Yolo County is celebrating the success and remarkable achievements of the Mental Health Diversion, Mental Health Court and Addiction Intervention Court programs.
On Thursday morning, with hundreds of community members in attendance showing their support, Yolo Crisis Nursery staff, Yolo County elected officials and key contributors broke ground on the facility's new home, to be built on a one-acre parcel of land in east Davis.
County grapples with racial disparity in foster care
The increase in Yolo County children entering foster care in recent years has compounded existing racial and ethnic disparities within the child welfare system, particularly for Black children, according to a self-assessment performed by the county.
In 2019, Black children made up about 2.5 percent of the total child population in Yolo County but 23 percent of the population in foster care here. They were also more likely to be placed in care outside the county, spend more time in foster care than their peers, and were less likely to progress to permanent placement.
“Racial and ethnic disproportionality in our foster care system has existed for as far back as we’ve looked,” said Karleen Jakowski, director of the Child, Youth and Family Branch in Yolo County’s Health and Human Services Agency.