BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 388|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 388
Author: Chesbro (D)
Amended: 8/18/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/10/14
AYES: Beall, DeSaulnier, Liu, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/24/14
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, De León, Knight, Liu, Mitchell,
Steinberg
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not relevant
SUBJECT : Juveniles
SOURCE : Childrens Advocacy Institute
Children Now
Public Counsel
Youth Law Center
DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Social Services
(DSS) to conduct an unannounced visit to any group home or other
specified licensed facility that averages more than one call per
month over a six-month period to law enforcement from facility
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staff regarding residents' alleged violations of specified laws.
This bill requires the Department of Health Care Services
(DHCS) or the delegated county to review the certification
issued of a facility upon receipt of notification from DSS of
any adverse licensing action taken after the finding of
noncompliance during an unannounced visit, as specified. This
bill requires DSS to consult with specified agencies and
entities by January 1, 2016, to develop additional performance
standards and outcome measures that require group homes to
implement programs and services to minimize law enforcement
contacts and delinquency petition filings against dependent
minors, as specified.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1.Establishes the Community Care Facilities Act, which provides
for the licensure and regulation of community care facilities,
including group homes, by DSS, and requires that licensed
facilities be subject to unannounced inspections under
specified circumstances.
2.Requires county child welfare departments and county probation
departments to jointly develop a written protocol regarding
minors who appear to come within both dependency and
delinquency jurisdiction, as specified.
3.Requires the county welfare and county probation departments,
pursuant to the joint protocol, to make a recommendation to
the court regarding which initial status of a minor who
appears to come within both dependency and delinquency
jurisdiction would best serve the interests of the minor and
the protection of society.
4.Requires a probation officer to investigate the circumstances
of a minor in temporary custody and to immediately release the
minor to the parent, legal guardian or responsible relative
unless it is demonstrated to the court that continuance in the
home is contrary to the minor's welfare based on a finding of
specified circumstances making the home unfit or unsafe for
the minor.
5.Requires the court to consider levying a fine on a minor whose
conduct is found to have incurred any economic loss on a
victim and requires the court to order the minor to pay a
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restitution fine, as specified, and victim restitution, as
specified. Requires these fines to be in addition to any other
penalty and requires that restitution to the victim be imposed
regardless of the minor's inability to pay.
6.Requires DSS to establish a rate classification level (RCL)
structure for group homes with a corresponding rate structure
according to the level of care and services that will be
provided, as specified.
7.Permits a group home to be classified as an RCL 13 or 14 if
the program only accepts children with special treatment needs
and meets other requirements. Additionally requires DHCS to
annually certify group homes seeking classification as RCL 13
or 14 and permits such facilities to accept minor dependents
who are seriously or emotionally disturbed if certain
conditions are met.
This bill:
1. Requires DSS to conduct an unannounced inspection to any
group home that over a six month period has an average of
more than one call per month to law enforcement from facility
staff alleging specific crimes by residents, as specified.
2. Requires that licensing reports of unannounced inspections
for this purpose shall be provided to the division of DSS
responsible for determining and auditing rate classification
levels and to any other public agency that has certified the
facilities program, or components of the program.
3. Requires DSS to publish and make available the following
information regarding a group home, transitional housing
placement provider, community treatment facility, or runaway
and homeless youth shelter:
A. The number of licensing complaints, type of complaint,
outcomes of complaints including citations, fines,
exclusion orders, license suspensions, revocations and
surrenders;
B. The number, types, and outcomes of law enforcement
contacts made by the facility staff or children, as
specified.
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1. Requires facilities to report to DSS Community Care
Licensing (CCL) Division upon the occurrence of any incident
in which a child in the facility has contact with law
enforcement, and requires specified follow-up reports to be
provided every six months for each incident, as specified.
2. Specifies that if DSS determines that, based on the licensed
capacity, a facility has reported, a greater than average
number of law enforcement contacts involving an alleged
violation of any crime by a child residing in the facility,
DSS is required to inspect the facility at least once a year.
Clarifies that this inspection does not constitute an
unannounced inspection required in #1 above.
3. Specifies that if an inspection is required, the CCL
Division is required to provide the report to DSS's Children
and Family Services Division and to any other public agency
that has certified the facility's program or any component of
the facility's program including, but not limited to, DHCS,
which certifies group homes.
4. Requires existing joint protocols developed between county
child welfare and probation departments regarding crossover
status youth to do the following:
A. May require immediate notification of the child welfare
service department and the minor's dependency attorney when
a dependent child is referred to probation;
B. Establish procedures for the release to and placement by
the child welfare services department pending resolution of
the determination of status;
C. Establish timelines for dependents in secure custody to
ensure timely resolution to the determination of status;
D. Establish nondiscrimination provisions to ensure that
dependents are provided with any option that would
otherwise be available to a non-dependent minor.
1. Provides that if the alleged conduct that appears to bring
the dependent minor within the delinquency jurisdiction
occurs under the supervision of a foster home, group home, or
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other licensed facility that provides residential care for
minors, the county probation department and the child welfare
services department may consider whether the alleged conduct
was in the scope of behaviors to be managed or treated by the
foster home or facility, as identified in the minors case
plan, needs and services plan, placement agreement, facility
plan of operation, or facility emergency intervention plan,
in determining which status will serve the best interests of
the minor and the protection of society.
2. Requires that at a detention hearing, the court's decision
to detain a dependent minor shall not be based on the minor's
status as a dependent of the court of the child welfare
services department's inability to provide a placement for
the minor.
3. Requires that at the detention hearing, the court's decision
to detain a dependent minor shall not be based on a finding
that continuance in the minor's current placement is contrary
to the minor's welfare. Additionally requires that if the
court determines that continuance in the minor's current
placement is contrary to the minor's welfare, the court shall
order the child welfare services department to place the
minor in another licensed or approved placement.
