San Francisco/Los Angeles Daily Journal July 12, 2001 FOSTER KIDS SUE OVER BEATINGS AT COUNTY SHELTER Suit Alleges Pattern Of Abuse by Staff to Force Children Out By Cheryl Romo Daily Journal Staff Writer         LOS ANGELES - A class action filed against Los Angeles County on Wednesday claims that county employees at the only temporary emergency facility for children, MacLaren Children's Center, deliberately provoke mentally troubled foster kids to spur them to act out and get arrested, reclassified as delinquents and taken to juvenile hall.         "Minors are routinely assaulted, battered, intimidated, bullied, strong-armed, coerced and ultimately physically and psychologically injured, all in violation of their federal and state constitutional rights," the strongly worded 133-page complaint filed by a Manhattan Beach lawyer says.         Named plaintiffs are four girls and two boys, all of whom claim that adult employees at MacLaren injured them. In addition to naming the Department of Children and Family Services, the lawsuit names 21 employees of that department as defendants. Jazzmon R. v. County of Los Angeles, BC237613 (L.A. Super. Ct., amended to a class action July 11, 2001). 'Subterfuge by Defendants'         "Plaintiffs and each of them, as the case may be, allege that the petitions initiated against them, respectively, arising out of alleged altercations at Mac were the product of a tacit agreement, device and scheme used as a subterfuge by defendants to remove minors from Mac, replace them in a detention facility and avoid having to provide further services to said minors," the complaint states.         Calling the alleged practice of baiting and then abusing children an outrage, plaintiffs' attorney Sanford Jossen described the situation at the county's only emergency shelter for children as a "pattern of conduct to reclassify dependent minors as delinquent minors."         Principal County Counsel Roger H. Granbo said Wednesday that the county's practice is not to comment on pending litigation. Culling Scheme         Jossen, who in addition to his private practice is a part-time referee in the Los Angeles Juvenile Court's delinquency division, said that MacLaren staff routinely are beating and abusing foster children as part of a scheme to cull "hard to handle" kids, thereby avoiding giving them the psychological and educational services they are entitled to receive while at the emergency shelter.         Fewer than 150 kids are housed at MacLaren, ostensibly on a temporary basis. Members of the legal community and child advocates long have criticized the facility for what they described as inadequate facilities and programs that fall short of meeting the needs of young residents.         In recent years, many of the facility's residents have had serious mental health or emotional problems. The county has hired outside consultants, brought in new management and launched programs in an effort to help kids cope until other arrangements could be made for them.         The efforts have produced few results, however, and MacLaren's critics have multiplied. Recently, San Francisco Superior Court Judge David A. Garcia ruled in favor of a taxpayer action brought by the Youth Law Center.         The San Francisco public interest law firm's suit challenged why the state was allowing children's shelters, like MacLaren, in counties throughout California to operate as unlicensed facilities. Warren v. Saenz, 317487 (S.F. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 18, 2000). In response to Garcia's order, Los Angeles County is reconfiguring MacLaren in a bid to qualify as a state-licensed group home facility.         But the new class action filed on behalf of the child residents at MacLaren complicates that situation. In addition to the conspiracy claims, Jossen's suit asserts that MacLaren is basically a lost cause and that kids, particularly those with mental health problems, ought to be moved elsewhere.         The complaint says, "Plaintiffs and each of them allege that children with developmental disabilities such as themselves are deprived of rehabilitative treatment. Because of their condition, they are likely to take on the characteristics of more behaviorally or emotionally disturbed children housed with them. They are also more likely to be victimized."          Jossen said he filed the class action out of frustration.         The attorney-bench officer said he became concerned after receiving six juvenile court tort referral cases involving foster children whom MacLaren staff members allegedly injured. Each case was remarkably similar, he said, and came to him randomly by way of the Los Angeles County Bar Association's lawyer tort referral service, where he is a member of the juvenile panel.         His goal is to change the dependency system.         "As much as people hate lawyers, lawyers have a way of focusing attention on a problem, which will hopefully be remedied by the responsible party," Jossen said. "And, by remedy, I don't mean compensation for the particular victims. I mean remedy it so there is a complete change."