BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1171
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1171 (Levine)
As Amended May 24, 2013
Majority vote
HUMAN SERVICES 5-1 APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Stone, Ammiano, Ian |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Calderon, Garcia, Grove | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| | | |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, |
| | | |Gomez, Hall, Ammiano, |
| | | |Linder, Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Wagner, Weber |
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|Nays:|Maienschein |
| | |
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SUMMARY : Establishes a three-county pilot for the provision of
electronic access to records for foster youth. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Establishes a pilot program in three counties to provide a
foster youth who is 16 years of age or older, upon his or her
request, the ability to establish an online electronic
repository for his or her records, which shall include but not
be limited to:
a) Medical or health records;
b) Certified copy of his or her birth certificate;
c) Social security card;
d) Letter proving the child or nonminor dependent was a
ward or dependent of the court;
e) Special immigrant juvenile status, if applicable;
f) School records;
g) Driver's license, as described in Vehicle Code Section
12500, or identification card, as described in Vehicle Code
AB 1171
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Section 13000;
h) Background and contact information of siblings and other
family members; and
i) Application to seal juvenile court records.
2)Requires the California Department of Social Services (DSS) to
select the three counties upon their agreement to participate.
3)Permits DSS to use existing online electronic recordkeeping
repositories for purposes of the pilot.
4)Prohibits implementation of the pilot until the Director of
the Department of Finance deems there are sufficient non-state
general fund monies available to fund the pilot.
5)Requires implementation of the pilot on January 1, 2014.
6)Requires DSS to submit an evaluation report, with
recommendations as to whether the pilot should be extended,
expanded or made permanent, to the Legislature no later than
December 1, 2016.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires a foster youth's case plan to include a summary of
health and education information or records, including mental
health information of the child in the form of a health and
education passport (Passport).
2)Requires the information contained in the Passport to be
included in the California Child Welfare Services (CWS) Case
Management System (CMS).
3)Provides, under federal and state law, for specific privacy
protections for children in foster care and for pupils
enrolled in the public education system.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee costs associated with this legislation would likely be
in excess of $250,000 (GF) for workload associated with DSS
developing, administering, and evaluating the pilot project.
AB 1171
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COMMENTS :
Foster Youth Health and Education Passport : The purpose of the
passport is primarily to ensure that a foster youth's caseworker
has immediate access to important and necessary educational and
health records in order to help support and provide for positive
outcomes for the foster youth assigned to them. It provides for
a vast array of information relating to educational records,
school enrollment, contact information for teachers and medical
physicians, and any other relevant medical records, including
mental health information and prescribed medication.
The passport has become a critical and important informational
tool for social workers, as it allows for current and up-to-date
information to be readily accessible to ensure they can provide
for the needs of their foster youth in a timely manner.
However, one of its drawbacks is its limitation of access for a
foster youth. Oftentimes when foster youth emancipate from the
CWS system, they are not provided access to all of the
information they would otherwise need, such as health and
educational records. Whereas many children's parents maintain
their child's health and educational records and provide
guidance as to how and when to utilize these records, foster
youth do not have that regular parental support. Rather, they
are faced with having to act as both parent and child when it
comes to these records. This can be a formidable and daunting
task, especially when many foster youth do not have a regular
home or safe space in which to maintain their records. Upon
emancipation, many foster youth are provided hard copy documents
of records, which overtime can be lost without a central place
to store them.
Need for the bill : Writing to express the need for the bill,
the author states:
Approximately 4,500 youth age out of the foster
care system each year in California. For youth
transitioning out of the foster care system, a
social worker will work with them to develop their
Transitional Independent Living Plan (TILP). This
plan is designed to describe the youth's current
level of functioning, establish emancipation
goals, progress towards achieving those goals, the
programs and services needed, and individuals
AB 1171
Page 4
assisting the youth. The TILP is reviewed,
updated and approved every six months prior to
emancipation by the social worker/probation
officer and the youth.
One of the specific goals of the TILP is to help
youth obtain important documents, including, but
not limited to a certified birth certificate, a
social security card, and health/immunization
records.
Currently, these important documents are handed
over to a foster youth dependent upon
emancipation. However, these records are
generally shared only in paper form. As such, it
is a challenge to ensure that the documents
contain the most current information and [are]
readily available when care providers need [them]
to help make informed care decisions.
Analysis Prepared by : Chris Reefe / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
FN: 0000951