Vista Del Mar: Absent Without State Accountability Reporting Memorandum

Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services is one of the largest, most awarded 1 and well-funded children's residential facilities in the state of California, with an annual revenue of nearly $50 million.It contains one of only two remaining locked residential facilities in the state for "emotionally disturbed" youth, but has nearly three times the funding of its counterpart 2 .Despite its sterling reputation, our investigation raises serious questions around Vista Del Mar's ability to ensure the safety of the vulnerable children in its care, and whether it is forthwith about these shortcomings to governmental oversight bodies.The facility has consistently failed to report children who run away as missing, leaving them vulnerable to injuries, sex trafficking and even death.From first-hand testimonies to nearly 200 3 complaint investigations and facility evaluations from the California Department of Social Services to years of county audits 4 to almost 2,500 calls for police service in the span of 10 years (from 2014 to 2024), we've found a serious gap between serious incidents like runaways ("AWOLs") and what Vista Del Mar reports to the state and county agencies that license, fund and oversee it.Instead, the facility has developed a problematic overreliance on police. 5This seems to be a strategy to fill in the voids in care left by undertrained, underpaid and overwhelmed staff 6 who are unprepared for the challenges of caring for this challenging population.Local police have become so overwhelmed with the volume of calls from Vista Del Mar that in 2019, they reportedly changed their response policies for this specific facility: According to one police officer we spoke with, they often don't even show up to investigate reports of missing children anymore 7 .And yet, the Board of Police Commissioners recommended Vista Del Mar as a resource for children who have been victims of sexual exploitation as recently as January of 2024.Vista Del Mar received extra funds from the county in October of 2023 to facilitate these referrals.