BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Noreen Evans, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
AB 1751 (Pan)
As Introduced
Hearing Date: June 26, 2012
Fiscal: Yes
Urgency: No
NR
SUBJECT
Child support: access to information
DESCRIPTION
This bill would authorize county welfare and probation agencies
to obtain identifying and contact information for parents of
children subject to juvenile court proceedings from the
California Parent Locator Service (CA-PLS) in order to identify,
notify, and assess noncustodial parents for the placement of
dependent children.
This bill would require the Department of Social Services (DSS)
to amend the state foster care plan and issue an all-county
letter explaining that county welfare and probation agencies are
entitled to specified information contained in child and spousal
support records. This bill would authorize the DSS to develop
an interagency agreement with the Department of Child Support
Services delineating the terms of use of the CA-PLS by the
county welfare and probation agencies, and would authorize the
Director of Social Services to adopt emergency regulations
necessary for the implementation of this bill.
BACKGROUND
When a child is taken from the custody of his or her parents for
maltreatment, social workers are required to release the child
temporarily to a responsible relative, unless a specified
condition exists. (Welf. & Inst. Code Sec. 309(a).) Social
workers may also release the child into the custody of a
nonrelative family member, defined as "any adult caregiver who
has established a familial or mentoring relationship with the
(more)
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child." If no suitable relative or nonrelative family member can
assume custody, children are also placed in foster homes.
According to the Judicial Council, on any given day in 2007,
nearly 80,000 children were in foster care in California.
(Judicial Council, Facts about Foster Care, Ưas of June 5, 2012].)
In 1997, the Federal Adoption and Safe Families Act was enacted
to improve the safety of children, to promote permanent homes
for children, and to support families. The act also made changes
and clarifications in a number of policies established under the
Federal Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act, enacted in
1980 to assist the states in protecting and caring for abused
and neglected children.
Notably, the Federal Adoption and Safe Families Act authorized
use of the Federal Parent Locator Service (Fed-PLS). The
Fed-PLS is a computerized national location network operated by
the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE). It is
intended to help locate parents and their assets, and obtain
information on a noncustodial parent's wages from and benefits
of employment, in order to establish, modify, or enforce child
support obligations, determine paternity and parental rights,
establish or enforce child custody or visitation orders, and to
assist law enforcement agencies in cases of parental kidnapping.
(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Parent
Locator Service, found at Ưas of Jun 14,
2012].)
In compliance with federal standards, and in order to access
data on the Fed-PLS, California implemented a statewide
California Parent Locator Service. (CA-PLS) The CA-PLS is
operated by the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) and
offers authorized child support enforcement agencies access to
both state and federal information sources. This data aids
caseworkers in establishing paternity and creating and enforcing
child support orders.
This bill would expressly authorize county child welfare
agencies and probation departments responsible for the placement
of abused and neglected children to access information from the
state's child support information system for the purpose of
locating a noncustodial parent in order to provide notice to the
parent of the child's situation, and evaluate the possibility of
placing the child with that parent.
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This bill would also direct the Department of Social Services
(DSS) to produce a plan for implementing this bill's
requirements in a manner consistent with federal law, and would
permit the DSS to develop an interagency agreement with DCSS
delineating the terms and conditions of use of the California
Parent Locator and Central Registry by county child welfare
agencies and probation departments.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing federal law establishes the Federal Parent Locator
Service, which is authorized to collect specified information
concerning parents and disseminate that information to
authorized parties for the purposes of establishing parentage
and establishing, modifying, or enforcing child support
obligations. (42 U.S.C. Sec. 653.)
Existing federal law permits a state parent locator service to
disclose specified information obtained from the Federal Parent
Locator Service to a state agency administering a state plan for
child welfare services, a plan for family support, preservation,
or reunification, or a plan for foster care services, for the
purpose of locating an individual who has or may have parental
rights with respect to a child. (45 C.F.R. Sec.
302.35(a)(2)-(3), (d)(1)-(2).)
Existing law provides it is the intent of the Legislature to
protect individual rights and privacy, and to facilitate and
enhance child and spousal support by encouraging the full and
frank disclosure of:
the establishment and maintenance of parent and child
relationships and support obligations;
the enforcement of the child support liability of absent
parents; and
the location of absent parents. (Fam. Code Sec. 17212; Welf. &
Inst. Code 11478.1)
Existing law establishes the California Parent Locator Service
and Central Registry for the purpose of collecting and
disseminating specified information concerning any parent,
putative spouse, spouse, or former spouse, in order to enable
the Department of Child Support Services and other public
agencies to locate parents, identify their assets, to establish
parent-child relationships, and to enforce support obligations.
