BILL NUMBER: AB 422 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Torres
FEBRUARY 23, 2009
An act to add Division 114 (commencing with Section 140000) to the
Health and Safety Code, relating to youth and families.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 422, as introduced, Torres. State Youth and Family Master Plan.
Existing law creates the California Health and Human Services
Agency.
Existing law contains various provisions addressing the needs of
California's youth and families.
This bill would require the Secretary of California Health and
Human Services to develop the State Youth and Family Master Plan to
achieve specified goals that include setting the general guiding
principles the state should follow when developing policies affecting
the state's youth and families and identifying all state
governmental entities responsible for delivering services to youth
and families and bridging the communication gaps between those
entities. The bill would require the secretary to schedule meetings,
as specified, that seek input from certain government, nonprofit, and
private sector stakeholders. The bill would require the secretary to
annually report on the progress of the development of the plan to
the Legislature and the Governor.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The face of California's youth and families has increasingly
become more diverse, and as the population of the state grows, so do
the challenges confronting California's youth and families.
(b) According to the United States Census Bureau, as of 2006, all
of the following are statistical facts about California's youth and
families:
(1) One out of every five children in California under five years
of age lives in poverty.
(2) Almost 18 percent of youth in California between 5 to 17 years
of age, inclusive, live in families living in poverty.
(3) Over 18 percent of the state's population under 18 years of
age live in poverty, with some individual communities in the state
reporting more than a 30-percent poverty rate for that demographic.
(4) Over 42 percent of people in California report speaking a
language other than English at home.
(5) More than seven million children are enrolled in K-12
education in California.
(c) The State Department of Education reports that 24 percent of
California students drop out of school before finishing high school.
(d) The 2003-04 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that
at least 188,000 adolescents between 12 to 17 years of age,
inclusive, in California have a substance abuse problem requiring
treatment, but fewer than 10 percent of those adolescents received
substance abuse treatment in 2006. The number of adolescents who have
at least tried alcohol or a controlled substance is much higher than
those who have a substance abuse problem requiring treatment.
(e) California understands that in order to ensure a bright future
for all its residents, the state has to ensure that its youth have a
safe place to live, learn, and recreate.
(f) California has reaffirmed its commitment to its youth and
families through the adoption and implementation of multiple laws and
initiatives geared toward helping youth and their families succeed
in life.
(g) Currently, a number of agencies, departments, boards, and
councils have been entrusted with a variety of goals and
responsibilities dealing with specific issues impacting California
youth and families. However, the state does not have a general state
policy on youth and families that could guide future state actions in
an integrated manner.
(h) In order to ensure that California makes the most out of its
limited resources, the state should bridge the gap of communication
between all state entities working to help youth and families by
developing a State Youth and Family Master Plan.
SEC. 2. Division 114 (commencing with Section 140000) is added to
the Health and Safety Code, to read:
DIVISION 114. State Youth and Family Master Plan
140000. The Secretary of California Health and Human Services
shall develop the State Youth and Family Master Plan.
140001. The State Youth and Family Master Plan shall be designed
to achieve goals that include, but are not limited to, all of the
following:
(a) Set general guiding principles that California should follow
when developing policies affecting the state's youth and families.
(b) Identify all state governmental entities responsible for
delivering services to youth and families and ways of bridging the
communication gaps between those entities.
(c) Identify opportunities through which cooperation between
governmental entities is likely to provide more efficient services to
youth and families.
(d) Provide the mechanisms through which state policies affecting
the state's youth and families can be assessed to determine which
ones are effective and which ones are not.
(e) In light of the shared responsibility that the state and local
governments have for providing services to youth and families,
identify all of the following:
(1) How the state hinders local governments' efforts to serve
youth and families.
(2) Which services for youth and families have been taken over by
the state.
(3) Opportunities to eliminate duplicity of efforts to serve youth
and families on the part of state and local governments.
140002. (a) In developing the State Youth and Family Master Plan,
the secretary shall seek input from all of the following:
(1) Relevant stakeholders within state government whose activities
impact youth and families that include, but are not limited to, all
of the following:
(A) Arts Council.
(B) Director of Alcohol and Drug Programs.
(C) Director of Community Services and Development.
(D) Director of Developmental Services.
(E) Director of Employment Development.
(F) Director of Fair Employment and Housing.
(G) Director of Health Care Services.
(H) Director of Mental Health.
(I) Director of Rehabilitation.
(J) Director of Social Services.
(K) State Public Defender.
(L) State Public Health Officer.
(M) Student Aid Commission.
(N) Superintendent of Public Instruction.
(2) Relevant stakeholders within the nonprofit and private sector
whose activities impact youth and families.
(b) The secretary shall schedule meetings that seek input pursuant
to subdivision (a) in a public setting and are scheduled far enough
in advance to allow the public to listen and comment.
140003. The secretary shall annually report on the progress of
the development of the plan to the Legislature and the Governor.