BILL ANALYSIS Ó Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary Senator Kevin de León, Chair SB 1460 (Committee on Human Services) - Child welfare. Amended: As Introduced Policy Vote: Human Services 4-0 Urgency: No Mandate: Yes Hearing Date: May 5, 2014 Consultant: Jolie Onodera This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: SB 1460 would amend state law to address specified federal law and regulatory provisions of the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act, use of the Federal Parent Locator Service, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, and the Adam Walsh Act. Fiscal Impact: Potentially significant ongoing costs (Local*/General Fund) for increased duties involving county agency recruitment efforts and probation officer efforts to document sibling placement and provide attorney notifications. To the extent the provisions of this bill are considered necessary for state compliance with changes in federal statutes or regulations that alter the conditions under which federal matching funds are described in the 2011 Realignment, the state may be required to provide at least 50 percent of the nonfederal share (General Fund) of the increase in costs. Potentially significant ongoing increase in workload to the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) to accept and process requests from probation and county welfare departments for personal information on relatives, as specified. To the extent the additional workload cannot be absorbed, additional resources (General Fund) would be required. Staff notes that providing local agencies with the specified information is not required under federal law, but rather federal law provides that state child support agencies may share information with child welfare agencies for child welfare purposes. *Local Revenue Fund 2011 Background: The Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA) of 1994 (Public Law 103-382), as amended by the interethnic adoption provisions SB 1460 (Committee on Human Services) Page 1 in 1996, sought to decrease the length of time that children wait for foster or adoptive placement by eliminating race-related barriers to placement in permanent homes and compelling child welfare agencies to adhere to existing civil rights principles banning racial discrimination when making foster care or adoption placement decisions. Federal law establishes the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS), a national automated service provided by the Office of Child Support Enforcement to help states locate custodial and non-custodial parents for child support and to establish, modify, and enforce child support obligations. Federal law also permits the service to be utilized for the purpose of finding non-custodial parents and relatives of children who are in juvenile dependency proceedings. State law establishes the California Parent Locator Service and Central Registry (CPLS) to collect and disseminate specified information for the purpose of administering child and spousal support enforcement. The federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-351), among other things, requires that states make diligent efforts to place siblings in out-of-home care together unless doing so would be detrimental to the health and safety of one of the siblings. State law requires an agency to explain why siblings are not placed together what efforts the he or she is making to place the siblings together or why making those efforts would be contrary to the well being of any of the siblings. State law additionally provides that a dependent child's attorney and attorney for the siblings be notified by the placement agency if there is a need for a change in placement that will result in the separation of siblings currently placed together. Federal law establishes the Adam Walsh Act (P.L. 109-248) requiring a fingerprint check of a national criminal records database as well as a check from the state child abuse and neglect registries before a prospective foster or adoptive parent may be approved for placement of a child. Existing state law establishes the Resource Family Approval (RFA) process to replace the multiple processes that currently exist for licensing foster family homes (FFHs), approving relatives and nonrelative extended family members (NREFMs) as foster care providers and approving adoptive families. SB 1460 (Committee on Human Services) Page 2 This bill seeks to make changes to state law, some changes of which address compliance with specified federal provisions of law, to ensure California's continued receipt of federal Title IV-E funding. Proposed Law: This bill amends various provisions of state law to address federal law and regulatory provisions of the MEPA, FPLS, Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, and the Adam Walsh Act, as follows: Provides that the agency responsible for recruitment of potential adoptive parents shall make diligent efforts to recruit individuals who reflect the ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity of children for whom adoptive homes are needed. Provides that for counties that have opted to undertake comprehensive recruitment programs, the recruitment of potential foster parents shall include diligent efforts to recruit individuals who reflect the ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity of foster children. Authorizes county welfare departments and probation departments to request and receive from the Department of Child Support Services, a relative's personal information, including name, social security number, address, telephone number, and place of employment, to identify, locate and notify relatives of children who are the subject of juvenile court proceedings, including all grandparents, adult siblings, and other adult relatives of the child. Requires a probation officer to explain why siblings are not placed together and what efforts he or she is making to place the