BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Leland Y. Yee, Chair
BILL NO: SB 625
S
AUTHOR: Beall
B
VERSION: April 4, 2013
HEARING DATE: April 23, 2013
6
FISCAL: Yes
2
5
CONSULTANT: Tepring Piquado
SUBJECT
Child welfare: racial and ethnic disparities
SUMMARY
This bill prohibits the Department of Social Services (DSS)
and county welfare departments from denying services to
parents or children on the basis of language or ethnicity,
as specified. Requires DSS and county welfare departments
to document the communication needs of each Hispanic parent
and child, provide Spanish-speaking clients with services
and materials in Spanish and have adequate staff to assign
bilingual workers to Spanish-speaking families, as
specified. Requires that children be placed in a foster
home that is as linguistically and culturally equivalent to
a parent's home as possible. Requires that children of
Spanish-speaking families be placed with Spanish-speaking
foster parents within 60 days of removal from their
families and defines as "improper" placement with
non-Spanish speaking families. Requires counties to include
in self assessments and improvement plans data and
information about efforts to eliminate racial and ethnic
disproportionality in services and supports provided in the
child welfare system, as specified, and other requirements,
as specified.
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 625 (Beall)
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ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1) Provides, in federal law, that no person in the
United States shall, on the grounds of race, color, or
national origin, be excluded from participation in, be
denied the benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination under any program or activity receiving
Federal financial assistance. (42 USC 2000d)
2) Enacts the federal Multiethnic Placement Act and
the Inter-Ethnic Adoption Provisions of the Small
Business Job Protection Act of 1996 (MEPA/IEP) to
ensure timely placements and adoptions of children and
reduce barriers to interracial adoptions. (P.L.
103-382) and (P.L. 104-188,110)
3) Under MEPA/IEP, requires states to have an
identifiable process in place for assuring the
diligent recruitment of potential foster parents that
reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of children in
the state for whom foster and adoptive homes are
needed.
4) Under MEPA/IEP, prohibits a state from denying to
any person the opportunity to become an adoptive or a
foster parent, on the basis of the race, color, or
national origin of the person, or of the child,
involved.
5) Under MEPA/IEP, imposes significant legal penalties
for race-based discrimination in adoption and foster
care including the imposition of a penalty of up to
five percent of a State's Title IV-E funds for a
fiscal quarter.
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 625 (Beall)
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6) Establishes a system of child welfare services
administered by DSS and county child welfare
departments, including foster care, for children who
have been or are at risk of being abused or neglected.
(WIC 16500 et seq.)
7) Requires DSS to evaluate current recruitment
strategies and facilitate the expansion of recruitment
activities, especially targeting minority families for
the promotion of the placement of minority youth with
trained and culturally competent families of the same
ethnicity and cultural background. (WIC 903.8(b)(4))
8) Requires DSS to establish the California Child and
Family Service Review System (C-CFSR) to review all
county child welfare systems. Requires reviews to
cover child protective services, foster care,
adoption, family preservation, family support, and
independent living. (WIC 10601.2)
9) Requires the Health and Human Services Agency to
convene a workgroup to establish a work plan by which
child and family service reviews shall be conducted.
