BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          (  Without Reference to File  )
           
          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 855 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee)
          As Amended  June 13, 2014
          Majority vote.  Budget Bill Appropriation Takes Effect  
          Immediately
           
           SENATE VOTE  :Vote not relevant  
           
           SUMMARY  :  This is the Human Services Omnibus Trailer Bill for  
          the 2014-15 Budget.  This bill contains necessary changes  
          related to the Budget Act of 2014.  This bill makes various  
          statutory changes to implement the 2014-15 budget.   
          Specifically,  this bill  :

          1)Requires each person employed as a facility manager or staff  
            member of a group home on or after October 1, 2014, to be at  
            least 21 years of age, except as specified.  

          2)Adjusts the tribal share of costs, commencing July 1, 2014,  
            for a tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization, for  
            the care and custody of Indian children and jurisdiction over  
            Indian child custody proceedings.  These entities enter into  
            agreements with the California Department of Social Services  
            (DSS) and are required to provide matching funds.  

          3)Requires the report that DSS is required to submit annually on  
            outcome and expenditure data that allows for monitoring the  
            changes of the 2011 realignment of child welfare services,  
            foster care, adoptions, and adult protective services programs  
            to contain specified information, including the child welfare  
            services social worker caseloads per county. 

          4)Establishes the Commercially Sexually Exploited Children  
            Program to be administered by DSS in order to adequately serve  
            children who have been sexually exploited, and would require  
            the department, in consultation with the County Welfare  
            Directors Association of California, to develop an allocation  
            methodology to distribute funding for the program.  The budget  
            appropriates $5 million General Fund for 2014-15 with an  
            effective date of January 1, 2015.  The program will be funded  
            at $14 million General Fund in 2015-16 and on-going.  The bill  
            does the following in establishing the program: 








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             a)   Authorizes the use of these funds by counties electing  
               to participate in the program for certain prevention and  
               intervention activities and services to children who are  
               victims, or at risk of becoming victims, of commercial  
               sexual exploitation.  

             b)   Requires DSS to contract to provide training for county  
               children's services workers to identify, intervene, and  
               provide case management services to children who are  
               victims of commercial sexual exploitation, and the training  
               of foster caregivers for the prevention and identification  
               of potential victims.  

             c)   Requires DSS, no later than April 1, 2017, to provide to  
               the Legislature information regarding the implementation of  
               the program. 

             d)   Requires each county electing to receive funds to  
               develop an interagency protocol to be utilized in serving  
               sexually exploited children who have been adjudged to be a  
               dependent child of the juvenile court. 
             e)   Requires the county interagency protocol to be developed  
               by a team led by a representative of the county human  
               services department and to include representatives from  
               specified county agencies and the juvenile court. 

          1)Establishes the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Option  
            Program and would require counties who opt to participate in  
            the program to, effective January 1, 2015, pay an approved  
            relative caregiver a per child per month rate in return for  
            the care and supervision of an Aid to Families with Dependent  
            Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) ineligible child placed with  
            the relative caregiver that is equal to the basic rate paid to  
            foster care providers for an AFDC-FC child if the county has  
            notified the department of its decision to participate in the  
            program and the related child placed in the home meets certain  
            requirements, including that the child resides in the state.   
            The budget appropriates $15 million General Fund for 2014-15  
            with an effective date of January 1, 2015, and is fully funded  
            on-going.  The bill does the following in establishing the  
            program: 

             a)   Requires a participating county to affirmatively  








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               indicate that the county understands and agrees to  
               specified conditions, including that the county will be  
               responsible to pay any additional costs needed to make all  
               payments to the relative caregivers if state and federal  
               funds are insufficient.  

             b)   If a participating county decides to opt-out of the  
               program, it requires the county to provide at least 120  
               days' prior written notice of that decision to the  
               department and to provide at least 90 days' prior written  
               notice to the approved relative caregiver or caregivers  
               informing them that his or her per child per month payment  
               will be reduced, and the date that the reduction will  
               occur. 

