BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
BILL NO: SB 1089
S
AUTHOR: Liu
B
VERSION: March 19, 2012
HEARING DATE: April 10, 2012
1
FISCAL: Yes
0
8
CONSULTANT: Mareva Brown
9
SUBJECT
Child Day Care Facilities
SUMMARY
Prohibits the exclusion of entities whose primary purpose
is to provide behavior programming, as specified, from
child care licensing statutes, unless they are under the
jurisdiction of specified county- or state-operated
agencies.
ABSTRACT
Current law
1) Establishes under the California Child Day Care
Facilities Act various licensing and regulation
requirements for child day care facilities.
2) Exempts from child care licensing statutes the
following licensed or license-exempt programs:
a. Health facilities
Continued---
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b. Clinics
c. Community care facilities
d. Family day care homes providing for the
care of the children of only one family in
addition to the operator's own children
e. Cooperative child care arrangements, as
specified
f. Child care provided by a relative
g. A public recreation program, as specified
h. Extended day care programs operated by
public or private schools
i. School parenting program or adult
education programs, as specified
j. Child care programs that operate one day
per week for no longer than four hours
aa. Child care programs offering temporary
child care services, as specified
bb. Programs that provide instructional
activities in a classroom-like setting, as
specified
cc. Programs administered by the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as
specified
dd. Crisis nurseries, as specified, until
January 1, 2014
3) Defines as a juvenile delinquent under Welfare and
Institutions Code 601 a minor under age 18 who
displays behavior including:
a. Persistently or habitually refuses to
obey the reasonable and proper orders or
directions of his or her parents, guardian, or
custodian
b. Is beyond the control of that parent,
guardian or custodian
c. Violates any ordinance of any city or
county establishing a curfew based solely on age
d. Has four or more truancies within one
school year, as defined, or a school attendance
review board or probation officer determines that
the available public and private services are
insufficient or inappropriate to correct the
habitual truancy of the minor, or to correct the
minor's persistent or habitual refusal to obey
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the reasonable and proper orders or directions of
school authorities
e. Fails to respond to directives of a
school attendance review board or probation
officer or to services provided
4) Requires the director of the Department of Public
Health to establish minimum standards for organized
camps and directs local health officers to enforce
these standards.
This bill
1) Prohibits the exclusion of entities from the list
of exempted child care licensing categories if that
entity's primary purpose is to provide behavioral
programming to address conduct described in WIC
Section 601.
2) Exempts from this requirement programs that are run
by:
a. The Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Facilities
b. State Department of Education
c. County-operated facilities
FISCAL IMPACT
This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal committee.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Purpose of the bill
The author states that youth "boot camps" and other
nontraditional treatment programs are often intended to be
less restrictive treatment options for children with
significant mental health or behavioral issues. Such
programs are controversial, with thousands of allegations
of abuse nationwide, including deaths. California does not
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license such camps, however two of them currently are
operating in Southern California. The author states that
requiring them to adhere to child care licensing standards
would provide structure for oversight. "The fact that boot
camps have failed to apply for licenses puts children at
risk," the author states. "If this bill becomes law, boot
camps will not be allowed to deliver services to youth
without oversight, which will better protect youth from
physical and emotional abuse."
Boot Camps
"Boot camp" type treatment programs for wayward teenaged
youth have been the subject of controversy within
California and across the nation for more than a decade. In
other states, such behavior modification camps typically
are residentially based programs that offer a range of
services including drug and alcohol treatment, confidence
building, military-style discipline and psychological
counseling. Counselors practice behavior modification
techniques through activities that mirror boot camps by
requiring intense physical activity. Other similar programs
are marketed as wilderness camps, where counselors practice
behavior modification through intensive outdoor activities
which can include multiple-day hikes and rugged camping
experiences.
