Protecting and providing basic needs to residents of all ages is a major focus of services provided by Los Angeles County. About one-fourth of the County budget is spent on social services, and about 22,000 of its 100,000 employees work to provide those services. Providing cash assistance and Food Stamps, assistance in getting health care, home care for the disabled, job training and placement, social activities for seniors, protection against abuse, assistance in getting child support, protection of at-risk children, finding homes for children -- these are just a sampling of many services that the County provides its residents. Child Support
The Child Support Services Department is the largest locally operated child support agency in the nation. It manages approximately 450,000 cases. The department assumes primary responsibility for the administration, collection, enforcement and distribution of child support payments. It assists custodial and non-custodial parents with child support procedures and processes, including locating parents, establishing paternity, establishing court orders for child support, modifying court orders, collecting and distributing court-ordered support, and working with other counties, states and countries to obtain child support. It partners with community-based organizations and other County agencies which provide job training, job placement, peer counseling and parenting classes to aid unemployed and underemployed non-custodial parents.
Children and Family Services
The Department of Children and Family Services provides services that children and their families need when the children are at-risk due to actual or potential child abuse, abandonment, neglect or exploitation. It provides protective services to children in their own homes, short-term out-of-home services, adoption, guardianship and long-term foster care. It works to ensure children grow up safely, physically and emotionally healthy, educated and in permanent housing. Goals are to shorten timelines to secure permanent homes for children removed from their families, reduce the recurrence of child abuse and neglect and to reduce reliance on out-of-home care for children and families.
Community and Senior Services
The Community and Senior Services Department offers services to senior citizens, unemployed or dislocated workers, youths and victims of elder abuse or domestic violence. Working in partnership with private agencies, businesses and community leaders, the department promotes self-sufficiency by offering employment and training for its service population. CSS has 14 service and service centers.
Public Social Services
The Department of Public Social Services provides financial, homeless, employment, health, and nutrition-related assistance to residents. Programs and services are designed to alleviate hardship and promote family health, personal responsibility and economic self- sufficiency. The department provides temporary cash and Food Stamps assistance, and determines eligibility for free or low-cost healthcare program for low-income families, children, adults and pregnant women. DPSS helps participants find jobs and prepare for employment. It also administers the In-Home-Supportive Services program for aged, blind and disabled adults and children.
