BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           2129 (Bass)
          
          Hearing Date:  08/02/2010           Amended: 08/02/2010
          Consultant:  Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Human  
          Services 4-1
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY: AB 2129 would extend to July 1, 2014, the deadline  
          for the Department of Social Services (DSS) to develop a plan to  
          transform the current statewide system of group homes into a  
          system of residentially based services (RBS). Requires DSS to  
          conduct a review of the county residentially based services  
          program, as specified, and allows DSS to terminate the county's  
          participation in the residentially based services reform project  
          for specified reasons. Provides that voluntary agreements  
          between counties and private nonprofit agencies to test  
          alternative program design and funding models for transforming  
          individual group home programs into residentially based services  
          programs terminate on or before January 1, 2015.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2010-11      2011-12       2012-13     Fund
                                                                  
          Extends pilots                        up to $185        
          Potentially significant costs;        General   
                                                                  
          potentially substantial long term savings*    General
                                                                            
                                                               
          Federal/Local       
          Extends workgroup deadline       Likely minor                     
                                          General
                                                                        
          Private
          *Potential offsetting savings from pilot projects after first  
          year of implementation.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File.
          











          In 2007, AB 1453 (Soto, Chapter 466, Statutes of 2007), required  
          DSS to convene a workgroup of stakeholders, which would be  
          responsible for developing an operational plan for implementing  
          RBS programs on a statewide basis and to submit a detailed plan  
          to the Legislature by January 1, 2011 delineating how to  
          transform the current system of group care for foster children  
          into an RBS system. AB 1453 limited the length of contracts  
          between the counties and their RBS providers to a maximum of  
          five years, through January 1, 2013. 





          The workgroup authorized by AB 1453 has not completed a report  
          to the Legislature, and the pilot projects have not been  
          implemented; though, there are contracts with three counties to  
          participate in the pilot projects and to begin implementation  
          this year. This bill would permit these contracts to remain  
          valid through January 1, 2015, which will allow the  
          demonstration projects nearly five years to test their program  
          and funding models. This bill would also extend the workgroup's  
          plan deadline to July 1, 2014, in order to learn from the  
          results of the pilot projects.





          The goal of RBS is to reduce lengths of stay in high-end group  
          care and increase permanency for children. To the extent that  
          RBS is successful, there will be substantial savings to the  
          state from serving youth outside of a group home in the future.  
          Groups 


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          AB 2129 (Bass)















          home placements are the most expensive foster care option, and  
          those with the most intensive services can cost nearly $8,000  
          per child, per month. 





          RBS would front-load intensive services while the child is  
          residing in the RBS group home, resulting in additional upfront  
          costs, in order to achieve more substantial savings in future  
          years. According to the Administration, this would result in  
          higher up-front costs, but represent a savings of as much as  
          fifty percent over the span of a child's time in foster care.




          The Governor's May Revision proposal includes $185,000 General  
          Fund for RBS, but in order to utilize the funds, the authority  
          to continue the RBS pilots would have to be extended by  
          legislation. Currently, no budget has been enacted for fiscal  
          year 2011-12. Extending RBS authority creates cost pressure to  
          fund this program in the budget. Absent this authority, the  
          $185,000 proposed in the May Revision, if adopted, would revert  
          back to the General Fund.