BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 413
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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