BILL ANALYSIS Ó
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1147|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1147
Author: Yamada (D)
Amended: 6/30/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/28/11
AYES: Liu, Emmerson, Berryhill, Hancock, Strickland,
Wright, Yee
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/31/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Dependent children: status reports
SOURCE : Conference of California Bar Associations
Women Lawyers of Sacramento
DIGEST : This bill requires social workers to document
the services provided to allow a minor parent in foster
care to provide a safe home for his/her child and provides
for reimbursement by the state, if appropriate.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Establishes a system of child welfare services for
abused and neglected children.
CONTINUED
AB 1147
Page
2
2. Requires a court to review the status of a dependent
child no less than once every six months, and requires
the county welfare department or social worker to file a
supplemental report documenting services provided and
considered for each child and/or their parents.
3. Provides that the child of a dependent minor in foster
care cannot be involuntarily separated from his/her
parent unless the court orders dependency of the child
and orders removal.
4. Establishes the state's intent to keep parenting teens
in foster care together with their children by providing
specific services and supports, requires social workers
to identify, develop and use "whole family placement"
settings and encourages state and local child welfare
officials to collect data on the number of minor parents
in placement and to aggregate that data annually.
This bill:
1. Requires the county welfare department or social worker
to include in the supplemental report documentation of
the age and developmentally appropriate services that
were provided to a minor parent to allow him/her to
provide a safe home.
2. Requires the state to pay for costs related to this
requirement, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines there is a cost that is eligible for
reimbursement.
Related Legislation
SB 1178 (Kuehl), Chapter 841, Statutes of 2004, establishes
the Teen Parents in Foster Care Act, which states
California's intent to support teen parents in foster care
in their efforts to remain a family unit with their
children. It requires services and support for these
youth.
SB 500 (Kuehl), Chapter 630, Statutes of 2005, creates the
"whole family foster home," placement for foster youth and
their children by pairing them with foster parents who are
CONTINUED
AB 1147
Page
3
specifically recruited and trained to teach the skills
necessary so the foster youth can provide a safe, stable,
and permanent home for their own children.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/15/11)
Conference of California Bar Associations (co-source)
Women Lawyers of Sacramento (co-source)
California Women Lawyers
Children's Advocacy Institute
Children's Law Center of Los Angeles
Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the State
Bar of California
First 5 LA
National Association of Social Workers - California Chapter
Sacramento County Bar Association
Wiley W. Manual Bar Association
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/15/11)
Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : This bill's sponsor, Conference of
California Bar Associations, writes that a goal of the Teen
Parents in Foster Care Act was to ensure that minor parents
be given adequate resources, support, and guidance to be
able to parent their children. This bill utilizes an
existing reporting mechanism to monitor the allocation of
those resources. In this way, this bill provides for the
collection of necessary and valuable information with a
minimal investment of time, energy or money.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance is
opposed to this bill because "prescribing additional
requirements conflicts with maximizing flexibility to
counties under realignment. In addition, it would be
inappropriate to add these requirements during a time of
limited state resources. The DSS states these costs are
likely to be minor and absorbable; however, this bill would
impose a state-reimbursable mandate and would allow
counties to submit mandate claims for workload that many
CONTINUED
AB 1147
Page
4
are already doing."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/31/11
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, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman,
Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, 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, Gorell
CTW:kc 8/15/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED