A group of current residents, alumni and staff of San Pasqual Academy have filed suit to keep the unique foster-care facility operating beyond its current one-year extension.
The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday afternoon and listed the county Health & Human Services Agency and the state Department of Social Services as defendants.
The two-decade-old boarding school for teen foster youth was granted an extension until June 2022, but no new students would be referred to the program.
“Without judicial relief, hundreds of academy residents and alumni, who sought out the academy as a permanent placement after being shuttled through an average of eight previous foster homes, will be forced again to find a new place to call home,” according to the lawsuit. “Such a result is not just morally reprehensible, it is unlawful.”
Rancho Santa Fe attorneys LiMandri & Jonna noted in the lawsuit that the academy provides exceptional help for foster youth, with a 92% high-school graduation rate companied to 45% for other foster youth.
“This is a challenge to the California Department of Social Services’ decision to ignore California law and refuse a license and funding for the operation of San Pasqual Academy,” said Charles LiMandri. “This decision appears to be nothing more than bureaucracy run amok because San Pasqual Academy has no equal—there is literally no program like it in the nation.”
The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction on closing the facility and reimbursement of the plaintiffs’ legal fees.