(WIC 10601.2(c))
10) Requires the workgroup to consider whether to
establish outcome indicators that support the federal
outcomes and any program improvement plan, and promote
good health, mental health, behavioral, educational,
and other relevant outcomes for children and families
in the state's child welfare services system. (WIC
10601.2(c)(2))
11) Requires DSS to identify and promote the
replication of best practices in child welfare service
delivery to achieve the measurable outcomes
established for the C-CFSR, and to annually provide
information to legislative budget and policy
committees, including findings and recommendations for
child welfare system improvements identified in county
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 625 (Beall)
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self-assessments and improvement plans, and on common
statutory, regulatory, or fiscal barriers identified
as inhibiting system improvement, and any
recommendations to overcome those barriers. (WIC
10601.2 (e) and (f))
12) Requires county child welfare systems that do not
meet the established compliance thresholds for the
outcome measures that are reviewed to receive
technical assistance from teams made up of state and
peer-county administrators to assist with implementing
best practices to improve their performance and make
progress toward meeting established levels of
compliance. (WIC 10601.2(h))
13) Requires DSS to periodically update the process
guides utilized to update the county self-assessments
and improvement plans to include, but not be limited
to, county evaluation of demographics for the children
and families served and effectiveness of the system
improvement activities for these populations. (WIC
10601.2(j)(1)(E)(4)(B)(i))
This bill:
1) Makes a number of findings and declarations
regarding racial and ethnic disproportionality in the
child welfare system, particularly within the Latino
community and declares that it is the intent of the
Legislature to adopt the policies outlined in the
Illinois Burgos Consent Decree from 1977 regarding
parity of services provided to Latino Families.
2) Requires C-CFSR outcome indicators to be examined
separately for each racial and ethnic population
served within the county to assist in identifying and
developing strategies to eliminate inequities in the
services provided and disparities in outcomes among
the populations served.
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 625 (Beall)
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4) Requires each county based on its review cycle to
address in detail in the county self-assessments and
improvement plans, strategies and efforts to eliminate
any disparities identified in services and outcomes
for children of color in the county's child welfare
system, as specified.
5) Requires county self-assessments and improvement
plans to address strategies for improving and
expediting permanent outcomes for children and youth
from communities of color that are overrepresented in
the county's child welfare system, as specified.
6) Requires a county to amend its most recent
improvement plan by December 31, 2014, to address the
issues identified, as specified in this section,
unless a county's review cycle pursuant to this
section has a system improvement plan due on or after
January 1, 2014, and before January 1, 2015.
7) Permits the director to take any appropriate action
authorized under this chapter, if the director
determines that a county is substantially failing to
comply with the requirements of its system improvement
plan pursuant to this subdivision.
8) Requires DSS to include best practices for
increasing cultural competency in the provision of
services and eliminating inequities in the delivery of
services that result in disparities in outcomes among
racial and ethnic populations, particularly the
Latino, Black, and Native American communities as
authorized in this chapter while identifying and
promoting the replication of best practices in child
welfare service delivery to achieve the measurable
outcomes established pursuant to this section.
9) Requires DSS to contract for research evaluating
the disproportionate representation of, and inequities
in services for, Latino children and families in the
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 625 (Beall)
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child welfare system, using existing resources or by
identifying private funding, and to issue a report to
the Legislature and to the Governor, including
findings and recommendations, by January 1, 2016 until
January 1, 2020.
10) Prohibits the department and each county welfare
department, and its vendors, from denying services to
parents or children on the basis of the client's
language, or discriminate against clients on the basis
of race, color, or national origin in providing
services to which clients are entitled.
11) Defines, the term "Hispanic" to include, but is not
limited to, persons with Puerto Rican, Mexican,
Central American, or South American origins.
12) Requires DSS, to the extent applicable, and each
county welfare department to do all of the following:
a) Advertise the availability of bilingual
services and interpreters to Spanish-speaking
families seeking services by posting a notice in
both Spanish and English in a conspicuous place
within its office and making reasonable efforts to
advertise the availability of bilingual services
and interpreters in the Spanish media.
b) Identify Hispanic clients and have them
sign a primary language determination form in
English and Spanish that indicates their language
of preference. This determination shall be
completed by a bilingual social worker.
c) At first contact, determine and document
the communication needs of each Hispanic parent
and child.
d) Provide Spanish-speaking clients with
information regarding child welfare services in
Spanish, including Spanish translation of any
literature, correspondence, form, or document
directed to them.
e) Establish a procedure to translate to
Spanish all relevant materials as soon as those
materials are developed.
