LA County ready to pay out $3B to settle sexual abuse complaints in its facilities
Barnini Chakraborty
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Los Angeles County officials are expecting to pay up to $3 billion in the next fiscal year to resolve an estimated 3,000 claims of sexual abuse at its facilities, according to a new budget proposal.
The astronomical sum is more than what the county plans to spend on its probation, fire, and parks and recreation departments combined.
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Even though Los Angeles County’s budget sits at a whopping $43 billion, is one of the largest in local government, and eclipses many state budgets, a $3 billion hit will make a dent that could force the county to tighten its purse strings in other areas, Chief Executive Officer Fesia Davenport warned Tuesday at a Board of Supervisors meeting.
“Beyond the traumatic personal impact on the survivors of abuse, these cases could have a profound impact on the county budget for decades to come,” she said.
Matt McGloin, a high-ranking county budget official, said the lawsuits’ effect would be “unprecedented in scope,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
The onslaught of sexual abuse claims stems from a state law that gives victims of childhood sexual assault more time to file lawsuits. Many of those lawsuits are from people who were taken to the MacLaren Children’s Center, a temporary foster care facility in El Monte, California, where claims of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of staff ran rampant. About 200 women and men have already come forward to detail the abuse they said they suffered.
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Davenport told reporters at the meeting that the county was trying to figure out where the money to pay the victims would come from.
“Everything has to be on the table,” she said, adding that the county may dip into its rainy day fund or even consider cutting other department budgets.