(Fam. Code Sec. 17506.)
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Existing law mandates that, when a child is removed from his or
her home due to abuse or neglect, social workers must identify
all adult relatives of the child within 30 days in an attempt to
find a suitable relative for placement, consistent with the
child's best interests, and requires preferential consideration
to be given whenever possible for the placement of the child
with a relative as required by law. (Welf. & Inst. Code Secs.
16000(a), 361.3, 309(e).)
This bill would permit information provided to the California
Parent Locator Service by the Federal Parent Locator Service to
be released to county child welfare and probation agencies
administering a state plan for child welfare service, family
support and reunification, or foster care services pursuant to
federal law, and requires that such information be exchanged
through automated processes to the maximum extent feasible.
This bill would require the Department of Social Services to:
amend the state foster care plan in accordance with federal
law by January 30, 2013 in order to implement access to the
California Parent Locator service by county child welfare and
probation agencies; and
issue an all-county letter or similar instruction by July 1,
2013 explaining that county child welfare agencies and
probation departments are entitled to specified information
contained in child and spousal support records.
This bill would authorize the Director of Social Services to
adopt emergency regulations implementing the applicable
provisions of this bill if necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or general
welfare.
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This bill would authorize the Department of Social Services to
develop an interagency agreement with the Department of Child
Support Services delineating the terms and conditions of use of
the California Parent Locator services and Central Registry by
county child welfare agencies and probation departments.
COMMENT
1.Stated need for the bill
According to the author:
If an appropriate family placement is available for the
child, he or she should not be in foster care. This measure
provides county child welfare agencies, social workers, and
probation officers with the information they need to make
timely, appropriate decisions regarding the placement of
abused and neglected children who have been removed from
their homes.
In support of this bill, the County Welfare Directors
Association of California writes:
AB 1751 will enable county child welfare agencies and
probation officers to access child support information in
order to locate noncustodial parents who could provide a
stable placement for children who would otherwise be placed
in foster care due to abuse or neglect.
Federal authorization exists for county child welfare
agencies to access and use this information in making
placement decisions for children. Unfortunately, this
authorization has never been operationalized in California,
leaving counties without this potentially valuable tool at
their disposal.
2.Authorization for child welfare agencies and probation
departments to use California Parent Locator Service
This bill would permit information provided to the California
Parent Locator Services (CA-PLS) to be released to county child
welfare and probation agencies in order to assist them in their
statutory duties to identify, locate, and notify such parents of
a child's involvement with juvenile court proceedings and assess
the appropriateness of placing children in the care of
noncustodial parents.
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a. Provisions would conform California law to federal law
Under existing federal law, there is clear authorization for
the release of this information to county welfare agencies and
probation departments. Federal law establishes the Federal
Parent Locator Service (Fed-PLS), which is authorized to
collect specified information concerning parents and
disseminate that information to authorized parties for the
purposes of establishing parentage and establishing,
modifying, or enforcing child support obligations.
Specifically, the Fed-PLS authorizes the release of
information to an authorized party regarding identifying
information and the location of any individual who has, or may
have, parental rights with respect to a child. Under federal
law, and authorized party is defined as a state agency that is
administering a program to develop and establish, expand, or
operate coordinated programs of community-based family support
services, family preservation services, time-limited family
reunification services, and adoption promotion and support
services. (42 U.S.C.S. Sec. 629) Since child welfare agencies
and probation departments are obligated under state and
federal law to protect the best interests of children and
where possible, strengthen and preserve the family, these
agencies and departments are authorized under federal law to
access information in the Fed-PLS.
Under California law, however, only the Department of Child
Support Services (DCSS) is expressly authorized to access the
data provided by departments and agencies to the Fed-PLS and
the CA-PLS. Authorization is extended to "other public
agencies" related to their duties to locate parents, spouses,
and former spouses, and to identify their assets, to establish
parent-child relationships, and to enforce liability for child
or spousal support, and for any other obligations incurred on
behalf of children. (Fam. Code Sec. 17506(c).) Thus, statutory
language implies that child welfare agencies and probation
departments should be able to access this information, but
because the agencies are not expressly provided for in the
code, they have not been granted uniform access to the CA-PLS.
This bill would address this inconsistency by allowing child
welfare agencies and probation departments limited access to
the identifying information of noncustodial parents of
dependent children as held in the state database.