             c)   Specifies the funding for the program, including the use  
               of state General Fund resources that do not count towards  
               the state's maintenance of effort requirements for the  
               federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block  
               grant. 

             d)   Appropriates the sum of $30 million from the General  
               Fund for the 2015 calendar year and for each calendar year  
               thereafter, with adjustments, for these purposes. 

             e)   If this appropriation is insufficient to fully fund the  
               base caseload of approved relative caregivers, provides for  
               the appropriation of additional funds necessary to fully  
               fund that base caseload, and would require the calendar  
               year appropriation amount beginning with the 2016 calendar  
               year to be increased by the same amount of additional funds  
               and along with the total calendar year appropriation be  
               adjusted by the California Necessities Index for each year.  


          2)Increases maximum aid grant amounts by 5% as of April 1, 2015  
            in the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids  
            (CalWORKs) program, reliant on the Child Poverty and Family  
            Supplemental Support Subaccount of the Local Revenue Fund and  
            the mechanism in existing law as the main funding source.  

          3)Clarifies countable welfare-to-work participation hours to  
            conform to certain federal requirements.  









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          4)Delays the implementation date for the voluntary Temporary  
            Assistance Program until October 1, 2016, maintaining this  
            program as an option to provide cash assistance and other  
            benefits to specified current and future CalWORKs recipients  
            who meet the exemption criteria for participation in  
            welfare-to-work activities and are not single parents who have  
            a child under one year of age. 

          5)Authorizes funds allocated for CalWORKs Family Stabilization  
            services to be used to provide housing and other needed  
            services to a family during any month that a family is  
            participating in this program component.  Also states the  
            intent of the Legislature that family stabilization is a  
            voluntary component intended to provide needed services and  
            constructive interventions for parents and to assist in  
            barrier removal for families facing very difficult needs and  
            that participation families should not be sanctioned as part  
            of their participation.  

          6)Provides a child support pass-through payment for an  
            assistance unit that excludes any adults pursuant to specified  
            provisions of law, including a provision that makes an  
            individual ineligible for CalWORKs aid if the individual has  
            been convicted in state or federal court after December 31,  
            1997.  

          7)Creates a CalWORKs Housing Support Program, with DSS, in  
            consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association of  
            California and other stakeholders, to, among other things,  
            develop criteria by which counties may opt to participate in  
            providing housing supports to eligible recipients of CalWORKs  
            benefits.  Twenty million dollar General Fund is appropriated  
            in the Budget Act on an on-going basis for this purpose.   
            Specifies that families receiving CalWORKs benefits for which  
            homelessness or housing instability is a barrier to  
            self-sufficiency or child well-being are eligible for  
            specified housing supports, including financial assistance and  
            housing stabilization and relocation, in counties that opt to  
            participate in providing these supports and to the extent that  
            funding for this purpose is provided in the annual Budget Act.  


          8)Repeals provisions associated with the Low-Income Home Energy  
            Assistance Program service benefit and instead, effective July  








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            1, 2014, creates the State Utility Assistance Subsidy (SUAS),  
            a state-funded energy assistance program.  Requires the  
            Department of Community Services and Development (CSD) to  
            delegate authority over the program to DSS.  The bill would  
            require DSS, in designing, implementing, and maintaining the  
            SUAS program, to provide households that do not currently  
            qualify for, nor receive, a standard utility allowance with a  
            SUAS benefit if the household would become eligible for  
            CalFresh benefits or would receive increased benefits if the  
            standard utility allowance was provided.  Funding of $9.3  
            million General Fund is appropriated in the budget for this  
            purpose.  

          9)Provides for the modification of a program of categorical  
            eligibility for CalFresh in accordance with federal law for  
            needy households who meet all other federal Supplemental  
            Nutrition Assistance Program eligibility requirements.  States  
            that categorical eligibility for CalFresh shall also apply to  
            any individual who is a member of a household that will be  
            receiving or is eligible to receive cash or food assistance,  
            as specified.  

