REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
November 17, 2026
FROM
JEANY GLASGOW, Director, Children and Family Services
TRACY REECE, Chief Probation Officer, Probation Department
SUBJECT
Title
San Bernardino County System Improvement Plan for Child Welfare Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve and authorize submission of the San Bernardino County 2024-2028 System Improvement Plan for Child Welfare Services to the California Department of Social Services, including strategies to improve child welfare outcomes related to safety, permanency, and well-being, in accordance with the California Child and Family Services Review, for the period of February 1, 2024 through January 31, 2028.
(Presenter: Jeany Glasgow, Director, 658-1181)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost) as the System Improvement Plan (SIP) is non-financial in nature.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The California Child and Family Services Review (C-CFSR) is the State's outcomes and accountability system for child welfare services, established by Assembly Bill 636, effective January 2004, in accordance with Welfare and Institutions Code section 10601.2. Under the C-CFSR, each county completes a five-year continuous quality improvement cycle consisting of a County Self-Assessment (CSA), including a Peer Review and stakeholder engagement; a SIP; and annual updates. The SIP is the operational agreement among the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), Children and Family Services (CFS), and the Probation Department (Probation), and outlines how San Bernardino County (County) will improve its system of care for children and families. Both the Board of Supervisors (Board) and CDSS must approve the SIP. The 2024-28 SIP is the County's fifth SIP under the C-CFSR. The Board approved the three most recent SIPs on February 24, 2009 (Item No. 36), August 6, 2013 (Item No. 20), and August 20, 2019 (Item No. 25).
CFS and Probation are the County's lead agencies for the C-CFSR process. CFS is responsible for outcomes in all areas related to children receiving child welfare Title IV-B and IV-E funded services, and Probation is responsible for outcomes related to foster children under its direct supervision receiving Child Welfare Services. The two departments jointly developed the 2024-28 SIP in collaboration with the County's SIP/Integrated Core Practice Model Committee, which serves as the C-CFSR team required by CDSS and includes representatives from CFS, Probation, CDSS, Human Services Administration, the Children's Network, the Department of Behavioral Health, the Performance Education and Resource Center, and the Program Development Division (Committee). The Committee is also responsible for monitoring implementation of the SIP strategies and evaluating results throughout the implementation period.
The 2024-28 SIP is built on the SIPs from prior cycles and the 2023 CSA, and incorporates quantitative performance data, stakeholder engagement, focus groups, qualitative case reviews, and feedback from youth, parents, caregivers, tribes, community-based organizations, and system partners. Drawing on these sources, the SIP identifies root causes of performance challenges and outlines the systemic and practice improvements necessary to address them. This analysis informed the selection of four federal outcome measures for focused improvement:
• Safety 1 (S1): Maltreatment in Foster Care (CFS)
• Permanency 1 (P1): Permanency in 12 Months for Children Entering Foster Care (CFS)
• Permanency 2 (P2): Permanency in 12 Months for Children in Foster Care 12-23 Months (Probation)
• Permanency 3 (P3): Permanency in 12 Months for Children in Foster Care 24 Months or Longer (CFS)
To address these measures, the SIP commits CFS to four strategies:
1. Enhancing engagement with caregivers, including expanded use of Resource Family Specialists and training on safe and positive discipline (S1);
2. Enhancing Child and Family Team Meetings to address placement considerations and the needs of children, parents, and caregivers (S1);
3. Increasing engagement with fathers and paternal families through a father-inclusive practice culture (P1); and
4. Improving permanency outcomes by enhancing and increasing the use of concurrent planning (P3).
The SIP commits Probation to one strategy:
Engaging youth, parents, and guardians in an educational campaign to reduce Absent Without Leave incidents, which Probation has identified as the primary factor limiting permanency for youth under its supervision (P2).
Integrated into the C-CFSR since 2008 are the needs assessment and plan for the Child Abuse Prevention, Intervention and Treatment, Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention, and Promoting Safe and Stable Families programs, overseen by the CDSS Office of Child Abuse Prevention. The SIP includes the County's plan for these programs, together with the associated expenditure workbook, program description and evaluation plan, and Notice of Intent to contract for services.
The SIP implementation period is February 1, 2024 through January 31, 2028. Although the implementation period is four years, it is part of the five-year C-CFSR continuous quality improvement cycle, which began with preparatory work completed before February 1, 2024, including the CSA, Peer Review, stakeholder engagement, and SIP development. The Peer Review and stakeholder engagement take approximately eight to ten months to complete. The Peer Review included subject matter experts and partners from other agencies and counties and was facilitated by the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). Community engagement included youth, parents, caregivers, tribal representatives, community organizations, service providers, and county partners. Approximately 100 participants attended the CSA kickoff, which included reviewing performance data and participating in eight focus groups. Additional surveys gathered feedback from parents, caregivers, tribal members, and youth.
The County's prior SIP concluded on January 31, 2023. In May 2022, during planning for the required Peer Review, the facilitator who conducted the County's prior Peer Review declined to serve again, and the lead time necessary to contract with and schedule a replacement facilitator exceeded the established CSA and SIP timeframes. CDSS approved the County's one-year extension request, submitted in August 2022, establishing the February 1, 2024 start of the current SIP period. The County subsequently contracted with UC Davis, which conducted a virtual Peer Review from March 28, 2023 through April 6, 2023. The subsequent State review was further extended by three transitions in the CDSS liaison assigned to the County, each requiring additional coordination to maintain continuity of the review and to address State feedback and revisions. CFS and Probation submitted the final plan to CDSS on July 6, 2026, and CDSS communicated its approval on July 27, 2026.
Since February 1, 2024, CFS and Probation have carried out activities consistent with the SIP strategies while the plan proceeded through State review. CFS confirmed with CDSS that the timing of Board approval does not create a compliance issue because formal approval and implementation of the SIP begin on the date the Board approves the plan.
Approval of this item will authorize submission of the 2024-28 SIP to CDSS for certification and posting and allow CFS and Probation to begin formal implementation and continue ongoing monitoring and required progress reporting on the strategies and performance measures identified in the SIP through January 31, 2028.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Human Services (Lisa Rivas-Ordaz, Contracts Manager, 388-0222) on October 15, 2026; County Counsel (Daniella V. Hernandez and Maria Insixiengmay, Deputies County Counsel, 387-5455) on November 13, 2026; Probation (Thomas Kamara, Director of Probation Administration, 387-9631) on October 16, 2026; and County Finance and Administration (John Hallen, Principal Administrative Analyst, 388-0208 and Matthew Dalton, Administrative Analyst, 387-5005) on October 26, 2026.