BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 159|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 159
Author: Beall (D), et al
Amended: 3/24/11 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/14/11
AYES: Liu, Emmerson, Berryhill, Hancock, Strickland,
Wright, Yee
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/2/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Community care facilities: foster family
agencies
SOURCE : California Alliance of Child and Family
Services
DIGEST : This bill changes the sunset provision on the
requirement for certain foster family agencies to employ
one full-time social work supervisor for every eight social
workers, as specified.
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law :
1. Establishes a system of community care facilities
licensing, administered by the Department of Social
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Services (DSS), to license and approve out-of-home
placements for abused and neglected children.
2. Establishes foster family agencies (FFAs) as nonprofit
organizations that recruit, train, certify, and provide
support for foster parents who car for children with
intensive care needs as an alternative to group home
placement.
3. Provides for the licensure and regulation of FFAs by
DSS, and applies social worker personnel requirements.
4. Requires DSS to differentiate between treatment FFAs,
providing mental health treatment services to foster
youth, and nontreatment FFAs, and to develop licensing
regulations accordingly.
5. Provides Aid to Families with Dependent Children Foster
Care (AFDC-FC) payments with a state and county
share-of-cost for care and supervision provided to
children in foster care.
6. Reduces the FFA rate effective October 1, 2009, by 10
percent, and allows FFAs flexibility in applying the
reduction, provided the amount paid to foster families
providing car to foster children was not reduced more
than 10 percent.
7. Requires treatment FFAs to employ at least one full-time
social work supervisor for every eight social workers
inn the agency, and sunsets this provision January 11, 2
012.
This bill :
1. Deletes the January 1, 2012, sunset date for the one to
eight ration of social work supervisors to social
workers in the foster family agency, and instead, sunset
this ration when the total foster family agency rate
paid to licensed FFAs is restored to at least the rate
effective on September 30, 2009, and the DSS director
issues a declaration to that effect to the Legislature,
as specified.
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2. Repeals the ration of the date of the declaration.
Background
Established in 1985 as an alternative to group home
placements, FFAs are not-for-profit agencies that train,
recruit and certify foster parents. County placement
agencies use licensed private non-profit FFAs to place
children who require more intensive care in foster family
homes with training and support services as an alternative
to group homes.
According to DSS, there are 464 FFAs in California
providing care and treatment to approximately 11,817 foster
children. Initially intended as an alternative to group
home placement for children with higher service needs, FFAs
now provide placements to almost half of all foster
children in nonrelative placements in California.
DSS has statutory responsibility for developing,
implementing, and maintaining a rate setting system for
FFAs receiving AFDC-FC funds. DSS distinguishes between
two types of FFAs for the purposes of rate setting and
regulations. "Treatment foster care, "also referred to as
"therapeutic foster care" provides a higher level of care
to children with needs that cannot be met in foster family
homes, and who would otherwise require a group home
placement. FFAs may also certify a family home seeking to
adopt a foster child as a "nontreatment foster care"
placement.
FFA and other foster care provider rates were cut by 10
percent as part of the State Budget effective on October 1,
2009. Acknowledging the impact of the 10 percent FFA rate
cut, SB 597 (Liu), Chapter 339, Statues of 2009, adjusted
the ratio of FFA supervisor to staff ratio from 1:6 to the
existing 1:8 ratio. The change initially was set to expire
on January 1, 2011, but was extended by one more year to
January 1, 2012 with the passage of AB 2474 (Beall),
Chapter 43, Statutes of 2010.
Prior to SB 597, social work supervisor/social worker
ratios had been set forth in regulations (Title 22,
Division 6, Chapter 8.8), which distinguished between the
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ratios applied to treatment and nontreatment agencies.
Treatment FFAs had been required to employ one social work
supervisor for every six social workers, whereas
nontreatment FFAs had to adhere to the 1:8
supervisor/social worker ratio.
State law and regulations require FFA social work
supervisors to meet minimum education and experience
standards, including the requirement to have a master's
degree in social work or a related field. Social work
supervisors are responsible for, among other assigned
duties, training, oversight, and review of social workers'
casework, and ensuring that their agency social workers
perform their duties in compliance with applicable laws,
regulations, policies, and procedures.
According to the Council on Accreditation (COA) standards,
supervisor-to-social worker ratios generally should not
exceed the 1:8 ratio, as they cite research to suggest that
supportive, quality supervision can lead to better service
delivery to children and families, better productivity, and
less turnover among social work staff. The COA standards
do not, however, delineate the standards that should be
applied to the treatment versus nontreatment categories of
services overseen by a social work supervisor, as found
under state regulation.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/27/11)
California Alliance of Child and Family Services (source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
Aspiranet
California Communities United Institute
County Welfare Directors Association of California
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The sponsor of this bill, the
California Alliance for Child and Family Services writes
that FFA rates have been cut by 10 percent for the past two
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years and prior to that cut, FFA rates had been frozen for
15 out of the past 19years. The group writes that, as a
result, the FFA rate to cover the cost of care and social
work for foster children has declined to just 70 percent of
what it originally was in 1990. The group notes that, in
order to absorb these cuts, many FFAs have been force to
lay-off social workers, are borrowing money to keep
operation, are spending down savings, are fundraising in an
increasingly competitive environment or have shut down
their programs. The group states that, under the current
rate reduction, FFAs need some flexibility within the rate
setting and community care licensing systems, and while
this may seem minor, it could make the difference between
an FFA having to borrow more money to remain in operation
or close down altogether.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Campos, Carter, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng,
Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Furutani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon,
Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Miller, Mitchell,
Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan,
Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner,
Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Charles Calderon, Fuentes, Galgiani,
Gorell, Roger Hernández, Mendoza, Vacancy
CTW:do 6/28/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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