AB 1133,
as amended, Mitchell. begin deleteOffice of Health Equity. end deletebegin insertFoster children: special health care needs.end insert
Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services licenses foster families, and the department and each county provide assistance to foster parents of low-income children under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program. Existing law requires the department to develop a program, to be administered by the department and county social services departments, for the establishment of foster care homes for children with special health care needs with foster parents trained by health care professionals pursuant to the discharge plan of the facility releasing the child being placed in, or currently in, foster care. Existing law requires each county department of social services to develop a specified plan for foster care placement of children with special health care needs.
end insertbegin insertThis bill would require that, when the placement of a foster child with special health care needs is being considered, preference be given to placement with a foster parent who is a health care practitioner authorized to provide in-home medical care, as specified, but that this preference be subordinate to the preference granted to a relative of the child, in accordance with federal law.
end insertExisting law establishes the Office of Health Equity within the State Department of Public Health for the purposes of aligning state resources, decisionmaking, and programs to accomplish various goals relating to health, and requires the office to perform various duties specifically relating to multicultural health.
end deleteThis bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to these provisions.
end deleteVote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
begin insertSection 17739 is added to the end insertbegin insertWelfare and Institutions Codeend insertbegin insert, to read:end insert
begin insert(a) When the placement of a foster child with special health care needs is being considered, preference shall be given to placement with a foster parent who is a health care practitioner authorized to provide in-home medical care as described in subdivision (t) of Section 14132 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(b) The preference described in subdivision (a) shall be subordinate to the preference granted to a relative of the child under Section 361.3, in accordance with Section 671(a)(19) of Title 42 of the United States Code.
Section 152 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
(a) The Office of Health Equity within the State Department of Public Health shall do all of the following:
(1) Perform strategic planning to develop departmentwide plans for implementation of goals and objectives to close the gaps in health status and access to care among the state’s diverse racial and ethnic communities, women, persons with disabilities, and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) communities.
(2) Conduct departmental policy analysis on specific issues related to multicultural health.
(3) Coordinate projects funded by the state that are related to improving the effectiveness of services to ethnic and racial communities, women, and the LGBTQQ communities.
(4) Identify the unnecessary duplication of services and future service needs.
(5) Communicate and disseminate information and perform a liaison function within the department and to providers of health, social, educational, and support services to racial and ethnic communities, women, persons with disabilities, and the LGBTQQ communities. The department shall consult regularly with representatives from diverse racial and ethnic communities, women, persons with disabilities, and the LGBTQQ communities, including health providers, advocates, and consumers.
(6) Perform internal staff training, an internal assessment of cultural competency, and training of health care professionals to ensure more linguistically and culturally competent care.
(7) Serve as a resource for ensuring that programs collect and keep data and information regarding ethnic and racial health statistics, including those statistics described in reports released by Healthy People 2020, and information based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, strategies and programs that address multicultural health issues, including, but not limited to, infant and maternal mortality, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), child and adult immunization, osteoporosis, menopause, and full reproductive health, asthma, unintentional and intentional injury, and obesity, as well as issues that impact the health of racial and ethnic communities, women, and the LGBTQQ communities, including substance abuse, mental health, housing, teenage pregnancy, environmental disparities, immigrant and migrant health, and health insurance and delivery systems.
(8) Encourage innovative responses by public and private entities that are attempting to address multicultural health issues.
(9) Provide technical assistance to counties, other public entities, and private entities seeking to obtain funds for initiatives in multicultural health, including identification of funding sources and assistance with writing grants.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the State Department of Public Health shall biennially prepare and submit a report to the Legislature on the status of the activities required by this chapter. This report shall be included in the report required under paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 131019.5.
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