          10)Extends counties' eligibility as it exists in the 2013-14  
            fiscal year to receive the full allocation for CalFresh  
            administration with a waiver for the county match to the  
            2014-15 fiscal year.  Reduces the amount of the waiver  
            throughout subsequent fiscal years and would eliminate the  
            waiver by the 2018-19 fiscal year. 
          11)Requires a foster family agency to conduct an announced  
            inspection of a certified family home during the annual  
            recertification and an unannounced inspection when certain  
            circumstances are present, including when a certified family  
            home is on probation.  

          12)Authorizes a foster family agency to inspect a certified  
            family home more frequently than annually in order to ensure  
            the quality of care provided.  Additionally clarifies that  
            certain provisions relating to regulation and licensing of  
            community care facilities generally are applicable to  
            certified family homes approved by a foster family agency.

          13)Requires that inspections of a residential care facility for  
            persons with chronic, life-threatening illness be conducted at  
            least annually and that inspections and annual evaluations of  








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            these same facilities be conducted unannounced. 

          14)Provides that the prelicensure inspection or survey is  
            optional at the discretion of DSS if the department determines  
            that an application is for licensure of a currently licensed  
            facility for which there will be no material change to the  
            management or operations of the facility.

          15)Requires, if the DSS Director determines at any time during  
            or following a temporary suspension or revocation of a license  
            that there is a risk to the residents or clients of the  
            facility from physical or mental abuse, abandonment, or any  
            other substantial threat to health or safety, DSS to take any  
            necessary action to minimize trauma for the residents,  
            including, but not limited to, arranging for the preparation  
            of the residents' records and medications for transfer and  
            checking in on the status of each transferred resident within  
            24 hours of transfer.  

          16)Requires the department to contact the Office of the State  
            Long-Term Care Ombudsman after a decision is made to  
            temporarily suspend or upon a final order revoke a license  
            that is likely to result in closure of the facility.  

          17)Requires, upon an order to temporarily suspend a license, a  
            licensee to immediately provide a written notice of license  
            suspension to the resident and initiate contact with the  
            resident's responsible person, as specified, and would entitle  
            a resident who transfers due to the receipt of a notice of a  
            temporary suspension or revocation of license to be entitled  
            to a refund of preadmission fees. 

          18)Prohibits a licensee, upon receipt of an order to temporarily  
            suspend or revoke a license, from accepting new residents or  
            entering into admission agreements for new residents.  

          19)Makes a licensee who fails to comply with the requirements of  
            these provisions liable for civil penalties in the amount of  
            $500 per violation per day for each day that the licensee is  
            in violation of these provisions until the violation has been  
            corrected.  

          20)Authorizes DSS to appoint a temporary manager to assume the  
            operation of a residential care facility for the elderly for  








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            60 days, subject to extension by the department, when  
            specified circumstances exist, including when the director  
            determines that it is necessary to temporarily suspend the  
            license of the facility and immediate relocation of the  
            residents of the facility is not feasible, or when the  
            licensee has opted to secure a temporary manager in response  
            to a final order to revoke a license.  Sets forth the duties  
            of the temporary manager, would limit the expenditures and  
            encumbrances by the temporary manager unless approved by the  
            department, and would require that the costs of the temporary  
            manager be paid directly by the facility while the temporary  
            manager is assigned.  To the extent department funds are used  
            for the costs of the temporary manager or related expenses,  
            requires DSS to be reimbursed from the revenues accruing to  
            the facility or to the licensee, and to the extent those  
            revenues are insufficient, requires that the unreimbursed  
            amount constitute a lien upon the asset of the facility or the  
            proceeds from the sale of the facility, as specified.  

