to stay. You have to give up privacy too.

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