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 625 (Beall)
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f) Ensure, if translation services were
required, that any document requiring the client's
signature on an English version of a form also
include a signed affidavit from the bilingual
employee who served as translator stating that he
or she provided those translation services.
g) Ensure that minors are not used as
interpreters under any circumstance.
h) Have adequate bilingual staff capacity to
assign bilingual workers to Spanish-speaking
families.
i) Have a bilingual staff person to provide
Spanish-speaking clients with assistance on
specific inquiries or complaints concerning the
provision of child welfare services.
j) Ensure that bilingual workers are not
overburdened with substantially higher caseloads
than their English-speaking counterparts.
aa) Provide Spanish-speaking families with
bilingual social workers and bilingual employees
to provide child welfare services.
bb) Provide, and ensure that its vendors
provide to Spanish-speaking families, essential
and adjunct child welfare services in Spanish,
including any service involving direct client
contact and communication.
cc) Maintain records identifying all social
workers and vendors providing child welfare
services, and whether bilingual workers and
services are available.
dd) Develop a procedure to determine the
language fluency of its vendors and foster
parents, and to ensure that it does not contract
for services with a vendor that cannot provide
services in the appropriate language.
ee) Conduct an annual civil rights compliance
review for each vendor with whom it has contracted
to provide services to Spanish-speaking clients.
ff) Maintain records identifying by national
origin and primary language all Hispanic clients
receiving child welfare services, and maintain key
information to adequately track compliance.
gg) Train, at least once each fiscal year, all
employees with direct client contact, supervisors,
and administrative staff with substantial client
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 625 (Beall)
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contact responsibilities on the requirements of
this section.
1) Requires that care for children who are in the
county welfare department's custody be linguistically
and culturally equivalent to, as nearly as possible,
the care provided by the children's parents.
2) Specifies that children of Spanish-speaking parents
shall be placed with Spanish-speaking foster parents,
and placement shall occur within 60 days from the date
the children are removed from their homes.
3) Requires each county welfare department to submit a
monthly report to the department with the following
information:
a) A list of all Spanish-speaking children
improperly placed in English-speaking homes during
the prior month,
b) A cumulative list and include a summary of
all measures the county has taken to locate child
welfare services for each child who has not been
properly placed, and
c) For each placement violation: the
identification number, date of birth, sex,
language, and race and ethnicity of the child; the
date and reason for opening the case; the name of,
and language spoken by, the social worker; the
current type and date of placement; the number of
days in substitute care and the name of the
private agency and vendor, if applicable, and the
name and race and ethnicity of, and language
spoken by, the foster parents.
FISCAL IMPACT
This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal committee.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 625 (Beall)
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Purpose of the bill:
According to the author, this bill addresses racial and
ethnic disparities in child welfare by requiring counties
to examine outcome indicators for each racial and ethnic
population, address its efforts to eliminate disparities in
services and outcomes for children of color, and provide
adequate and culturally and linguistically appropriate
services within its child welfare system.
The author states that with respect to California's largest
and fastest growing population, Latino children are
significantly overrepresented in the child welfare
population in at least two of the six largest counties and
account for the majority of California's child welfare
population. The author states that these children are
subject to disparities related to language, cultural bias,
and immigration status.
Racial Disparity within the Child Welfare System
According to the 2011 California Disproportionality Project
Report, African American and American Indian children enter
out-of-home care at a higher rate and have longer lengths
of stay, while also having lower rates of family
reunification and exit than their White counterparts.<1>
Research shows that, overall in California, Latino families
are underrepresented compared with the percent of Latinos
in the general population though in particular counties,
such as Santa Clara County, there may be disproportionate
representation of Latino families. Additionally, compared
to white families, Latino families are slightly
overrepresented.
