BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 1089 (Liu) - Child day care facilities: youth "boot camps".
Amended: April 17, 2012 Policy Vote: Human Services 6-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: April 30, 2012
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 1089 would extend licensing and regulation
requirements for child day care facilities to entities whose
primary purpose is to provide behavioral programming to address
juvenile conduct, as specified. The provisions of this bill
would not apply to programs under the jurisdiction of specified
state- or county-operated agencies.
Fiscal Impact:
Potentially minor to significant ongoing costs in excess of
$150,000 (General Fund) to the Department of Social Services
(DSS) Community Care Licensing (CCL) Division to license and
monitor additional facilities. Costs would be dependent on the
number of entities impacted statewide. To the extent the
number of new licensees is significant could require
additional field staff for monitoring and oversight.
To the extent this type of non-traditional treatment program
is determined to require new regulations, the DSS could incur
one-time costs for development of regulations potentially in
excess of $100,000 (General Fund).
Minor annual ongoing costs to the Judicial Branch, likely less
than $10,000 (per 20 new filings), for increased court filings
for misdemeanor violations of the Child Day Care Facilities
Act.
Non-reimbursable state-mandated local costs for enforcement,
offset to a degree by fine revenue.
Background: Current law establishes various licensing and
regulation requirements for child day care facilities under the
California Child Day Care Facilities Act. Under existing law,
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the following licensed or license-exempt programs are exempt
from child care licensing statutes: health facilities, clinics,
community care facilities, specified family day care homes,
cooperative child care arrangements, child care provided by a
relative, public recreation programs, extended day care programs
operated by public/private schools, school parenting programs,
child care programs operating under specified time restrictions,
programs administered by the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR), and crisis nurseries, as specified.
Treatment programs for troubled youth, commonly referred to as
youth "boot camps" or wilderness therapy programs, have been the
subject of controversy within California and nationwide for
several years. These non-traditional treatment programs are
intended to provide less restrictive options for children with
significant behavioral issues and provide a range of services,
including drug and alcohol treatment, military-style discipline,
and psychological counseling. A 2007 Government Accountability
Office (GAO) report, "Residential Treatment Programs: Concerns
Regarding Abuse and Death in Certain Programs for Troubled
Youth," identified thousands of allegations of abuse, some of
which involved death, at such programs. The GAO report noted no
single federal agency regulating such programs, and a variety of
approaches ranging from statutory regulations that require
licensing to no oversight at the state level.
"?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)
State law is silent on licensing non-residential,
non-educational programs that offer such behavioral modification
treatment with the exception of specific programs for consumers
with developmental disabilities that are overseen by the
regional center system. The Department of Public Health
establishes minimum standards for "organized camps," but the
statute specifically excludes penal and correctional camps from
the definition (Health and Safety Code section 18897(b)).
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Proposed Law: This bill would prohibit the exclusion of entities
whose primary purpose is behavioral programming to address
juvenile conduct described in Section 601 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code (WIC) from child care licensing statutes. The
bill would exclude programs under the jurisdiction of the CDCR,
Division of Juvenile Facilities, the Department of Education,
and county-operated facilities. The bill would add outpatient
behavior programs for children with developmental disabilities
vendored by a regional center to the list of excluded entities.
The bill also includes uncodified Legislative findings and
declarations with respect to youth "boot camps".
Specifically, WIC section 601 defines the conduct of a minor
under age 18 who displays the following behavior:
Persistently or habitually refuses to obey the
reasonable and proper orders or directions of his or her
parents, guardian, or custodian.
Is beyond the control of his or her parents, guardian,
or custodian.
Violates any ordinance of any city or county of this
state establishing a curfew based solely on age.
Has four or more truancies within one school year as
defined in Section 48260 of the Education Code 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 the reasonable and proper
orders or directions of school authorities.
Fails to respond to directives of a school attendance
review board or probation officer or to services provided.
Staff Comments: The fiscal impact of the provisions of this bill
is reliant upon various factors that are undetermined at this
time. Costs to the DSS CCL Division will be dependent on the
number of programs identified and determined to meet the
behavioral programming criteria specified in the bill, the
programs that ultimately apply for licensing, and the level of
oversight required. Although only two non-residential youth
"boot camp" programs have been specifically identified at this
time, it is unknown how many of these types of programs are
actually in existence statewide which could potentially be
subject to child day care licensing and regulation standards. To
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the extent the number of programs is greater than currently
identified or increases in the future to a moderate level,
additional DSS field staff could potentially be required to meet
the ongoing monitoring and oversight required for an increasing
number of child day care facilities, resulting in ongoing annual
costs in excess of $150,000 (General Fund).
As the GAO report noted, there is no standard definition for
these types of programs. At this time, DSS indicated it is
unknown if the programs targeted by this legislation will fall
within existing regulation guidelines for child day care
facilities. To the extent it is determined that these
non-traditional treatment programs require revised and/or
separate regulations, DSS could potentially incur one-time costs
for regulation development in excess of $100,000 (General Fund).
By expanding the types of entities subject to misdemeanor
violations of the Child Day Care Facilities Act could result in
increased court filings. The Judicial Council estimates a
relatively small number of misdemeanors will be filed under the
provisions of the bill, with minor ongoing costs of less than
$10,000 (Trial Court Trust Fund) per 20 new misdemeanor court
filings per year. As noted previously, to the extent the number
of programs impacted is significant, the potential for increased
filings would also increase.
To the extent mandated licensing and regulation standards for
these types of programs prevents negligent operating practices
and/or the operation of substandard programs could result in
future cost savings in averted civil/criminal courts to the
state as well as improved protections for youth participating in
these programs, resulting in fewer allegations of abuse and
incidences of injury and death.