4. Requires that, at the detention hearing, if the court orders
release of a dependent minor, the court shall order the child
welfare services department either to ensure that the minor's
current foster parent or caregiver take physical custody of
the minor, or that the court takes take physical custody of
the minor and places the minor in a licensed or approved
placement.
5. Provides that a court shall waive a restitution fine of a
dependent minor, who is ordered to pay restitution as a
result of conduct that is described in number six above.
Additionally provides that if the victim is a group home or
licensed residential facility in which the minor was placed,
or an employee the facility, restitution shall be limited to
out-of-pocket expenses that are not covered by insurance and
are paid by the facility or employee.
6. Requires DHCS to review its certification of a group home
RCL 13 or 14 upon receipt of notification from DSS of any
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adverse licensing action taken during an unannounced visit
conducted pursuant to this bill.
7. Requires DSS to consult with specified governmental agencies
and other stakeholders to develop additional performance
standards and outcome measures that require group homes to
implement programs and services to minimize law enforcement
contacts and delinquency petition filings against dependent
minors, as specified.
Background
According to the author, older children and teens who are in
foster care due to parental abuse or neglect are often placed in
group homes and other residential facilities, because of a
shortage of foster homes for older children, or because they
have special needs or mental health issues. The author states
that group homes are licensed to provide safe and supportive
care, and to address these children's traumatic history and
special needs.
The author additionally states that some group homes are overly
reliant on law enforcement to address behavioral issues with
youth leading to the youth's arrest for minor incidents that
would not trigger justice system involvement for youth who live
with their own parents (e.g. fights between two youth, yelling
at staff, breaking or throwing objects). Once arrested, the
author states that many foster youth are needlessly detained in
juvenile halls and other locked facilities.
Group Homes . Group homes are 24-hour residential facilities
licensed by DSS to provide board and care to foster youth from
both the dependency and delinquency jurisdictions. Group home
facilities are organized under a system of RCLs ranging from
1-14 that are based on levels of professional training and
adult-to-child ratios. In practice, the majority of group homes
are RCL 10 and above with nearly 50% of groups homes at RCL 12.
There is wide variation in group home size from as few as six
children to group homes that house more than 100 children.
Group Home RCLs. Existing law provides for the classification
of group home programs for the purpose of establishing AFDC-FC
rates. Through regulation, DSS implemented the RCL point system
in which the hours of child care and supervision, social work
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activities, and mental health treatment services provided to
children, are weighted to take into consideration experience,
education, training, and professional qualifications of the
staff. These are calculated and then divided by an adjusted
expected capacity of the group home program.
The lowest currently licensed group home RCL is a level 4 while
most facilities range from RCL 8 or higher. Every year, DSS
issues an updated rate structure based on required increases
associated with the California Necessities Index.
Group homes classified as RCL 13 and 14 are permitted to accept
a child assessed as seriously emotionally disturbed as long as
the child does not need inpatient care in a licensed health
facility. To receive this classification, a facility may only
accept children who have been assessed as seriously emotionally
disturbed through an interagency placement committee, or by a
licensed mental health professional. These group homes must be
both licensed by DSS and certified by DHCS as a program that
provides mental health treatment services for seriously
emotionally disturbed children.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Significant ongoing costs potentially in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars (General Fund) to DSS to conduct
additional visits to specified facilities triggered by the law
enforcement notification threshold established in the bill.
Potentially significant one-time and ongoing local costs
(Local) to county child welfare services departments and
county probation departments to add components to the existing
protocol to address the situation when a minor who is a
dependent of the court then appears to come within delinquency
jurisdiction.
Negligible impact on the Restitution Fund, as the amount of
restitution received from juvenile offenders is negligible and
not regularly imposed.
Minor ongoing costs to the DHCS to review certifications upon
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notification of adverse licensing actions taken by DSS.
Potential future cost pressure on group home (GH) rates
(General Fund*) to the extent the workgroup develops
performance standards and outcome measures requiring group
homes to implement programs and services to minimize law
enforcement contacts that results in increased costs to the
GHs, leading to pressure to increase rates to provide these
additional programs and services.
Potential future ongoing cost savings (General Fund/Local) in
the criminal justice system to the extent earlier intervention
in these cases precludes minors from transitioning from
dependency to delinquency jurisdiction.
* Pursuant to Proposition 30 (November 2012) any legislation
enacted after September 30, 2012, that has an overall effect
of increasing the costs already borne by a local agency for
programs or levels of service mandated by realignment
(including child welfare services and foster care) only apply
to local agencies to the extent that the state provides annual
funding for the cost increase.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/15/14)
Children's Advocacy Institute (co-source)
Children Now (co-source)
Public Counsel (co-source)
Youth Law Center (co-source)
California Police Chiefs Association
California Youth Connection
Children's Law Center of California
East Bay Children's Law Offices
John Burton Foundation
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Children Now, which cosponsors this
bill, states that children in the foster care system are
especially vulnerable to crossing over to the delinquency system
because they may act out due to past abuse, and because their
behavior is subject to closer scrutiny than that of children in
the general population. Children Now claims that some group
homes respond inappropriately to minor misconduct such as fights
among peers, threats or conflict with group home staff,
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destruction of property, etc., by calling law enforcement,
causing children to be arrested and have delinquency petitions
filed against them. Once arrested, many foster youth are
needlessly detained in juvenile halls and other locked
facilities. Children Now is in favor of this bill, stating that
foster children should not be unfairly and disproportionately
arrested, charged, and detained, and pulled ever deeper into the
criminal justice system, due to typical teen misbehavior that
would not trigger such dire consequences for youth living at
home with parents.
JL:nl 8/18/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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