Those “medical clearance exams” were cut at the end of October because of a breakdown in the relationship between the county and the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
On Tuesday, the county’s First Five commission voted to use nearly $750,000 of its funding to restart the exams. Commissioner and former Republican Congressman Doug Ose says the exams are critical.
Ose: “Without that evaluation, would a foster parent take custody of a child without having some baseline established as to what that child’s condition is? Well, the answer to that is no, and as a result, we’re having children who are being taken into custody and there’s no place to put them.”
With UC Davis now out, the county is working with the Sutter Health System to restart the exams by May 1st. The exams can’t start any sooner because of a First Five Commission policy. Commission members rejected a motion by Ose to change that policy.