          21)Authorize DSS to apply for a court order appointing a  
            receiver to temporarily operate a community care facility or a  
            residential care facility for the elderly for no more than  
            three months, subject to extension by the department, when  
            circumstances exist indicating that continued management of  
            the facility by the licensee would present a substantial  
            probability of imminent danger or serious physical harm or  
            death to the clients or residents or the facility is closing  
            and adequate arrangements for the relocation of clients or  
            residents have not been made. 

          22)Specifies the duties of a receiver appointed pursuant to  
            these provisions and would require that the salary of the  
            receiver be set by the court and be paid from the revenue  
            coming to the facility.  In the event the revenue is  
            insufficient, would require that the salary be paid from the  
            emergency client contingency fund.  

          23)Requires that state funds advanced to pay for that salary or  
            other related expenses be reimbursed from the revenues  
            accruing to the facility.  If those revenues are insufficient,  
            would require that the unreimbursed amount constitute a lien  
            on the assets of the facility.

          24)Increases the licensure and renewal fees for community care  








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            facilities, residential care facilities for persons with  
            chronic, life-threatening illness, residential care facilities  
            for the elderly, and child day care facilities by 10%, and  
            would require the department to adjust the fees assessed  
            against licensees as necessary to ensure they do not exceed  
            specified costs.  

          25)Authorizes the creation of an emergency client contingency  
            account and an emergency resident contingency account within  
            the Technical Assistance Fund to be used, at the discretion of  
            the DSS Director, for the care and relocation of clients and  
            residents when a facility's license is revoked or temporarily  
            suspended.  Requires DSS to seek the input of stakeholders and  
            local agencies in developing policies for emergency client or  
            resident care and supervision.  Also authorizes the civil  
            penalties deposited in the Technical Assistance Fund to be  
            used for the technical assistance, training, and education of  
            licensees.
            
          26)States that it is the intent of the Legislature that  
            increased staffing and funding resources for DSS' Community  
            Care Licensing Division appropriated in the Budget Act of 2014  
            be used to enhance the division's structure and improve  
            operations, as specified.  Also provides that it is the intent  
            of the Legislature to, over a period of time, increase the  
            frequency of facility inspections resulting in annual  
            inspections for some or all facility types.  Requires DSS to  
            update the Legislature on the status of the structural and  
            quality enhancement improvements during the 2015-16  
            legislative budget subcommittee hearings.

          27)States that it is the intent of the Legislature to  
            comprehensively increase the penalties for facilities licensed  
            by DSS in subsequent legislation, with particular emphasis on  
            penalties for violations that result in serious injury or  
            death.

          28)Revises and recasts various provisions of the Home Care  
            Services and Consumer Protection Act and delays the  
            implementation date of the act to January 1, 2016.  

          29)Deletes provisions of the act that exempt specified  
            individuals from the registration requirements for home care  
            aides and expands the list of individuals and entities that  








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            are not considered home care aides or home care organizations,  
            respectively, for purposes of the act. 

          30)Requires that each home care organization be separately  
            licensed, as specified.  Additionally requires the chief  
            executive officer or other person serving in a similar  
            capacity in a home care organization, as specified, to consent  
            to a background examination.  

          31)Prohibits DSS from issuing a provisional license or license  
            to any corporate home care organization applicant that has a  
            member of the board of directors, executive director, or  
            officer who is not eligible for licensure, as specified. 

          32)Revises the licensure requirements of a home care  
            organization to additionally require certain disclosures and  
            proof of an employee dishonesty bond.  

          33)Revises the license renewal requirements for home care  
            organizations to include, among other things, specified  
            insurance and workers' compensation policies and being current  
            on all fees and civil penalties due to the department.  

          34)Provides certain review procedures for applications for  
            licensure received by the department and requires DSS to cease  
            any further review of an application for a specified period of  
            time if it is determined that the home care organization  
            applicant was previously issued a license pursuant to the act  
            or other specified provisions of law and that license was  
            revoked.  Applies similar requirements to a home care  
            organization applicant that had previously applied for a  
            certificate of approval with a foster family agency and was  
            denied. 

