Senate Bill No. 602

Introduced by Committee on Human Services (Senators Yee (Chair), Berryhill, Emmerson, Evans, Liu, and Wright)

February 22, 2013

An act to amend Sections 18960, 18961, and 18962 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to child abuse prevention.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 602, as introduced, Committee on Human Services. Child abuse prevention, intervention, and treatment projects.

Existing law allows the Office of Child Abuse Prevention to fund, through allocations provided to local counties, child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention programs. Existing law provides the criteria under which a county selects agency projects and services to be funded under these provisions, including that priority shall be given to private, nonprofit agencies and that training and technical assistance shall be provided by private, nonprofit agencies, as specified. Existing law requires a county that has established a multidisciplinary council to utilize that council to provide recommendations to the board of supervisors for the funding processes and priorities.

This bill would provide that a county welfare department may directly perform services funded under these provisions and priority shall be given instead to direct prevention and early intervention programs that have demonstrated effectiveness in abuse and neglect prevention and early intervention. This bill would remove required training and technical assistance by private, nonprofit agencies as a selection criteria. This bill would require counties to utilize specified processes to include stakeholder input and provide recommendations to the board of supervisors for the funding processes and priorities.

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

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 18960 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code is amended to read:

18960.  

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that child abuse
and neglect prevention and begin insert early end insert intervention programs be
encouraged by the funding of begin insert public and other end insert agencies addressing
needs of children at high risk of abuse or neglect and their families.

(b) All funds expended by a county for activities under this
section shall be expended by the county in a manner that will
maximize eligibility for federal financial participation.

(c) Priority shall be given to begin delete prevention programs through
nonprofit agencies, including, where appropriate, end delete begin insert direct prevention
and early intervention end insert programs that identify and provide services
to isolated families, particularly those with children five years of
age or younger, high quality home visiting programs based on
research-based models of best practice, and services to child
victims of crime.

SEC. 2.  

Section 18961 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:

18961.  

(a)  begin delete Projects and end delete begin insert In addition to funding non end insert begin insert profit
agencies, a county welfare department may also directly perform
child abuse and neglect prevention and early intervention services
funded under this article. Direct end insert services begin insert provided to children and
families end insert funded pursuant to this article shall be selected using the
following criteria:

(1) Priority shall be given to begin delete private, nonprofit agencies with
programs that serve the needs of children at risk of abuse or neglect
and end delete begin insert services and programs end insert that have demonstrated effectiveness
in begin insert abuse and neglect end insert prevention begin delete or end delete begin insert and early end insert intervention begin insert ,
particularly services to isolated families, families with children
five years of age or younger, high quality home visiting programs
based on research-based models of best practice, and services to
child victims of crime end insert .

(2)  begin delete Agencies end delete begin insert Nonprofit agencies end insert shall be eligible for funding
provided that evidence is submitted that the proposed services are
not duplicated in the community, are based on needs of children
at risk, and are supported by a local public agency, including, but
not limited to, one of the following:

(A) The county welfare department.

(B) A public law enforcement agency.

(C) The county probation department.

(D) The county board of supervisors.

(E) The county public health department.

(F) The county mental health department.

(G) The school district.

(3) Services provided shall be culturally and linguistically
appropriate to the populations served.

(4)  begin delete Services end delete begin insert Direct services provided to children and families end insert
may include, but need not be limited to, day care, respite services,
transportation, mental health services, services provided through
home visiting programs, parent education and support programs,
domestic violence services, disability services, early developmental
screening and assessment, begin delete and end delete counseling begin delete services end delete begin insert services, and
multidisciplinary team services end insert .

(5)  begin delete Applicant end delete begin insert Nonprofit applicant end insert agencies shall demonstrate
the existence of a 10 percent cash or in-kind match that will support
the goals of child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention.

(6) Funding shall be used to supplement, but not supplant, child
welfare services authorized pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing
with Section 16500) of Part 4.

begin delete

(7) Training and technical assistance shall be provided by
private, nonprofit agencies to those agencies funded to provide
services under this article. Training and technical assistance shall
encompass all of the following:

(A) Multidisciplinary approaches to child abuse prevention,
intervention, and treatment.

(B) Facilitation of local services networks.

(C) Establishment and support of child abuse councils.

(D) Dissemination of information addressing issues of child
abuse among multicultural and special needs populations.

(8)

end delete

begin insert (7) end insert  Priority for services shall be given to children who are at
high risk, including children who are being served by the county
welfare departments for being abused and neglected and other
children who are referred for services by legal, medical, or social
services agencies.

begin delete

(9)

end delete

begin insert (8) end insert  Service to minority populations shall be reflected in the
funding of projects begin insert and services end insert .

begin delete

(10)

end delete

begin insert (9) end insert  Projects and services shall clearly be related to the needs of
children, especially those 14 years of age and under.

(b)  begin delete In a county that has established a multidisciplinary council,
the council shall be utilized end delete begin insert Counties shall utilize the county
self-assessment and system improvement plan processes established
under Section 10601.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code to
include stakeholder input and end insert to provide recommendations to the
board of supervisors for the funding processes and priorities.

(c) Each county shall monitor the projects and services it funds.

(d) Beginning in the 2011-12 fiscal year, and for each fiscal
year thereafter, funding and expenditures for programs and
activities under this section shall be in accordance with the
requirements provided in Sections 30025 and 30026.5 of the
Government Code.

SEC. 3.  

Section 18962 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:

18962.  

(a) If a board of supervisors chooses not to begin delete contract or
subcontract end delete begin insert utilize these funds end insert for the provision of begin insert direct prevention
and early intervention end insert services begin insert provided to children and families end insert ,
the funds allocated for that county shall revert to the State
Children’s Trust Fund established under Section 18969 and shall
be administered in accordance with the provisions of law relating
to the fund.

(b) The county child welfare agency shall provide to the Office
of Child Abuse Prevention, no later than October 1 of each year,
an annual expenditure report to include funds expended,
populations served, and other information deemed necessary based
on a process to be developed by the department, in consultation
with counties.