BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 1521 (Liu)
          As Amended  August 20, 2012
          Majority vote 

           SENATE VOTE  :39-0  
           
           HUMAN SERVICES      6-0         APPROPRIATIONS      17-0        
           
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          |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 








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            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 








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            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 








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          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.









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          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









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