BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1751 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 2, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 1751 (Pan) - As Introduced: February 17, 2012 Policy Committee: JudiciaryVote:10 - 0 Human Services 5 - 0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: Yes SUMMARY This bill requires that county child welfare departments and county probation departments be given access to any public data in the state that would allow the agencies to locate noncustodial parents in the event their children are subject to juvenile court proceedings. Specifically, this bill: 1)Authorizes the release of a parent's name, social security number, most recent address, telephone number, place of employment or other contact information to county child welfare agencies and probation departments established or maintained by any public entity pursuant to the administration and implementation of the child and spousal support enforcement program. 2)Requires the disclosure by all state departments, boards, agencies, bureaus, or other agencies of the state or local government of a parent's name, social security number, most recent address, telephone number, place of employment, or other contact information to a county child welfare agency or county probation department to identify, locate, and notify parents of children who are the subject of juvenile court proceedings, to establish parent and child relationships, and to assess the appropriateness of placements of a child with a noncustodial parent. 3)Requires the state Department of Social Services (DSS), no later than January 30, 2013, to amend the foster care state plan required by federal law to implement access to information provided to the California Parent Locator Service AB 1751 Page 2 by the federal Parent Locator Services (FPLS) to ensure compliance with and facilitation of provisions related to the location of parents of children who are the subject of juvenile court proceedings. 4)Requires DSS, on or before July 1, 2013, to issue an all-county letter or similar instruction explaining the entitlement of county child welfare and probation agencies to specified information in child and spousal support records. FISCAL EFFECT 1)Costs associated with DSS updating the foster care state plan and issuing an all-county letter should be minor and absorbable within existing resources. 2)To the extent this allows county child welfare departments to more easily locate noncustodial parents, it should provide some administrative workload relief for the counties. COMMENTS Purpose . The intent of this legislation is to increase access to public data for child welfare workers who are trying to locate the noncustodial parents whose children have ended up in the probation system or child welfare system. The author notes that this bill would allow local child welfare agencies and probation officers to access the child support information that already exists in the state child support database and to obtain critical contact information such as the parent's name, social security number, most recent address, phone number, and place of employment. This, in turn, will allow the case worker to contact the parent to see if they want to and can provide a caring alternative to foster care for the abused or neglected child. In support of the bill, the County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) notes that federal authorization exists for county welfare agencies to access and use child support information. However, the authorization has never been operationalized in California, leaving counties without access to the data that could help them locate noncustodial parents. Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 AB 1751 Page 3