siblings together or why making those efforts would be contrary to the safety and well-being of any of the siblings. Requires a ward's attorney and the attorney for the siblings of the ward be notified by the placement agency if there is a need for a change in placement that will result in the separation of siblings currently placed together. Requires a federal criminal offender record check be received, instead of merely submitted, for all adults residing in a resource family home as a condition of approval. Staff Comments: SB 1460 (Committee on Human Services) Page 3 MEPA compliance In compliance with federal law, this bill mandates that the agency responsible for recruitment of potential adoptive parents to make diligent efforts to recruit individuals who reflect the ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity of children for whom adoptive homes are needed. It is unknown to what extent agencies are already complying with the provisions of this measure, but to the extent this mandate results in increased costs to local and state agencies, would result in new local and state costs. This bill also provides that the recruitment of potential foster parents shall include diligent efforts to recruit individuals who reflect the ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity of foster children. However, existing law authorizes, but does not mandate, county welfare departments to undertake recruitment programs. As a result, it is not clear that this amendment to current law would comply with federal provisions of law, as it appears that only those county welfare departments choosing to operate recruitment programs would need to comply with MEPA requirements. Use of FPLS/CPLS This bill authorizes county welfare departments and probation departments to request and receive from the DCSS a relative's personal information, including name, social security number, address, telephone number, and place of employment, to identify, locate and notify relatives of children who are the subject of juvenile court proceedings, including all grandparents, adult siblings, and other adult relatives of the child. While the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement of the Administration for Children and Families has authorized state child support agencies to share federal and state parent locator and other case information with child welfare agencies, it is not mandated. The DCSS has indicated the volume of increased workload to accept and process an expected increase in information requests as a result of this measure is unknown at this time. To the extent the workload is significant, an additional workload analysis will be required to determine and justify resources. To the extent access to this information facilitates the notification of relatives of children who are subject to juvenile court proceedings could result in efficiencies to the SB 1460 (Committee on Human Services) Page 4 courts and local agencies. Adam Walsh Act compliance Requiring that a federal criminal offender record check be received, instead of merely submitted, for all adults residing in a resource family home as a condition of approval would ensure compliance with federal law requiring that prospective foster and adoptive parents be subject to and pass a fingerprint check, and is not estimated to result in a significant fiscal impact. P.L. 110-351 compliance This bill will increase the duties of probation officers by mandating documentation of efforts to place siblings together and requiring notification of attorneys, as specified. Assuming two hours of probation officer time over one year at $72.60 per hour for every 1,000 probation supervised cases would equate to approximately $145,000 annually. Prior to Fiscal Year (FY) 2011-12, the state and counties contributed to the non-federal share of child welfare services expenditures. AB 118 (Committee on Budget) Chapter 40/2011 and ABX1 16 Chapter 13/2011 realigned state funding to the counties through the 2011 Local Revenue Fund (LRF) for various programs, including child welfare services. As a result, beginning in FY 2011-12 and for each fiscal year thereafter, non-federal funding and expenditures for child welfare services activities are funded through the Local Revenue Fund. Proposition 30 was passed by the voters in November 2012, and among other provisions, 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 create a mandate on local agencies, any increased costs would not appear to be subject to reimbursement by the state. Subsequent changes in federal statutes or regulations that alter the conditions under which federal matching funds as described in the 2011 Realignment Legislation are obtained and have the overall effect of increasing the costs incurred by a local agency, are potentially subject to a state share of at least 50 percent of the nonfederal share of those increased costs. SB 1460 (Committee on Human Services) Page 5 To the extent the provisions of this measure adequately satisfy required provisions of federal law would serve to avert the potential imposition of penalties or sanctions from federal agencies related to the conditional receipt of federal funds. Recommended amendments: It is unclear whether the amendments to Health and Safety Code § 1515 related to the recruitment of potential foster parents would satisfy the requirements of federal law. Existing law provides that counties are authorized to undertake recruitment programs, but are not required to do so. Further, in counties that have contracted with the state to license foster parents, if the county undertakes a recruitment program, it shall be done by the placement agency, and specifies that the state shall not be required to perform any acts in connection with a recruitment program. The author may wish to consider an amendment to clearly indicate that recruitment efforts, as specified, are required statewide, regardless of the licensing agency (state or county).