Federal Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA)
The Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA) of 1994 is a federal
law designed to prevent discrimination in the placement of
-------------------------
<1> California Disproportionality Project Breakthrough
Series Collaborative Final Report, July 2011
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 625 (Beall)
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children on the basis of race, color or national origin; to
facilitate the diligent recruitment of foster and adoptive
parents; and to increase the number of children who are
adopted. The law was enacted to address concerns related to
the chronically low placement of children from minority
ethnic or racial groups as a result of the practice of
racial and ethnic matching policies and was intended to
increase transracial adoptions in order to reduce the
length of time that a child from a minority racial or
ethnic group remained in foster care.<2>
The Act prohibits states or agencies that receive federal
funds from: 1) discriminating on the basis of race, color
or national origin of the adoptive or foster parent or the
child involved; and 2) delaying or denying the placement of
any child solely on the basis of race, color or national
origin.
Consideration of race, color or national origin is
permissible only when an adoption or foster care agency has
made a narrowly tailored, individualized determination that
the facts and circumstances of a particular case require
the consideration of race, color, or national origin in
order to advance the best interests of the child in need of
placement. While the law does not explicitly prohibit the
use of language in this regard, interpretations of the law
provided by Administration for Children and Families call
for states to take steps to overcome language barriers and
clarifies that it is acceptable for an agency to "discuss"
the ability of the family to communicate with the child
during an adoption home study.
Under the law, states are required to engage in diligent
recruitment efforts for prospective foster/adoptive parents
who reflect the race and ethnicity of children currently in
the State foster care system for whom homes are needed and
to assure that all children needing placement are served in
a timely and adequate manner.
-------------------------
<2>
http://www.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/usccr/documents/cr182b
762010.pdf
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 625 (Beall)
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Failure to comply with MEPA is a violation of title VI of
the Civil Rights Act and is subject to substantial
financial penalties and loss of federal funds.
Burgos Consent Decree
In Illinois in 1977, the Burgos Consent Decree was entered
ending a 2 year lawsuit between Latino Families and the
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
(IDCFS). The Illinois Decree seeks to ensure that Hispanic
Families who are Spanish speaking be provided full and
adequate services by IDCFS. The decree orders IDCFS, and
its vendors to provide child welfare services in Spanish to
Hispanic clients whose primary language is Spanish,
requires children with Spanish-speaking parents to be
placed with Spanish speaking foster parents and requires
individual or general written communications to Spanish
speaking foster parents.
This bill requires California to follow the many provisions
specified in the Illinois decree and establishes in statute
many protections only for Latinos and Spanish speakers.
Latino Practices Advisory Committee
The Department of Social Services, in collaboration with UC
Berkeley, has convened the Latino Practices Advisory
Committee (LPAC) to address service needs, issues and
constraints in providing for Latino Families in
California's Child Welfare System. Among the issues being
considered by the LPAC are areas addressed in this bill,
including: (1) language and cultural capacity of staff,
vendors and foster families, (2) accurate recording of
relevant client characteristics, (3) addressing
institutional and personal bias issues, and (4) providing
pre-service training and in-service training.
The LPAC addresses many other aspects as well including:
(1) placement with undocumented caregivers, (2)
immigration-related service needs, (3) best practice models
for organizing services, (4) providing support for
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 625 (Beall)
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caregivers, and (5) the collection of general family data
for Latino families encountering the child welfare system
such as economic information, insured/uninsured status,
public assistance participation, etc.
Resource material on the LPAC website specific to enhancing
the care and well-being of Latino families encountering the
child welfare system are available. These materials include
cultural/linguistic competence, innovative practices and
policies from other states, training resources, forms,
assessment and interventions with Latinos, policy examples,
and legal issues.
California Child and Family Service Review System
AB 636 (Steinberg, 2004), pursuant to federal law,
established the Child Welfare Services Outcome and
Accountability System to California (C-CFSR), which
measures and evaluates outcomes for California's child
welfare system specifically focusing on issues of safety,
permanency, and child and family well-being. The C-CFSR
intends to establish a system of continuous quality
improvement, interagency partnerships, community
involvement, and public reporting of program outcomes. The
C-CFSR includes multiple state and county components, which
together are intended to provide a comprehensive review of
county child welfare systems.
