BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 342
Page A
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 342 (Yee)
As Amended September 3, 2013
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :39-0
HUMAN SERVICES 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Stone, Maienschein, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Ammiano, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Ian Calderon, Garcia, | |Calderon, Campos, |
| |Grove, Dickinson | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| | | |Hall, Holden, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, Wagner, Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Allows a foster youth to request a private
conversation with his or her social worker or probation officer.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the monthly visit of a foster youth in a group home
by a social worker or probation officer to include a private
discussion with the foster youth and for the visit to occur in
the group home.
2)Requires the visit of a foster youth in a foster home by a
social worker or probation officer to occur in the foster
home.
3)Requires visits of a foster youth to comply with federal law,
as specified, providing that no more than two consecutive
visits may be held outside of the foster youth's residence.
4)Requires the social worker or probation officer to document in
the case file and in the court report the location of the
visit, the reason for the visit, and whether the visit
occurred outside the foster youth's residence.
5)Requires a social worker or probation officer to inform a
foster youth placed in a group home or foster home of their
right to have the private discussion either in or outside of
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the foster home or group home.
6)Requires a social worker or probation officer to hold a
private discussion with a foster youth outside of the foster
home or group home, if requested by the foster youth.
7)Provides that a private discussion held with a foster youth
does not replace the obligation of the social worker or
probation officer to physically visit the foster home or group
home.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)General Fund (GF) costs likely in excess of $500,000 to the
extent the provisions of this bill result in an extended
amount of time per visit for certain cases than otherwise
would occur under existing law.
2)Proposition 30, passed by the voters in November 2012
eliminated any potential mandate funding liability for any new
program or higher level of service provided by counties
related to the realigned programs. Although the provisions of
this bill are a mandate on local agencies, any increased costs
do not appear to be subject to reimbursement by the state.
Rather, Proposition 30 specifies that for legislation enacted
after September 30, 2012, that has an overall effect of
increasing the costs already borne by a local agency for
realigned programs, the provisions shall apply to local
agencies only to the extent that the state provides annual
funding for the cost increase.
COMMENTS :
Foster care visitation : The visitation of children in foster
care on a regular basis provides numerous benefits ranging from
ensuring the health and safety of a child to helping to either
reunify the child with his or her biological parents or family,
or take the appropriate steps towards permanency, through
adoption or guardianship. It can also help to provide proactive
services that the child may need, including counseling,
educational support, mental health services, and other
supportive services that help to improve the child's quality of
life.
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Social worker and probation officer foster care visitation
requirements are established in state statute and the Department
of Social Services (DSS) Child Welfare Services (CWS) Manual of
Policies and Procedures (MPP). Established pursuant to DSS'
general authority to "formulate, adopt, amend or repeal
regulations and general policies affecting the purposes,
responsibilities, and jurisdiction of the department and which
are consistent with the law and necessary for the administration
of public social services?"<1> the CWS MPP further specifies the
frequency by which a foster youth in a licensed, certified, or
approved foster home is visited.
Although group home visitation requirements are established in
statute, foster home visitations requirements are not. Rather,
they are provided for in the CWS MPP, which requires foster
youth in foster homes to be visited once a month. However,
unlike statute, the MPP permits exceptions for foster home
visits. Specifically, it allows a social worker to have less
frequent visits, up to once every six months provided that the
following criteria are met:
1)The child has no severe physical or emotional problems caused
or aggravated by the placement;
2)The child has been in the same placement for at least six
months and the social worker has determined that the placement
is stable; and
3)The child is visited once each calendar month by social worker
staff of a foster family agency pursuant to the child's case
plan and is documented and reported to the child's social
worker.
Federal visitation requirements : In September 2011, the United
States Congress passed the federal Child and Family Services
Improvement and Innovation Act (P.L. 112-34), which amended part
of Title IV of the Social Security Act to extend the Child and
Family Services Program through federal fiscal year (FFY) 2016.
Among its many provisions, and in recognition of the positive
correlation between frequent caseworker visits and outcomes for
children, states are now required to take necessary steps to
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<1> Section 10553(e) of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
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ensure that caseworkers visit at least 90% of children in foster
care, rising to 95% for FFY 2015 and thereafter, each month. It
also requires that the majority of a child's monthly visits
occur in the home. If states fail to comply with these
requirements, they can face penalties for noncompliance, which
could include a reduction in federal funding.
According to the United States Department of Health and Human
Services Administration for Children and Families, California
has steadily increased the number of foster youth receiving
visits in the home, from 63% in 2008 to 74% in 2011. However,
progress is still needed to not only ensure federal compliance,
but to help improve the lives of children in foster care.
Need for the bill : With the implementation of CWS realignment
from the state to counties, it has become increasingly important
to enhance state oversight, where necessary, to ensure
compliance with federal child welfare funding requirements and
to help meet federal outcome measures. Additionally, with the
adoption of the federal Child and Family Services Improvement
and Innovation Act, which significantly increased foster home
and group home requirements, the state has needed to take
proactive steps in ensuring greater compliance.
According to the California Youth Connection, the sponsor of
this measure, recent data from DSS demonstrates that
approximately 30% of required social worker visits do not occur
at the foster home or group home where the child lives. This
has resulted in circumstances where a particular group home or
foster home was not visited by a case worker for an extended
period of time. Not only does this raise policy concerns that a
group home or foster home is not being visited as often as it
should, it also raises concerns that the state is not complying
with federal requirements.
Analysis Prepared by : Chris Reefe / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
FN: 0002273
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