Supes Vote to Disband Commission to Help At-Risk Youth

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to disband the 45-member Commission on Children, Youth and Families and replace it with a nine-member panel.

The new body, to be called the Child Abuse Prevention Coordinating Council, will be established when an ordinance is ready for approval.

Supervisor Greg Cox said the commission, established in 1986 to help at-risk youth or children in the county's care, had grown unwieldy as members were added over the years. The new model will be more efficient, he said.

"The proposal before us follows state law, puts the focus back on the core mission of prevention of child abuse and neglect, eliminates the redundancy with other county committees and initiatives, and establishes conditions that preclude any possibility of conflict of interest in awarding of grants from the children's trust fund," Cox said.

Seventeen other boards and commissions report to the county's Health and Human Services Agencies on issues that frequently touched on those handled by the commission, according to a staff report.

The fact that the panel needed to be revamped was not a negative reflection on the hard work of its members, Cox said. The reorganization was passed unanimously as part of the supervisors' consent calendar.

-City News Service