BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 413
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 16, 2013

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
                                  Mark Stone, Chair
                    AB 413 (Chavez) - As Amended:  March 19, 2013
           
          SUBJECT  :  Foster Care:  Specialized Foster Care Homes

           SUMMARY  :  Makes a technical corrective amendment to the Health  
          and Safety Code relating to foster care homes.  Specifically,  
           this bill  :  

          1)Deletes an obsolete reference to Section 1523 of the Health  
            and Safety (H&S) Code in Section 17732 of the Welfare and  
            Institutions (W&I) Code and replaces it with the correct  
            reference to Section 1523.1 of the H&S Code.

           EXISTING LAW  

          1)Establishes the California Community Care Facilities Act  
            (CCFA) under the H&S Code to provide a comprehensive statewide  
            service system of quality community care for people who have a  
            mental illness, a developmental or physical disability, and  
            children and adults who require care or services by a facility  
            or organization.

          1)Defines and requires for licensure, under the CCFA, the  
            following facilities to serve youth in foster care:

             a)   Foster Family Agency (FFA), which recruits, certifies  
               and trains foster parents and oversees certified family  
               homes for the temporary placement of children in foster  
               care; 

             b)   Certified Family Home (CFH), which is a family residence  
               certified by a FFA as meeting CCFA licensing requirements  
               to serve as a temporary placement for children in foster  
               care;

             c)   Foster Family Home (FFH), which provides 24-hour care  
               for six or fewer foster children and is owned, leased or  
               rented and is the residence of a foster parent; and

             d)   Small Family Home (SHA), which provides 24-hour care for  
               six or fewer foster children who have mental disorders or  








                                                                  AB 413
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               developmental or physical disabilities and require special  
               care and supervision. 

          2)Defines, under the W&I code a "specialized foster care home"  
            (SFCH) as any CFH, FFH or SHA where they provide specialized  
            in-home health care to foster children, but limits their  
            capacity to no more than two children as specified. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown

           BACKGROUND  

          In 2012 the state adopted AB 1928 (Cook), Chapter 120, Statutes  
          of 2012, which clarified existing law regarding the conditions  
          under which a specialized foster care home could serve more than  
          two foster care children.  Specifically, it clarified ambiguity  
          in Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations providing the  
          ability for SFCH to serve more than two foster youth with or  
          without special health care needs as long as:

          1)The child's social worker determines that there are no other  
            available appropriate placements for the youth;

          2)The child's social worker assesses and determines that each  
            youth in placement at the SFCH will have their psychological  
            and social needs met; and

          3)The child's individualized health care plan team responsible  
            for each youth in placement at the SFCH assesses and  
            determines that their health and safety will not be  
            jeopardized. 

          However, there was a drafting error that went uncorrected in the  
          adopted version of AB 1928, which incorrectly refers to a code  
          section in the H&S Code that does not exist.  Specifically, it  
          references Section 1523 of the H&S Code in Section 17732(b) of  
          the W&I Code rather than the correct section, Section 1523.1 of  
          the H&S Code.

           COMMENTS  :   

          This measure seeks to make a simple corrective amendment to W&I  
          Code 17732(b) to make the proper reference to Section 1523.1 of  
          the H&S Code. 









                                                                  AB 413
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          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          None on file

           Opposition 
           
          None on file
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Chris Reefe / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089