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b. Facilitating placement of children with noncustodial
parents
Research indicates that the number of foster children in
California declined more than ten percent between 2000 and
2009. The Public Policy Institute reports that this change is
a result of children remaining in foster care for a shorter
period of time, not necessarily that fewer children are
entering the foster system. Notably, placement with relatives
contributed to this decline in the average time children are
spending in foster care. With respect to child placement, the
report noted that "although county agencies do make placement
with relatives a priority, living with relatives or extended
family is fairly uncommon as a first placement, with only 18
percent of those who first entered foster care in 2008 doing
so. However, even if children cannot be so placed initially,
counties aim to do so eventually." (Danielson and Lee, Foster
Care in California: Achievements and Challenges, Public Policy
Institute of California (2010)
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs /report/R_510CDR.pdf> Ưas of
June 14, 2012].)
In support of facilitating agency and department efforts in
finding relative placements for these children, the National
Association of Social Workers writes:
This bill would save scarce time and resources spent by
county agencies in attempts to locate parents when abused
children are removed from their homes. In addition,
enabling child welfare and probation departments to
identify and locate parents in a timely manner would
facilitate in the achievement of California and federal
directives that reflect a preference for placing abused
children with family members if doing so would be
consistent with a child's best interests.
As a result, in expressly authorizing county welfare and
probation agencies to access the CA-PLS in order to locate and
notify such parents of their child's involvement with juvenile
court proceedings and assess the appropriateness of a home
placement, this bill would arguably assist these agencies in
fulfilling their statutory duties and enable them to find
permanent placements for dependent children more quickly.
1.County welfare and probation agencies would be subject to use
and disclosure limitations
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This bill would only authorize child welfare agencies and
probation departments to receive identifying and contact
information of noncustodial parents, as specified, as it relates
to the statutory duties of these entities. This bill would also
impose limitations on the disclosure of this information.
Existing law provides that the information acquired by child
support agencies shall be confidential, and shall not be open to
examination or released for disclosure for any purpose not
directly connected with the administration of the child and
spousal support enforcement program, except as specified. (Fam.
Code Sec. 17212(b).) This bill would authorize the release of
this information, in addition to DCSS, to welfare and probation
agencies.
However, this use would be limited by both the language of this
bill and prohibitions under existing law. With respect to
existing law, the acquiring agency is prohibited from releasing
this information, and the whereabouts of any party or the child,
if a protective order has been issued, or if the agency has
reason to believe that the release of the information may result
in physical or emotional harm to a party or the child. If the
information cannot be released for these reasons, it must also
be omitted from court documents, and may only be released
pursuant to a court order. (Id.)
In addition, this bill would provide that when this identifying
information is released to a county welfare agency or probation
department, these entities may only use the identifying
information accessed from CA-PLS to identify, locate, and notify
parents of children who are the subject of juvenile court
proceedings, to establish a parent child relationship, or to
assess the appropriateness of placement with a noncustodial
parent.
2.Department of Social Services required to issue explanation to
counties and authorized to adopt interagency agreement to
facilitate provisions of this bill
This bill would require Department of Social Services (DSS) to
issue an all-county letter by July 1, 2013 explaining that
county child welfare agencies and probation departments are
entitled to specified information contained in child and spousal
support records. This bill would also authorize the DSS to
develop an interagency agreement with the DCSS delineating the
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terms and conditions of use of the CA-PLS by county child
welfare and probation agencies.
As noted above, the database holding information related to
noncustodial parents already exists within the Fed-PLS and the
CA-PLS. Therefore, this bill would not mandate developing a new
information system or database specifically for use by child
welfare agencies and probation departments. In support, the
Chief Probation Officers of California writes, "this bill would
not require the creation of an additional information system,
but instead would provide access to critical information already
stored in state databases, effectively allowing the state and
county to work together."
Arguably, leaving the logistics of implementing the provisions
of this bill open-ended, while also authorizing county welfare
agencies and probation departments to begin accessing this
information, will allow DSS observe how different counties share
information between agencies and implement best practices.
Thus, instead of codifying procedures which may eventually
become outdated, or not work for every county, this bill
provides for a level of adaptability in the sharing of
information.
Support : California Probation, Parole, and Correctional
Association; Chief Probation Officers of California; County
Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA); Junior
Leagues of California State Public Affairs Committee; National
Association of Social Workers-California Chapter; Santa Clara
Board of Supervisors; Service Employees International Union
Opposition : None Known
HISTORY
Source : Children's Advocacy Institute
Related Pending Legislation : None Known
Prior Legislation : None Known
Prior Vote :
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Assembly Floor (Ayes 76, Noes 0)
Assembly Appropriations Committee (Ayes 17, Noes 0)
Assembly Judiciary Committee (Ayes 10, Noes 0)
Assembly Human Services Committee (Ayes 5, Noes 0)
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