          35)Authorizes DSS to exclude a person from acting as, and  
            require the home care organization to remove that person from,  
            his or her position as a member of the board of directors, an  
            executive director, or an officer of a licensee if the  
            department determines that the person was previously issued a  
            license pursuant to the act or other specified provisions of  
            law and that license was revoked or if the person was  
            previously issued a certificate of approval by a foster family  
            agency that was subsequently revoked. 









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          36)Requires home care organization licensees to report any  
            suspected or known dependent adult, elder, or child abuse to  
            the department.  Require DSS, upon receipt of these reports,  
            to cross-report the suspected or known abuse to local law  
            enforcement and Adult Protective Services or Child Protected  
            Services. 

          37)Authorizes home care organization applicants and home care  
            aide applicants who submit applications prior to January 1,  
            2016, to provide home care services without meeting existing  
            tuberculosis requirements, provided those requirements are met  
            by July 1, 2016. 

          38)Requires all fines and penalties collected for violations be  
            deposited into the Home Care Technical Assistance Fund, which  
            would be created by the bill.  Requires that the moneys in the  
            fund be made available to the department upon appropriation by  
            the Legislature for specified purposes. 
          39)Requires that in the event that the federal government delays  
            overtime requirements for a portion of providers, the state  
            shall still implement the overtime requirements and the weekly  
            caps for all providers for whom federal financial  
            participation is available for overtime.

          40)Requires that in-home supportive services and waiver personal  
                                                                                  care services be performed by providers within a workweek that  
            does not exceed 66 hours per week, as reduced by the net  
            percentage of hour reductions as set in current law.  Requires  
            a recipient to employ an additional provider or providers, as  
            needed, to ensure that his or her authorized services are  
            provided and requires the Department of Health Care Services  
            (DHCS) to work with recipients of waiver personal care  
            services to engage additional providers, as necessary. 

          41)Requires that the assessment of monthly need for hours in  
            IHSS be divided by 4.33 to establish a recipient's weekly  
            authorized number of hours of services.  Requires that IHSS  
            recipients be informed timely of their weekly authorized  
            hours.  Permits county welfare department to adjust the  
            authorized weekly hours for any particular week for known  
            recurring or periodic needs of the recipient.  

          42)Authorizes a recipient of In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)  
            to authorize a provider to work hours in excess of the  








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            recipient's weekly authorized hours without notification of  
            the county welfare department if the authorization does not  
            result in more than 40 hours of authorized services per week  
            being provided and the authorization does not exceed the  
            recipients authorized hours of monthly services.  Limits  
            provider travel time to 7 hours maximum per week and defines  
            "travel time" for purposes of these provisions.  

          43)Authorizes, for three months following the effective date of  
            these provisions, which is January 1, 2015 pursuant to the  
            expected effective date in whole or in part of federal law and  
            regulation, that timesheets submitted by providers be paid in  
            excess of the limitations, as long as the number of hours  
            worked by the provider within a given month do not exceed the  
            authorized hours of the recipient or recipients served by the  
            provider.  

          44)Requires that in the event that the federal government delays  
            overtime requirements for a portion of providers, the state  
            shall still implement the overtime requirements and the weekly  
            caps for all providers for whom federal financial  
            participation is available for overtime.

          45)Requires DSS to conduct a study and provide a report be  
            submitted to the Legislature, with information shared on a  
            periodic basis with stakeholders.  

          46)Authorizes DSS to implement specified provisions of this  
            trailer bill through all-county letters or similar  
            instructions and require DSS to adopt emergency regulations  
            implementing these provisions no later than January 1, 2016.  

          47)Declares that this bill is to take effect immediately as a  
            bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.

           COMMENT  :  This bill is a budget trailer bill within the overall  
          2014-15 budget package to implement actions taken affecting DSS,  
          Child Support Services, Health Care Services, and Community  
          Services and Development.  

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Nicole Vazquez / BUDGET / (916)  
          319-2099                                     FN: 0003971










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