Valley of the Moon
Children’s Home is an emergency shelter for children waiting for a foster care
placement which is owned and run by The Sonoma County Department of Human
Services. When a child is removed from an abusive home or a foster home
placement fails, the child is taken to Valley of the Moon Children’s Home. It
is supposed to be a place for children to safely wait while an appropriate long
term home is found.
Children at Valley of the
Moon Children’s Home are victims of abuse. They are children who have suffered
neglect, sexual abuse, rape, emotional abuse, abandonment or physical abuse.
Many of the children have experienced several types of abuse.
Valley of the Moon
Children’s Home is forbidden under the terms of their license to accept any
child who is a danger to themselves or anyone else.
Over the past 20 years,
numerous reforms have been attempted at Valley of the Moon Children’s Home,
including changing the name from the Dependency Unit to Valley of the Moon
Children’s Home, requiring they get a license, investigations into treatment of
children by non-profits, keeping small children out of the facility, and
restructuring the daily program. None have worked.
Sonoma County has one of the lowest rates of foster home
placements in the state, relying heavily on group homes. Valley of the Moon
Children’s Home has done nothing to provide children with the time and effort
to find suitable them foster homes.
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