BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1790
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          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 1790 (Dickinson)
          As Amended June 11, 2014
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |78-0 |(May 28, 2014)  |SENATE: |34-0 |(August 7,     |
          |           |     |                |        |     |2014)          |
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           Original Committee Reference:   HEALTH  

           SUMMARY  :  Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to  
          convene a stakeholder group, as specified, to identify barriers  
          to mental health services by mental health professionals with  
          specified training.  Requires the stakeholder group, on or  
          before September 30, 2015, to make specific, non-binding  
          recommendations to specified groups to address the identified  
          barriers.

           The Senate amendments  clarify that private organizations  
          providing specialty mental health services may participate in  
          the stakeholder group convened by DSS and extend the date by  
          which the stakeholder group must make recommendations from  
          September 30, 2015, to January 31, 2016.

           AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY  , this bill required the county mental  
          health plan where an adopted child who is eligible for specialty  
          mental health services resides, to provide medically necessary  
          specialty mental health services.  Requires DSS to convene a  
          stakeholder group to identify barriers to the provision of  
          mental health services by mental health professionals with  
          specialized clinical training in adoption or permanency issues  
          to children released for adoption. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Senate Appropriations  
          Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.

           COMMENTS  :  According to the author, most children enter foster  
          care with traumatic histories caused by abuse and neglect and  
          most suffer multiple losses within foster care - separation from  
          siblings, friends, and neighbors.  Despite the increase in the  
          numbers of children achieving permanence through adoption and  
          guardianship, placement of a child into a stable and motivated  
          family is not considered sufficient to compensate for  








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          psychosocial problems related to prior trauma and chronic  
          maltreatment.  The author states as the number of adopted  
          children with significant developmental and emotional issues  
          surrounding their adoption experience has grown, the need has  
          increased for child welfare professionals and clinicians with an  
          in-depth understanding of adoption and permanency issues and the  
          skills to work effectively with adoptive persons and their  
          families.

          In May 2011, a coalition of leading child welfare organizations,  
          including the Child Welfare League of America, the North  
          American Council on Adoptable Children, the Dave Thomas  
          Foundation for Adoption, Voice for Adoption, and many others,  
          participated in a congressional hearing on the need for  
          post-adoption services and recommended policy reforms.  One of  
          the recommendations to come out of that hearing was to ensure  
          that services offered to adoptive families embrace best practice  
          and are provided by adoption-competent professionals.

          Mission Focused Solutions (MFS), the sponsor of this bill,  
          writes that while the child welfare field's awareness of the  
          need for adoption competent clinicians is heavily supported by  
          respected research, graduate education in relevant fields does  
          not usually include adoption issues.  MFS argues that this bill  
          addresses an underlying and critical need by empowering  
          prospective adoptive and guardianship families with knowledge  
          about the importance of working with adoption or permanency  
          competent mental health professions when they seek help for  
          their families and creating a well-researched criteria for  
          adoption/permanency clinical competence.  The California  
          Association of Adoption Agencies writes that as their member  
          agencies, who struggle to refer clients to adoption-competent  
          mental health providers they strongly support this bill. 

          The California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists  
          (CAMFT) has an oppose unless amended position on this bill  
          stating they understand the sponsor's interest in assuring  
          proper training for mental health professionals working with  
          adoptive/foster families, the practical impact of this  
          legislation would likely harm currently employed marriage and  
          family therapists (MFTs), as well as those seeking employment.   
          CAMFT states they are aware of numerous MFTs working in this  
          field within various non-profit agencies and organizations  
          licensed and contracted by the state, as well as MFTs working  
          for the state and these MFTs were hired because they met the  








                                                                  AB 1790
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          qualifications of the job, and did not necessarily have the  
          exact training spelled out in this legislation.  CAMFT asks that  
          language in the Legislative Findings be removed as it implies  
          that MFTs are not qualified to work with this population, which  
          is inaccurate.

           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Paula Villescaz / HEALTH / (916)  
          319-2097 


          FN: 0004451