DATE:
November 18, 2025
24
TO:
Board of Supervisors
SUBJECT
INITIATE EFFORTS TO MAXIMIZE RESOURCES AT THE SAN PASQUAL ACADEMY (DISTRICTS: ALL)
Body
OVERVIEW
San Pasqual Academy (Academy), developed on 238 acres of land, opened in 2001 as the first residential education campus in the United States designed for foster youth. Licensed by California Department of Social Services (CDSS), the Academy and property are managed by the County of San Diego (County) Health and Human Services Agency, Child and Family Well-Being (CFWB) Department. The campus was designed to provide an alternative placement option for Juvenile Court dependents ages 12-17 and Non-Minor Dependents up to age 19. When the Academy was established, the County provided services to help more than 8,000 youth in out-of-home care, which included over 2,000 youth ages 12-17. At that time, due to high demand for campus-based environments for youth and with CDSS supporting congregate care, the rural all-services approach was considered visionary in designing a resource in support of foster youth.
Within the last decade, federal and State legislation has shifted the statutory requirements for keeping children safely in family settings and reducing reliance on congregate care. On October 11, 2015, Assembly Bill 403, also known as the Continuum of Care Reform Act (CCR), was signed into law. CCR identifies home-based settings with resource families as the best placement option for youth, reduces the use of congregate care, and elimi...
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