California prohibits these types of residential programs
through statute requiring that youth in residential
placement "live in a safe, healthy and comfortable home
where he or she is treated with respect," among other
personal rights. Enforced by the California Department of
Social Services, this language prohibits activities
intended to intimidate or demean youths in residential
placement and effectively eliminates such treatment
programs as boot camps from residential licensure in
California. (WIC 16001.9)
A 2007 Government Accountability Office report,
"Residential Treatment Programs: Concerns Regarding Abuse
and Death in Certain Programs for Troubled Youth," found
that while "many cite positive outcomes associated with
specific types of residential treatment, (t)here are also
allegations regarding the abuse and death of youth enrolled
in residential treatment programs." The GAO attempted to
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document abuses and deaths in such camps nationwide but
found that no single national agency is responsible for
overseeing or tracking such camps and that state oversight
varies significantly.
"? while states often regulate publicly
funded programs, a number of states do not license or
otherwise regulate private programs. Because programs
determine how to describe themselves, especially in
their marketing materials, there is no standard
definition for 'wilderness therapy program,' 'boot
camp,' or other terms used to describe the types of
programs and facilities considered to be part of this
industry." (GAO, Residential Treatment Programs, 2007,
p 3)
The GAO noted that some treatment programs are designed for
youth who have been placed through a state's juvenile
justice system. However, there are many others that target
programs for youth whose misbehavior or defiance does not
rise to the level of criminal conduct. In those cases,
parents or guardians often place teens at the camps. In
recognition of this practice, California law requires
individuals and private companies that transport youth to
out-of-state boot camps to be registered on TrustLine.
(H&S 1596.653).
State law is silent on licensing non-residential,
non-educational programs that offer such behavioral
modification treatment, with the exception of some specific
programs tailored consumers with developmental disabilities
who have behavioral treatment needs. Those programs are
vendorized and overseen by the Regional Center system.
In 2011, however, videos documenting verbal and physical
abuses at two non-residential "boot camp" style programs in
Pasadena drew attention to questions about licensing
behavioral modification programs that operate solely in the
daytime. Both of these privately run camps provide
single-day weekend sessions and do not treat youth referred
by state or county agencies.
Child Care Licensing
The California Child Day Care Facilities Act defines
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licensure requirements for the operation of child day care
facilities, day care centers and family day care homes.
California Code of Regulations defines personal rights
guarantees for children in such programs, including "to be
accorded safe, healthful and comfortable accommodations ?
(and) to be free from corporal or unusual punishment,
infliction of pain, humiliation, intimidation, ridicule,
coercion, threat, mental abuse or other actions of a
punitive nature..." (CCR 101223)
A number of specific programs, which already are licensed
under other statutes or specifically are exempted from
licensure, such as certain family day care homes, are
exempted from child care licensure. State law also exempts
from child care licensure statute "public recreation
programs" which operate during non-school hours for fewer
than 16 hours per week and less than 12 weeks during a
12-month period, and other short-duration programs, as
specified. (H&S 1596.792)
Other California code requires the state Department of
Public Health to establish rules and regulations
establishing minimum standards for organized camps and
directs local health officers to enforce those standards
(HS 18897.2 and 19987.4). It provides licensure exemptions
for a city, county or certain nonprofit organizations, to
operate for up to 30 hours per week.
Related Legislation
AB 1991 (Smyth, 2012) would extend the licensure exemption
for a public recreation program operated as prescribed for
kindergarten through 12th grade from less than 16 hours per
week to less than 20 hours per week and from less than 12
weeks annually to 14 weeks or less during a 12-month
period. This bill will be heard in Assembly Human Services
committee on April 10, 2012.
Comments
To avoid inadvertently including specific programs designed
to provide behavioral modification treatment for
individuals with developmental disabilities in the Regional
Center system, staff recommends adding the following
language to the list of exempted child care programs:
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Any outpatient behavior program for children with
developmental disabilities that is vendorized by a regional
center.
POSITIONS
Support: Children's Rights Project at Public Counsel
Optimist Youth Homes and Family Services
National Association of Social Workers
Oppose: None
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