The Bureau will enforce criminal and civil laws to hold those who prey on children accountable; work with a range of local, state, and national stakeholders to increase support for vulnerable children to prevent bad outcomes; and identify and pursue improvements to policies impacting children.
āWe simply cannot let down our most vulnerable children today, then lock them up tomorrow and act surprised,ā said Attorney General Harris. āThe Bureau of Childrenās Justice will continue our smart on crime approach by addressing the root causes of crime, including our broken foster care system, and making certain that Californiaās children receive full protection under the law and equal opportunities to succeed. One of the Bureauās first orders of business will be to look at enforcement gaps in the foster care system and ensure that government agencies are held accountable to those entrusted in their care.ā
Attorney General Harrisā letter to counties lays out their responsibilities in protecting children in foster care and overseeing the agencies that provide direct services to these children. In the coming months, the Bureau will focus on identifying accountability and enforcement gaps in the foster system to ensure children have the support they need.
āWe are thrilled that Attorney General Harris is making children her top priority with this new Bureau,ā said Ted Lempert, president of Children Now. āGiven the Attorney General’s past leadership and success with reducing chronic absence and suspensions in California, Iām confident the new Bureau will be very positive for children.ā
āIām happy to join Attorney General Harris in shining a spotlight on the importance of safeguarding our children,ā said Diana S. Dooley, Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency. āWe at the California Health and Human Services Agency place a high interest and priority on addressing childhood trauma and we are committed with our county and community partners to meet the needs of all of our kids.ā
The Bureau will draw on the civil and criminal law enforcement capacity of the California Department of Justice and build on CADOJās existing work on key issues affecting children. Core priorities for the newly formed bureau include:
- Californiaās foster care, adoption, and juvenile justice systems
- Discrimination and inequities in education
- Californiaās elementary school truancy crisis
- Human trafficking of vulnerable youth
- Childhood trauma and exposure to violence
Attorney General Harris also announced that the California Department of Justice was one of just three state agencies accepted by the U.S. Department of Justice to be part of its national Defending Childhood Initiative. Through this initiative, California will work to improve outcomes for children exposed to trauma by ensuring that at-risk children are screened for exposure to violence at school, when they visit a pediatrician, or when they become involved with child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
āI commend Attorney General Harris for taking this important step to protect the youngest and most vulnerable Californians,ā said Dr. Robert K. Ross, President and CEO, The California Endowment. āThe Bureau of Childrenās Justice will watch over our stateās legal system and guarantee greater protection for our children, safeguarding their physical, social and emotional health and helping to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to grow up healthy and safe.ā
The Bureau will expand CADOJās efforts to combat the crisis of elementary school truancy, piloting programs with school districts to improve attendance and launching a new partnership with University of California, Santa Barbara to ensure these pilots can be replicated across the state.
The Bureau draws on Attorney General Harrisā expertise as a career prosecutor focusing on sexual and physical crimes against children and her commitment to defending every child in California. Attorney General Harris served two terms as District Attorney of San Francisco, where she created a child sexual assault unit. She also led the San Francisco City Attorneyās Division on Children and Families and specialized in prosecuting child sexual assault cases at the Alameda County District Attorneyās Office.
The Bureau will be staffed by attorneys and experts on legal issues impacting children, including civil rights, education, consumer protection, nonprofit charities, child welfare, privacy and identity theft, fraud, and human trafficking.