BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 1521 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 1521 (Liu) As Amended August 20, 2012 Majority vote SENATE VOTE :39-0 HUMAN SERVICES 6-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Beall, Jones, Ammiano, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, | | |Grove, Hall, Portantino | |Blumenfield, Bradford, | | | | |Charles Calderon, Campos, | | | | |Davis, Donnelly, Fuentes, | | | | |Hall, Hill, Cedillo, | | | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, | | | | |Solorio, Wagner | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Makes a number of amendments and federal conformity changes to Welfare and Institutions Code relating to the provision of services for foster youth. Specifically, this bill : 1)Prohibits reunifications services to a parent or guardian who has been required to register as a sex offender by a court of law under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 United States Code (U.S.C.) Section 16913(a)). 2)Requires County Welfare Agencies (CWA) to annually request a free consumer credit report for a foster youth when she/he turns 16 and for each year thereafter and requires the CWA to refer a foster youth to credit counseling and assistance services, as specified. 3)Deletes and adds reporting elements to the Child Welfare Training Program's (CWTP) annual evaluation report, as specified. 4)Clarifies that a foster youth's case plan include an educational placement assessment to take into account the educational stability of the child, in accordance with the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Access to Adoptions Act of 2008 and the Child and Family Services SB 1521 Page 2 Improvement and Innovation Act of 2011. 5)Implements the caseworker visit requirements under the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act in state law, which: a) Requires as a part of a foster youth's case plan the inclusion of whether the child received a consumer credit report at age 16 and each year thereafter and what credit counseling services were provided if an inaccuracy was found. b) Requires the total number of monthly caseworker visits to youth in foster care to not be less than 90% of the total number of monthly caseworker visits that would occur if each child were visited once per month. c) Requires no less than 50% of the total monthly caseworker visits conducted by the caseworker shall occur in the child's residence. d) Requires effective October 1, 2014, the total number of monthly caseworker visits to children in foster care to not be less than 95% of the total number of monthly caseworker visits that would occur if each child is visited once per month. e) Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) and county welfare and probation departments to collect and provide any data necessary to comply with the federal Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act. 6)Allows peer-to-peer mentoring and support groups for parents and primary caregivers, including familial visitation services and activities, in accordance with the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee: 1)Ongoing costs of approximately $225,000 ($56,250 General Fund (GF)) to DSS to have county agencies provide annual credit reports to foster youth age 16 and older, as specified, and require county welfare departments and probation departments SB 1521 Page 3 to provide assistance in interpreting the consumer credit disclosure to youth on an annual basis. However, those costs will be greatly reduced if DSS is able to work with the three major credit reporting agencies to develop an automated process. 2)Ongoing costs of approximately $195,000 ($48,750 GF) for the workload associated with requiring that the educational stability portion of a foster child's educational placement assessment be updated with every change in placement. 3)The remaining portions of the bill are minor and absorbable within existing DSS resources. COMMENTS : This measure predominantly serves as a federal compliance measure to bring state statute into alignment with several measures adopted by Congress. As required by federal law, in order to be eligible for federal grant funding, states are required to align their statutes, or provide other assurances, as specified, into compliance with federal law. Should states be unable to demonstrate or bring their statutes into compliance, the federal government can reduce or eliminate federal funding or place sanctions on the state, depending on the grant requirements and conditions. According to the author, this measure would address a number of sections in the Welfare and Institutions Code to bring state statute into compliance with the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 2010, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Access to Adoptions Act of 2008 and the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act of 2011. Reunification services . Under CAPTA, states are now required to prohibit the reunification foster youth with their biological parent if they have been convicted of a sex offense and are required to register as a sex offender, as required by the federal Adam Walsh law. Under current state law, reunification of the child with their biological process is made under the determination of the court, however, although state law prohibits the placement of a foster youth with an individual who has been convicted as a sex offender, explicitly forbidding reunifications services for a parent who is a sex offender would SB 1521 Page 4 help to ensure greater compliance with CAPTA. Credit reports for foster youth . Under current law, which was established by AB 106 (Human Services Committee), Chapter 32, Statutes of 2011, CWAs would be required to begin requesting a consumer credit report for each foster youth under their care who is 16 years of age or older on July 1, 2013. However, the federal Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act of 2011, which was signed into federal law one day after the AB 106 was signed into state law, requires CWAs to currently request a consumer credits report for foster youth 16 years of age and older. This measure would eliminate the implementation date established by AB 106 and add additional requirements as established by the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act. CWTP . To ensure the CWTP's effectiveness, DSS is required to conduct an annual assessment and evaluation report of the program and to submit it to the Legislative Analyst. This measure would delete the requirement for the DSS to forward its annual evaluation report to the Legislative Analyst and delete the requirement that the report include the opportunity for feedback from program participants. It would also add to the list of required elements of the report workforce, education, qualification and demographic information. Foster care case plan - educational stability . Under current state law, a foster care child's case plan is required to ensure the educational stability of the child, which must include the following: 1)An assessment of the appropriateness of the current educational setting. 2)The proximity of the school to the child's placement. 3)An assurance that the CWA has coordinated with the child's educational rights holder and appropriate local educational agencies to ensure that the child is placed in the appropriate educational setting. 4)The transfer of the child's educational records, if she/he is placed in a new school. SB 1521 Page 5 However, current law is unclear as to whether the educational stability of the child is taken into account each time she/he is placed in a new school. As required by the federal Child and Family Services Improvement Act of 2008, the educational stability must be considered each time the child's educational placement is considered. This measure would simply clarify that an educational stability assessment is undertaken each time the child's educational placement is determined, thus bringing state statute into compliance with federal law. Caseworker visits . In accordance with the federal Child and Family Services Improvement Act of 2008, this measure would make correlating changes to the Welfare and Institutions Code to establish minimum monthly visits child welfare caseworkers must make to youth under their jurisdictional care. Specifically, it would: 1)Requires caseworkers to visit no less than 90% of the children under their jurisdictional care per month. 2)Requires caseworkers to visit no less than 50% of the above noted children in the child's residence. 3)Increases the monthly visit requirement noted in 1) to 95% on October 1, 2014. It would also require DSS, in coordination with CWAs, to collect and provide any data necessary to comply with the Child and Family Service Improvement Act. Mentoring Services . The federal Child and Family Services Improvement Act of 2008 added mentoring services as eligible services under the definition of "family support services" and "time-limited family reunification services." By simply adding mentoring services to the state statutory definitions of the same services, it brings state statute into further compliance with federal law. Analysis Prepared by : Chris Reefe / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN: 0005092 SB 1521 Page 6