Placer
County
plans to break ground later this summer on a new children’s health center and emergency shelter.
Construction is scheduled to start in August and be completed in the fall of 2007.
The new shelter will replace the county’s existing Children’s Receiving Home for children who have been abused or neglected.
The project got a potential boost recently when the House Appropriations Committee approved a federal appropriations bill that contains $800,000 for the new shelter.
“This is good news, because the project is vital to the county. Our existing shelter is old and too small to accommodate our growing needs,” countyBoardof Supervisors Chairman Bill Santucci said. “We appreciate Rep. John Doolittle for realizing how important this project is and helping us get federal funding for it over the last six years.”
The appropriations bill still must be approved by the entire House of Representatives and the Senate.
The new center will be built at the PlacerCountyGovernmentCenterin Auburn, which until recently was known as the DeWittCenter.
The total projected cost for the shelter, administrative buildings and modular classrooms is almost $11.5 million.
County funds committed to the project include $2.3 million for road and other infrastructure improvements.
The $800,000 would bring the federal government’s contribution to $3.25 million. The county has given contractors interested in constructing the project until the end of June to submit bids. The Facility Services Department anticipates asking the Board of Supervisors to award a construction bid next month.
The new 30-bed emergency center will allow the county to better serve and supervise children with differing emotional, mental and developmental needs.
The new shelter will feature a health center that will provide medical care, screenings and thorough health assessments for children housed by the county. Children also will receive follow-up care after they are discharged from the shelter to ensure they stay healthy.
The new facility will have a supervised multipurpose interview room where law enforcement and Child Protective Services will interview children who have been abused or neglected.
The facility also will have secure, monitored visitation areas for supervised, court-ordered contact between adults and children. Currently, children must be transported off-site to social-worker offices, because the Receiving Home doesn’t have space available for such visits.