This bill would expand the scope of the C-CFSR by requiring
outcome indicators to be examined separately for each
racial and ethnic population.
Child Welfare Services / Case Management System (CWS/CMS)
system
The CWS/CMS system is a statewide tool that supports an
effective Child Welfare System of services. The CWS/CMS
gives caseworkers information to improve case management
services and provides policy makers with information to
design and manage services.
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Pursuant to the Budget Act of 2011-2012, the state has
indefinitely suspended implementation of the Child Welfare
Services Web (CWS/Web) Project which would modernize the
states uniform case management tool CWS/CMS. Recently the
Department of Social Services completed a statutorily
mandated evaluation to determine the best approach to
upgrade the CWS/CMS system and is currently engaging
stakeholders for the purpose of recommending functionality
changes to the system.
A component of the new system is to move toward integration
of multiple data existing data sources, rather than adding
new data fields, which overburdened social workers would be
required to impute. This bill requires numerous data
elements for the county workers to generate monthly lists
and reports about Latino children for DSS.
Related Legislation
AB 1611 (Beall) 2012, substantially similar to this bill,
would have required the department to identify and promote
best practices for increasing cultural competency in the
provision of services and eliminating inequities in service
delivery to racial and ethnic communities. AB 1611 was held
in Assembly Appropriations.
Comments
1)The Illinois Burgos Decree from 1977 is not relevant to
California statute and existing child welfare policies
and practices. Staff recommends striking SEC. 3.
commencing on Page 10, lines 21- 40 and page 11, lines
1-2, inclusive.
2)This bill makes a number of findings and declarations
regarding the racial and ethnic disproportionality in the
child welfare system, however enacts numerous statutory
protections for language access only for Spanish speaking
families that engage with the child welfare system. Staff
notes that given the findings and declarations of this
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 625 (Beall)
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bill, there is a need to address the cultural and
linguistic needs of all individuals involved in the
county welfare system rather than enacting special
protections for one racial or ethnic group. Staff
recommends amending language throughout SEC. 4 of the
bill to be inclusive of all languages, as reflected in
the mock-up.
3)This bill requires placements be linguistically and
culturally equivalent to the care provided by the
children's parents. It requires children of
Spanish-speaking parents to be placed with
Spanish-speaking foster parents within 60 days of the
removal date. This language is in conflict with MEPA/IEP.
Staff recommends striking this language and amending as
follows:
(d) (1) To the extent permitted under federal law, in
establishing placements for children under the custody
of a county welfare department, a county shall
consider the ability of potential caregivers to
communicate with the child. Care for children who are
in the county welfare department's custody shall be
linguistically and culturally equivalent to, as nearly
as possible, the care provided by the children's
parents. Children of Spanish-speaking parents shall be
placed with Spanish-speaking foster parents, and
placement shall occur within 60 days from the date the
children are removed from their homes.
4)This bill uses the term "improper" and "violations" in
referring to placements of Spanish speaking children in
an English speaking home. Staff recommends amending the
bill as follows:
(2) (A) Each county welfare department shall submit a
monthly report to the department with a list of all
Spanish-speaking children improperly placed in
English-speaking homes differing from the child's
primary language during the prior month. The report
shall be cumulative and include a summary of all
measures the county has taken to locate child welfare
services for each child who has not been properly
placed placed in a home differing in language from
their own .
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(B) The report shall include the following
information for each placement of a child violation
whose primary language differs from that of the care
provider : the identification number, date of birth,
sex, language, and race and ethnicity of the child;
the date and reason for opening the case; the name of,
and language spoken by, the social worker; the current
type and date of placement; the number of days in
substitute care and the name of the private agency and
vendor, if applicable, and the name and race and
ethnicity of, and language spoken by, the foster
parents.
POSITIONS
Support: California Catholic Conference, Inc.
California League of United Latin American
Citizens (LULAC)
Child Abuse Prevention Center
Oppose: None on file
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