More than a year after a former federal judge revealed in a report on Riverside County’s social services system that children were sleeping in offices because of a scarcity of foster homes, the county acknowledged that a few children were still staying in the showerless buildings a few days at a time.

County officials would not say in which offices the children are housed, and County Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen objected to the characterization that they were “living” there. Citing privacy concerns, the county rejected a request to tour the publicly owned building on Magnolia Avenue in Riverside where sleeping accommodations — thin cots in a conference room — were seen in photos obtained from a source.

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Van Wagenen would not confirm or deny the photos’ authenticity.

“The office is a last, last, last option,” said Sayori Baldwin, the assistant county executive officer who led the Department of Social Services from 2019 until January. “Every child has a right to be in a loving home-based setting, but as a county we need options.”

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  The view from a living area in a housing unit at Riverside County’s new foster care facility in Beaumont is seen Friday, July 21, 2023. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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  A bedroom in a housing unit at Riverside County’s new foster care facility in Beaumont is seen Friday, July 21, 2023. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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  Children’s handprints, seen Friday, July 21, 2023, are part of the artwork in a housing unit at Riverside County’s new foster care facility in Beaumont. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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  Sayori Baldwin, assistant county executive officer and the former director of the Department of Public Social Services, is seen during a Friday, July 21, 2023, tour of Riverside County’s new foster care facility in Beaumont. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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  Books and games, seen Friday, July 21, 2023, are among the items available for children at Riverside County’s new foster care facility in Beaumont. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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  Books, seen Friday, July 21, 2023, are offered in the housing units at Riverside County’s new foster care facility in Beaumont. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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  Sayori Baldwin, assistant county executive officer and the former director of the Department of Public Social Services, speaks Friday, July 21, 2023, at Riverside County’s new foster care facility in Beaumont. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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  A shower is seen Friday, July 21, 2023, at Riverside County’s new foster care facility in Beaumont. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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  A refrigerator is seen at Riverside County’s new foster care facility in Beaumont on Friday, July 21, 2023. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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  Cameras, seen Friday, July 21, 2023, are installed inside and outside of housing units at the new Riverside County foster care facility in Beaumont. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

A new option is at hand.

The county in mid-August closed escrow on a compound in Beaumont where it already is housing 12 difficult-to-place foster children — six boys and six girls — with the plan to expand the capacity to 48. That would eliminate the need to house them in hotels, Air BNBs and offices.

The county’s application for a license to operate what it has named Harmony Haven is pending, said Jason Montiel, a spokesman for the state Department of Social Services. It’s not clear why the county is being allowed to house the children without a permit. The county has not answered that question, and the state’s response was vague.

The facility was sold to the county for $26 million by an organization that once housed 124 children there. The county Board of Supervisors approved spending $31 million to operate it over the next five years, county spokesperson Brooke Federico said.

The goal is that no one will stay at Harmony Haven for more than 10 days, Baldwin said while leading a tour on a day when the children were away.

It’s an obvious improvement over the office in Riverside, which city spokesperson Phil Pitchford said was being occupied in violation of the city’s housing code that prohibits living or sleeping in buildings that are not designed for that purpose.

Harmony Haven appears to be a place where troubled foster children could find peace.

It’s in a rural area of Beaumont on several acres that look like a ranch or campground. There are several separate buildings and 12 cottages that can house four children each. There are sports fields, a basketball hoop, trees and plenty of areas to stretch out.

A central living room has large sofas and a big-screen TV that Baldwin said sometimes gets ripped off the wall by angry kids.

The bedrooms, with two beds each, are sparsely furnished, but the children have decorated them with posters and written sayings on chalkboards such as “You are strong and wise” and “You are loved.”

A poster in the living area features 10 self-love affirmations. The staff tries to keep not just the hearts, but the stomachs full as well, with the refrigerators stocked with food. Shelves are loaded with books and games.

Even with Harmony Haven, the county still needs many more people to become foster parents, Baldwin said.

“We do not do this work alone. I’m trying not to say ‘It takes a village,’ but we need people to know we are partners,” she said.

The need for qualified foster parents was made clear when Marcelino, Rosa and Lennys Olguin were charged with willful child cruelty, false imprisonment and other crimes after prosecutors alleged they abused nine foster children in their Perris home — including six of the Turpin minors who in 2018 had been rescued from a lifetime of torture and depravity at the hands of their biological parents.

David and Louise Turpin are serving sentences of 25 years to life in state prison. The Olguins have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The Community Care Licensing Division received a complaint about the Olguins on March 1, 2021, after not previously hearing of any concerns, Montiel said. State investigators substantiated allegations of abuse at the home, Montiel said.

Baldwin said the county no longer places children through ChildNet Youth and Family Services, the Foster Family Agency that sent the Turpins to the Olguins. In August, ChildNet changed its name to Foster Family Network and moved its Riverside office from 12th Street to Market Street, according to Montiel and state records. A Foster Family Network spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Records of written communications between ChildNet and the county from 2018 to 2022 show no evidence of trouble. The county said it withheld some records, citing exemptions allowed for pending litigation against the county and other reasons. Some of the Turpins have sued the county for placing them with the Olguins.

The 634-page report written by former Judge Stephen Larson and released in July 2022 capped a months-long investigation that began after revelations that the Turpins — already subjected to a lifetime of torture and neglect — were further victimized by the county’s adult and child protective services, which have been the target of severe criticism and lawsuits in recent years.

Van Wagenen said the county is taking Larson’s recommendations seriously and has made many changes, including hiring more social workers and paying them more money.

The report said the county needed better oversight of foster family agencies, including continuous access to the notes of those agencies’ social workers and visit and service logs.

Van Wagenen said that Larson made the recommendations because FFAs do not always alert the county to problems in foster homes.

“If there was information known to an FFA, it needs to be known by the county,” Van Wagenen said.

Has there been improvement?

“I’m saying it’s a work in progress,” Van Wagenen said.

Despite social workers making “thousands of calls” to place foster children, a small number of the 4,700 in the county’s care have difficulty getting temporary homes, said Deborah Johnson, Riverside University Health System deputy director.

Children with behavioral problems and older Black boys are especially difficult to place, Baldwin said. The state once allowed counties to send some children out of state to secure therapeutic facilities, but no longer. So the responsibility comes back to the county.

“When kids come into our care, they’ve been traumatized,” Baldwin said. “Sometimes with that, there become heightened behaviors, some are dangers to themselves or others, and we have a responsibility to meet their needs. So finding a foster home in those situations after a child may be acting out and may assault not only other foster kids but the foster parents, that becomes a problem.”

Toward the end of the tour, Baldwin spoke passionately about the county’s mission, moving the 57-year-old bureaucrat to tears.

“I’m in love with these kids. They don’t deserve to be passed around from place to place,” she said.

Anyone seeking information on fostering or adopting a child can call 800-665-5437.