BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1928
A
AUTHOR: Cook
B
VERSION: May 10, 2012
HEARING DATE: June 12, 2012
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FISCAL: Yes
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CONSULTANT: Sara Rogers
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SUBJECT
Foster Homes: residential capacity of specialized foster
homes
SUMMARY
Clarifies existing law regarding the conditions under which
the number of foster children residing in a specialized
foster care home may be increased from two to three.
Clarifies existing residential capacity requirements for
small family homes operating as specialized foster homes.
ABSTRACT
Current law
1.Provides for the licensure of foster family homes and
small family homes by the Department of Social Services
or a county child welfare services agency. Provides for
the certification of certified family homes by a
DSS-licensed foster family agency.
2.Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to
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develop a program to establish specialized foster care
homes for foster children with special health care needs.
3.Defines "child with special health care needs" as a child
or non-minor dependent who has a medical condition which
can rapidly deteriorate resulting in permanent injury or
death, or who has a medical condition requiring
specialized in-home care, as defined.
4.Defines "specialized foster care home" as a licensed
foster family home, a certified family home under certain
conditions, or a small family home where the foster
parents reside in the home and have been trained to
provide specialized in-home health care to foster
children.
5.Requires, prior to the placement of a child with special
health care needs, an individualized health care plan to
be prepared, in-home health support services to be
arranged, if needed, and foster parents to be trained by
health care professionals.
6.Provides that no more than two foster children shall
reside in a specialized foster care home, except that a
third child may be placed in the home if no other
placement is available and the child's placement worker
and the individualized health care plan team has
documented that the psychological and social needs of the
child will be met in the home.
7.Provides that a small family home may exceed the
placement limit, up to the licensed capacity of the home,
under certain conditions.
8.Provides that the individualized health care plan is
reassessed at least every six months during the time that
the child is placed in a specialized foster care home.
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9.Provides that no community care facility may provide
specialized health care services without a valid special
permit issued by DSS.
This bill
1.Clarifies that a specialized foster care home may exceed
the two-child limit and accept a third foster child, with
or without special health care needs, in accordance with
the licensing capacity of the home and if other
conditions are met.
2.Requires the individualized health care plan team
responsible for each child to consider the number of
adoptive, biological, and foster children, and children
in guardianship living in the home, and determined that
the two-child limit may be exceeded without jeopardizing
the health and safety of that child.
3.Clarifies that a small family home may exceed the
two-child placement limit and accept children up to their
licensed capacity if certain conditions are met for all
foster child placed and if other conditions are met.
4.Finds and declares that this bill is declaratory of
existing law.
FISCAL IMPACT
Assembly Appropriations committee determined that costs
associated with this legislation should be minor and
absorbable within existing resources.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
According to the author, existing law has led to confusion
regarding whether the two child placement limit, and the
provisional exception, should be applied solely to the
number of foster children residing in the home, or whether
also biological, guardianship and adoptive children also
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 1928 (Cook) Page
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should count toward the limit.
Existing law provides that no more than two foster children
may reside in a specialized foster care home, and provides
that a third child may be placed under certain conditions.
According to the Alliance of Child and Family Services, the
absence of the word "foster" before "child" in the
description of the provisional exception, has led some
counties to refuse consideration of homes as specialized
foster care homes if there are two or more biological,
guardianship or adoptive children already residing in the
home.
This bill clarifies that a third foster child may reside in
the home, in accordance with the stated provisions of the
exception. Additional biological, guardianship or adoptive
children would count toward the licensing capacity of the
home, which in the case of a specialized foster home is six
or fewer children, but would not count toward the limit of
two children with specialized health care needs or its
provisional exception.
The provisions of this bill are largely reflective of a DSS
Community Care Licensing Information Release dated February
4, 2011.
Prior Legislation
AB 2268 (Chapter 1437, Statutes of 1989) - Required DSS and
county child welfare services agencies to develop a program
to establish specialized foster care homes for children
with special health care needs.
POSITIONS
Support: California Alliance for Child and Family
Services
California State Association of Counties
County Welfare Directors Association
Oppose: None recieved
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