Amended in Assembly April 8, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 21, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 1133


Introduced by Assembly Member Mitchell

(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Quirk-Silva)

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Chesbro, and Maienschein)

end insert

February 22, 2013


An act to add Section 17739 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to foster children.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1133, as amended, Mitchell. Foster children: special health care needs.

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.

This 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 isbegin delete a health care practitioner authorized to provide in-home medical care, as specifiedend deletebegin insert an individual nurse provider, as defined, who provides health services under the federal Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment programend insert, but that this preference be subordinate to the preference granted to a relative of the child, in accordance with federal law.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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SECTION 1.  

Section 17739 is added to the Welfare and
2Institutions Code
, to read:

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17739.  

(a) When the placement of a foster child with special
4health care needs is being considered, preference shall be given
5to placement with a foster parent who isbegin delete a health care practitioner
6authorized to provide in-home medical care as described in
7subdivision (t) of Section 14132 of the Welfare and Institutions
8Code.end delete
begin insert an individual nurse provider, as defined in subdivision (m)
9of Section 14143.26 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, who
10provides health services under the federal Early and Periodic
11Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment program (Section
121396d(a)(4)(B) of Title 42 of the United States Code). end insert

13(b) The preference described in subdivision (a) shall be
14subordinate to the preference granted to a relative of the child
15under Section 361.3, in accordance with Section 671(a)(19) of
16Title 42 of the United States Code.



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