BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1099| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: SB 1099 Author: Steinberg (D), et al. Amended: 4/29/14 Vote: 21 SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 4/22/14 AYES: Jackson, Anderson, Corbett, Lara, Leno, Vidak NO VOTE RECORDED: Monning SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/23/14 AYES: De León, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg SUBJECT : Dependent children: sibling visitation SOURCE : California Youth Connection DIGEST : This bill requires social workers to include specified details related to sibling visitation in social studies or evaluations, and requires courts to make a renewed finding that sibling interaction is contrary to the safety or well-being of either child when renewing any suspension of sibling interaction. This bill also authorizes a dependent child to request visitation with a sibling who is in the physical custody of a common parent, as specified, and authorizes the court to grant such a request unless it is determined by the court that visitation is contrary to the safety and well-being of either of the siblings. ANALYSIS : Existing federal law requires states to use "reasonable efforts" to place siblings together, unless such CONTINUED SB 1099 Page 2 placement is contrary to their safety or well-being. If the siblings are not placed together, visitation between them must occur frequently, unless it is contrary to their safety or well-being. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature to ensure that siblings who are removed from the home will be placed in foster care together, unless the placement is contrary to the safety or well-being of any sibling. Existing law requires the responsible local agency to make diligent efforts to maintain sibling relationships in all out-of-home placements of dependent children, and, if siblings are not placed together in the same home, the social worker must explain why, what efforts are being made to place them together in the same home, or alternatively why those efforts are not appropriate. This bill provides that it is also the intent of the Legislature to preserve and strengthen a dependent child's sibling relationship with a nondependent sibling who remains in the custody of a mutual parent subject to the court's jurisdiction, and that the court has the authority to develop a sibling visitation plan, as specified. Existing law requires a social worker, where possible and appropriate, to place a child, who has been removed from his/her parents or guardian because of abuse or neglect, together with his/her siblings or half-siblings also being removed, or to describe continuing efforts to place them together if they are not initially placed together, or to explain why placing them together is inappropriate. Existing law requires reports submitted into evidence and prepared by social workers or child advocates for dispositional hearings to include factual discussions regarding a variety of subjects including whether child protective services have been considered, any plan for parental reunification, and the nature of sibling relationships and status of sibling visitation. This bill requires the social worker to include additional information in his/her report in situations where siblings are not placed together, including: CONTINUED SB 1099 Page 3 1. The frequency and nature of visits between siblings. 2. Whether visits are supervised, and if so, why. 3. What needs to be accomplished in order to have unsupervised visits. 4. Any plan to increase visitation between siblings. This bill requires the court, in situations where dependent siblings have not been placed in the same home, to consider the above information at periodic review hearings. Existing law requires, when the court has ordered the removal of a child from his/her parents, to consider whether there are siblings also under the court's jurisdiction, the nature of the relationships between the siblings and the appropriateness of developing or maintaining those relationships, and the impact of those relationships on placement and permanency planning. Existing law requires, when the court has ordered removal of a child from the physical custody of a parent, the court must consider whether there are any siblings under the court's jurisdiction, and the appropriateness of maintaining those sibling relationships. This bill requires the court to consider whether there are any non-dependent siblings in the custody of a parent subject to the court's jurisdiction, and the appropriateness of maintaining those sibling relationships. Existing law requires any order placing a child in foster care to provide for visitation between a child and any siblings, unless the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that sibling interaction is contrary to the safety and well-being of either child. This bill requires that in order for a suspension of sibling interaction to continue after periodic review hearings, the court must make a renewed finding that sibling interaction is contrary to the safety or well-being of either child. Existing law allows any person to petition the juvenile court to assert a sibling relationship by blood, adoption, or through affinity with a legal or biological parent with a child who is a dependent of the juvenile court, and to request visitation with that child. CONTINUED SB 1099 Page 4 This bill authorizes the court to grant a request for sibling visitation unless it is determined by the court that sibling visitation is contrary to the safety and well-being of any of the siblings. Background In October 2008, Congress passed, and President Bush signed, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (Act) to promote permanent families for children and youth in foster care by providing greater assistance to relative caregivers and improving incentives for adoption. The Act also extends assistance for foster children to age 21 and improves education and health care for children and youth in foster care. Further, the Act requires states to use "reasonable efforts" to place siblings together, unless such placement is contrary to their safety or well-being. If the siblings are not placed together, visitation between them must occur frequently, unless the visitation is contrary to their safety or well-being. Prior to passage of the Act, California was one of the first states to pass legislation promoting sibling visitation for foster children as early as 1999. (AB 740, Steinberg, Chapter 805, Statutes of 1999.) Since then California has enacted several additional statutes to expand legal protections for sibling relationships. These laws have served to promote sibling relationships when both children are in the dependency system, but recent, unpublished cases indicate that courts will not grant visitation in the rare case where one sibling is in the foster system and the other remains in the legal custody of the parent. Prior Legislation AB 743 (Portantino, Chapter 560, Statutes of 2010) made changes to the standards for sibling visitation, interaction, and placement for children in foster care to conform with the federal Fostering Connections to Success Act. AB 408 (Steinberg, Chapter 813, Statutes of 2003) made changes in dependency law to help achieve permanency for older children, including authorizing the court to make orders to ensure that CONTINUED SB 1099 Page 5 sibling relationships are maintained. AB 705 (Steinberg, Chapter 747, Statutes of 2001) ensured that sibling relationships are considered at all appropriate hearings and siblings are placed together when appropriate. AB 1987 (Steinberg, Chapter 909, Statutes of 2000) recognized the importance of sibling relationships and required the court to consider the existence, nature, and impact of a dependent child's sibling relationships on the child's placement and planning for legal permanence. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Potential state costs in the range of $325,000 to $650,000 (General Fund) annually for increased workload to social workers to document detailed information on sibling interaction efforts, assuming an additional 15 minutes to 30 minutes annually for an estimated 17,800 dependents who are not placed with siblings. Potentially significant state costs (General Fund) for local agencies to facilitate additional sibling visits between dependents and non-dependent children that the courts have not previously granted. Minor impact to court workload for the expansion of current sibling visitation provisions of law. SUPPORT : (Verified 5/19/14) California Youth Connection (source) All Saints Church Foster Care Project California Alliance of Child and Family Services California State PTA California Welfare Directory Association Children Now Crittenon Services for Families and Children CONTINUED SB 1099 Page 6 East Bay Children's Law Offices Juvenile Court Judges of California Legal Advocates for Children and Youth National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author: Current law is unclear as to whether or not the courts have authority to determine and compel a visitation schedule between a dependent and non-dependent child in foster care. In addition to this, the details for which a court uses to determine sibling visitation schedules between siblings is unclear and insufficient, which creates statewide inconsistency. Lastly, current law does not explicitly require the court to revisit a visitation schedule after an initial decision was made even though circumstances may have changed. This bill would provide clarity in court reports and further provide some detail for legal findings related to sibling visitation schedules. Furthermore it would also explicitly allow courts to make findings related to the visitation schedule between a dependent and non-dependent child in foster care. AL:d 5/23/14 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED