Amended in Senate July 6, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 7, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 260

Introduced by Assembly Member Lopez

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Cristina Garcia)

February 9, 2015

An act to amend Sections 300 and 16002.5 of, and to add Sections 361.8 and 825.5 to, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to foster care.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 260, as amended, Lopez. Foster care: parenting youth.

Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge a child to be a dependent of the court under certain circumstances, including when the child has been left without any provision for support or when a parent or guardian fails to provide the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment. Existing law provides that the Legislature declares that a child whose parent has been adjudged a dependent child of the court shall not be considered at risk of abuse or neglect solely because of the age, dependent status, or foster care status of the parent.

This bill would additionally declare that a child whose parent has been adjudged a dependent child of the court shall not be considered at risk of abuse or neglect solely on the basis of information concerning the parent’s placement history, past behaviors, health or mental health diagnoses occurring prior to the pregnancy, except as specified.

Existing law provides that reunification services need not be provided to the family of a begin delete dependant end delete begin insert dependent end insert child under certain circumstances.

This bill would enact certain exceptions to that provision that would apply in the case of a child for whom one or both minor parents have been adjudged to be dependent children of the juvenile court. The bill would also require, in those cases, a party seeking an involuntary foster care placement of, or termination of parental rights over, a child born to a parent or parents who were minors at the time of the child’s birth to demonstrate to the court that reasonable efforts were made to provide remedial services designed to prevent the removal of the child from the minor parent or parents, that these efforts have proved unsuccessful, and that those efforts utilize the available resources of the child and his or her minor parent or parents extended family, social services agencies, caregivers, and other available service providers. By imposing a higher level of service on county employees, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Existing law requires the clerk of the superior court to open a separate court file for nonminor dependents under the dependency, delinquency, or transition jurisdiction of the court and limits access to those files.

This bill would require the clerk of the superior court to maintain court files and records concerning a minor dependent parent or a nonminor dependent parent separate from court files and records concerning his or her child, as specified. The bill would authorize dependency court records concerning a minor dependent parent or a nonminor dependent parent to be disclosed to the county begin insert and the court end insert in the child’s dependency proceedings, but would begin delete prohibit those end delete begin insert require information from the end insert records begin delete from being end delete begin insert to only be end insert admitted as evidence in the child’s dependency begin delete proceedings, except end delete begin insert proceedings end insert pursuant to a certain court order.

Existing law declares the intent of the Legislature to maintain the continuity of the family unit and to support and preserve families headed by minor dependent parents and nonminor dependent parents. Existing law requires foster care placements for minor parents and their children to demonstrate a willingness and ability to provide support and assistance to minor parents and their children.

This bill would additionally require those foster care placements to support the preservation of the family unit and provide preventive services to address any concerns regarding the safety, health, or well-being of the child, and to prevent, whenever possible, the filing of a petition to declare the child a dependent of the juvenile court.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

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

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 300 of the Welfare and Institutions Code
is amended to read:

300.  

Any child who comes within any of the following
descriptions is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court which
may adjudge that person to be a dependent child of the court:

(a) The child has suffered, or there is a substantial risk that the
child will suffer, serious physical harm inflicted nonaccidentally
upon the child by the child’s parent or guardian. For the purposes
of this subdivision, a court may find there is a substantial risk of
serious future injury based on the manner in which a less serious
injury was inflicted, a history of repeated inflictions of injuries on
the child or the child’s siblings, or a combination of these and other
actions by the parent or guardian which indicate the child is at risk
of serious physical harm. For purposes of this subdivision, “serious
physical harm” does not include reasonable and age-appropriate
spanking to the buttocks where there is no evidence of serious
physical injury.

(b)  (1)  The child has suffered, or there is a substantial risk
that the child will suffer, serious physical harm or illness, as a
result of the failure or inability of his or her parent or guardian to
adequately supervise or protect the child, or the willful or negligent
failure of the child’s parent or guardian to adequately supervise
or protect the child from the conduct of the custodian with whom
the child has been left, or by the willful or negligent failure of the
parent or guardian to provide the child with adequate food,
clothing, shelter, or medical treatment, or by the inability of the
parent or guardian to provide regular care for the child due to the
parent’s or guardian’s mental illness, developmental disability, or
substance abuse. No child shall be found to be a person described
by this subdivision solely due to the lack of an emergency shelter
for the family. Whenever it is alleged that a child comes within
the jurisdiction of the court on the basis of the parent’s or
guardian’s willful failure to provide adequate medical treatment
or specific decision to provide spiritual treatment through prayer,
the court shall give deference to the parent’s or guardian’s medical
treatment, nontreatment, or spiritual treatment through prayer alone
in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church
or religious denomination, by an accredited practitioner thereof,
and shall not assume jurisdiction unless necessary to protect the
child from suffering serious physical harm or illness. In making
its determination, the court shall consider (1) the nature of the
treatment proposed by the parent or guardian, (2) the risks to the
child posed by the course of treatment or nontreatment proposed
by the parent or guardian, (3) the risk, if any, of the course of
treatment being proposed by the petitioning agency, and (4) the
likely success of the courses of treatment or nontreatment proposed
by the parent or guardian and agency. The child shall continue to
be a dependent child pursuant to this subdivision only so long as
is necessary to protect the child from risk of suffering serious
physical harm or illness.

(2) The Legislature finds and declares that a child who is
sexually trafficked, as described in Section 236.1 of the Penal
Code, or who receives food or shelter in exchange for, or who is
paid to perform, sexual acts described in Section 236.1 or 11165.1
of the Penal Code, and whose parent or guardian failed to, or was
unable to, protect the child, is within the description of this
subdivision, and that this finding is declaratory of existing law.
These children shall be known as commercially sexually exploited
children.

(c) The child is suffering serious emotional damage, or is at
substantial risk of suffering serious emotional damage, evidenced
by severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or untoward aggressive
behavior toward self or others, as a result of the conduct of the
parent or guardian or who has no parent or guardian capable of
providing appropriate care. No child shall be found to be a person
described by this subdivision if the willful failure of the parent or
guardian to provide adequate mental health treatment is based on
a sincerely held religious belief and if a less intrusive judicial
intervention is available.

(d) The child has been sexually abused, or there is a substantial
risk that the child will be sexually abused, as defined in Section
11165.1 of the Penal Code, by his or her parent or guardian or a
member of his or her household, or the parent or guardian has
failed to adequately protect the child from sexual abuse when the
parent or guardian knew or reasonably should have known that
the child was in danger of sexual abuse.

(e) The child is under the age of five years and has suffered
severe physical abuse by a parent, or by any person known by the
parent, if the parent knew or reasonably should have known that
the person was physically abusing the child. For the purposes of
this subdivision, “severe physical abuse” means any of the
following: any single act of abuse which causes physical trauma
of sufficient severity that, if left untreated, would cause permanent
physical disfigurement, permanent physical disability, or death;
any single act of sexual abuse which causes significant bleeding,
deep bruising, or significant external or internal swelling; or more
than one act of physical abuse, each of which causes bleeding,
deep bruising, significant external or internal swelling, bone
fracture, or unconsciousness; or the willful, prolonged failure to
provide adequate food. A child may not be removed from the
physical custody of his or her parent or guardian on the basis of a
finding of severe physical abuse unless the social worker has made
an allegation of severe physical abuse pursuant to Section 332.

(f) The child’s parent or guardian caused the death of another
child through abuse or neglect.

(g) The child has been left without any provision for support;
physical custody of the child has been voluntarily surrendered
pursuant to Section 1255.7 of the Health and Safety Code and the
child has not been reclaimed within the 14-day period specified
in subdivision (e) of that section; the child’s parent has been
incarcerated or institutionalized and cannot arrange for the care of
the child; or a relative or other adult custodian with whom the child
resides or has been left is unwilling or unable to provide care or
support for the child, the whereabouts of the parent are unknown,
and reasonable efforts to locate the parent have been unsuccessful.

(h) The child has been freed for adoption by one or both parents
for 12 months by either relinquishment or termination of parental
rights or an adoption petition has not been granted.

(i) The child has been subjected to an act or acts of cruelty by
the parent or guardian or a member of his or her household, or the
parent or guardian has failed to adequately protect the child from
an act or acts of cruelty when the parent or guardian knew or
reasonably should have known that the child was in danger of
being subjected to an act or acts of cruelty.

(j) The child’s sibling has been abused or neglected, as defined
in subdivision (a), (b), (d), (e), or (i), and there is a substantial risk
that the child will be abused or neglected, as defined in those
subdivisions. The court shall consider the circumstances
surrounding the abuse or neglect of the sibling, the age and gender
of each child, the nature of the abuse or neglect of the sibling, the
mental condition of the parent or guardian, and any other factors
the court considers probative in determining whether there is a
substantial risk to the child.

It is the intent of the Legislature that nothing in this section
disrupt the family unnecessarily or intrude inappropriately into
family life, prohibit the use of reasonable methods of parental
discipline, or prescribe a particular method of parenting. Further,
nothing in this section is intended to limit the offering of voluntary
services to those families in need of assistance but who do not
come within the descriptions of this section. To the extent that
savings accrue to the state from child welfare services funding
obtained as a result of the enactment of the act that enacted this
section, those savings shall be used to promote services which
support family maintenance and family reunification plans, such
as client transportation, out-of-home respite care, parenting
training, and the provision of temporary or emergency in-home
caretakers and persons teaching and demonstrating homemaking
skills. The Legislature further declares that a physical disability,
such as blindness or deafness, is no bar to the raising of happy and
well-adjusted children and that a court’s determination pursuant
to this section shall center upon whether a parent’s disability
prevents him or her from exercising care and control.

As used in this section, “guardian” means the legal guardian of
the child.

SEC. 2.  

Section 361.8 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:

361.8.  

(a) The Legislature declares that a child for whom one
or both parents have been adjudged to be dependent children of
the juvenile court pursuant to Section 300 shall not be considered
to be at risk of abuse or neglect solely because of the age,
begin delete dependant end delete begin insert dependent end insert status, or foster care status of the parents.
The Legislature further declares that the child shall not be
considered to be at risk of abuse or neglect solely on the basis of
information concerning the parent’s or parents’ placement history,
past behaviors, or health or mental health diagnoses occurring
prior to the pregnancy, although that information may be taken
into account when considering whether other factors exist that
place the child at risk of abuse or neglect.

(b) In the case of a child for whom one or both minor parents
have been adjudged to be dependent children of the juvenile court
pursuant to Section 300, all of the following shall apply:

(1) Paragraphs (10) and (11) of subdivision (b) of Section 361.5
shall not apply, unless one or more of the circumstances described
in paragraphs (1) to (9), inclusive, and paragraphs (12) to (16),
inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 361.5 apply.

(2) A party seeking an involuntary foster care placement of, or
termination of parental rights over, a child born to a parent or
parents who were minors at the time of the child’s birth shall
demonstrate to the court that reasonable efforts were made to
provide remedial services designed to prevent the removal of the
child from the minor parent or parents, and that these efforts have
proved unsuccessful.

(3) The efforts made pursuant to paragraph (2) shall utilize the
available resources of the child and his or her minor parent’s or
parents’ extended family, social services agencies, caregivers, and
other available service providers.

(c) For purposes of this section, “child” and “minor parent”
shall have the same definitions as in Section 16002.5.

SEC. 3.  

Section 825.5 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:

825.5.  

The clerk of the superior court shall maintain court files
and records concerning a minor dependent parent or a nonminor
dependent parent of a child who is the subject of a dependency
petition separate from court files and records concerning the child.
Dependency court records concerning a minor dependent parent
or a nonminor dependent parent may be disclosed to the county
begin insert and the court end insert in the child’s dependency proceedings; however, begin delete the
records shall not be admitted as evidence in the child’s dependency
proceedings, except pursuant to a court order made in the course
of the child’s proceedings that the files and records contain
information that end delete begin insert information from the records shall only be
admitted as evidence in the child’s dependency proceedings
pursuant to a court order finding that the information end insert is materially
relevant to the case, subject to the provisions of subdivision (a) of
Section 361.8.

SEC. 4.  

Section 16002.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code
is amended to read:

16002.5.  

It is the intent of the Legislature to maintain the
continuity of the family unit and to support and preserve families
headed by minor parents and nonminor dependent parents who
are themselves under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court by
ensuring that minor parents and nonminor dependent parents and
their children are placed together in as family-like a setting as
possible, unless it has been determined that placement together
poses a risk to the child. It is also the intent of the Legislature to
ensure that complete and accurate data on parenting minor and
nonminor dependents is collected, and that the State Department
of Social Services shall ensure that the following information is
publicly available on a quarterly basis by county about parenting
minor and nonminor dependents: total number of parenting minor
and nonminor dependents in each county, their age, their ethnic
group, their placement type, their time in care, the number of
children they have, and whether their children are court dependents.

(a) To the greatest extent possible, minor parents and nonminor
dependent parents and their children shall be provided with access
to existing services for which they may be eligible, that are
specifically targeted at supporting, maintaining, and developing
both the parent-child bond and the dependent parent’s ability to
provide a permanent and safe home for the child. Examples of
these services may include, but are not limited to, child care,
parenting classes, child development classes, and frequent
visitation.

(b) Child welfare agencies may provide minor parents and
nonminor dependent parents with access to social workers or
resource specialists who have received training on the needs of
teenage parents and available resources, including, but not limited
to, maternal and child health programs, child care, and child
development classes. Child welfare agencies are encouraged to
update the case plans for pregnant and parenting dependents within
60 calendar days of the date the agency is informed of a pregnancy.
When updating the case plan, child welfare agencies may hold a
specialized conference to assist pregnant or parenting foster youth
and nonminor dependents with planning for healthy parenting and
identifying appropriate resources and services, and to inform the
case plan. The specialized conference shall include the pregnant
or parenting minor or nonminor dependent, family members, and
other supportive adults, and the specially trained social worker or
resource specialist. The specialized conference may include other
individuals, including, but not limited to, a public health nurse, a
community health worker, or other personnel with a comprehensive
knowledge of available maternal and child resources, including
public benefit programs. Participation in the specialized conference
shall be voluntary on the part of the foster youth or nonminor
dependent and assistance in identifying and accessing resources
shall not be dependent on participation in the conference.

(c) The minor parents and nonminor dependent parents shall be
given the ability to attend school, complete homework, and
participate in age and developmentally appropriate activities
unrelated to and separate from parenting.

(d) Child welfare agencies, local educational agencies, and child
care resource and referral agencies may make reasonable and
coordinated efforts to ensure that minor parents and nonminor
dependent parents who have not completed high school have access
to school programs that provide onsite or coordinated child care.

(e) Foster care placements for minor parents and nonminor
dependent parents and their children shall demonstrate a
willingness and ability to provide support and assistance to minor
parents and nonminor dependent parents and their children, shall
support the preservation of the family unit, and shall provide
preventive services to address any concerns regarding the safety,
health, or well-being of the child, and to prevent, whenever
possible, the filing of a petition to declare the child a dependent
of the juvenile court pursuant to Section 300.

(f) Contact between the child, the custodial parent, and the
noncustodial parent shall be facilitated if that contact is found to
be in the best interest of the child.

(g) For the purpose of this section, “child” refers to the child
born to the minor parent.

(h) For the purpose of this section, “minor parent” refers to a
dependent child who is also a parent.

(i) For the purpose of this section, “nonminor dependent parent”
refers to a nonminor dependent, as described in subdivision (v) of
Section 11400, who also is a parent.

SEC. 5.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.