BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 260|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 260
Author: Lopez (D), et al.
Amended: 8/17/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE: 5-0, 6/23/15
AYES: McGuire, Berryhill, Hancock, Liu, Nguyen
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/30/15
AYES: Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning,
Wieckowski
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/27/15
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 6/2/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Foster care: parenting youth
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill establishes a declaration of the legislature
that a 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, as specified, and prohibits that history from being
used in deciding a child's placement, unless the court deems it
materially relevant.
ANALYSIS:
Existing Law:
1)Provides that a child shall be within the jurisdiction of the
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juvenile court when the child has suffered, or is of
substantial risk of suffering, serious physical harm or
illness, as specified. (WIC 300 (b))
2)Provides that, at the initial petition hearing, the court
shall make a determination based upon the social worker's
report or other evidence, as to whether reasonable efforts
were made to prevent the removal of the child and whether
there are available services that would prevent the need for
further detention.
3)Declares legislative intent that a child whose parent has been
adjudged a dependent child of the court pursuant to this
section shall not be considered to be at risk of abuse or
neglect solely because of the age, dependent status, or foster
care status of the parent. (WIC 300)
4)Establishes legislative intent to support the preservation of
families headed by minor parents and nonminor dependent
parents and provides that 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 the minor parents and nonminor dependent
parents and their children. (WIC 16002.5)
5)Provides that, in all cases in which a minor is adjudged a
dependent child of the court as specified, the court may limit
parental control over an adjudged dependent child and requires
the court to clearly and specifically set forth those
limitations. Provides that such limitations may not exceed
those necessary to protect the child. Additionally provides
that a child shall not be taken from the physical custody of
the parent or guardian unless the court finds clear and
convincing evidence of a substantial danger to the child, and
there are no reasonable means to protect the child. (WIC 361)
6)Except as specified, requires the juvenile court to order the
county to provide child welfare family reunification services
to the minor and the minor's parents or guardians, and permits
the court to order the parent or guardian to participate in
counseling or other treatment services. (WIC 361.5)
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7)Provides that family reunification services are not required
to be provided if the court makes, upon clear and convincing
evidence, one of 16 specified findings, including:
a) That the court-ordered termination of reunification
services for any siblings or half siblings who had been
removed because the parent or guardian failed to reunify
and that parent or guardian has not subsequently made a
reasonable effort to treat the problems that led to removal
of the sibling or half sibling. (WIC 361.5 (b) (10))
b) That parental rights of a parent over any sibling or
half sibling had been permanently severed and that parent
has not subsequently made a reasonable effort to treat the
problems that led to removal of the sibling or half
sibling. (WIC 361.5 (b) (11))
This bill:
1)Establishes a declaration of the legislature that a child
shall not be considered at risk of abuse or neglect solely on
the basis of a parent's placement history, past behaviors, or
health or mental health diagnoses occurring prior to the
pregnancy. Provides that such information may be taken into
account when other factors exist that place the child at risk
of abuse or neglect.
2)Provides that the findings by which a court may decline to
order family reunification services to a minor dependent
parent shall not include WIC 361.5 (b) (10) and (11),
described above, unless one or more of the other 14 findings
also apply.
3)Requires a party seeking foster care placement of or
termination of parental rights over a child whose parent was a
minor when the child was born, to demonstrate that reasonable
efforts, using specified available resources, were made to
provide remedial services designed to prevent the removal of
the child and that these efforts were unsuccessful.
4)Requires the clerk of the superior court to maintain court
files and records concerning a dependent parent of a child who
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is the subject of a dependency petition separately from the
files and records regarding that child.
5)Permits a dependent parent's dependency court records to be
disclosed to the county in the child's dependency proceedings,
but disallows these records from being admitted as evidence
unless required by a court order stating that these files and
records contain information materially relevant to the case,
as specified.
6)Requires foster care placements for minor parents and nonminor
dependent parents and their children to support the
preservation of the family unit and provide services, as
specified, to prevent, whenever possible, the filing of a
petition to declare the child a dependent of the juvenile
court.
Background
According to the author, "it is vital that we initiate a culture
shift around the way we think about parenting foster youth.
Instead of making it more difficult for these youth or
overlooking their unique needs as parents living within the
dependency system, we should be supporting them in their goals
to create a healthy family in the same way we support their
goals for higher education, career/professional, or any other
permanency outcomes our system seeks to achieve for them. By
working to break the cycle of foster care, we can ensure our
foster youth can succeed while also preserving the lives of
children in their family unit rather than settling for
additional, unnecessary entrances into the system for those
children."
California Child Welfare System: The California Department of
Social Services (CDSS) oversees a 58 county-administered Child
Welfare Services (CWS) system which responded to nearly 500,000
allegations reports of abuse, neglect or exploitation in 2014,
resulting in nearly 80,000 substantiations and 31,600 entries
into foster care. Overall, as of January 2015, there were nearly
63,000 children in foster care placement, with nearly one in
three residing in Los Angeles County.
It is currently unknown how many current and former foster youth
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are pregnant or parenting. When youth transition out of care,
counties report specified exit outcomes data to CDSS, including
the number of youth who are custodial parents. This data does
not include the number of youth who may not have custody of
their children. However, a recent research performed by the
University of Southern California, in collaboration with the
California Child Welfare Indicators Project at the University of
California at Berkeley and CDSS linked state child welfare
services data with birth records. The research found that:
1)Although only about 4 percent of teens in foster care give
birth in any given year, more than 25 percent of girls who
were in foster care at age 17 had given birth at least once
before age 20.
2)Among girls in foster care who first gave birth before age 18,
more than one in three had a second teen birth.
3)By age 5, children born to teen mothers who were victims of
maltreatment were abused and neglected at twice the rate of
other children.
Juvenile Dependency Process: The juvenile dependency process is
designed to provide maximum safety and protection for children
who currently are, or are at risk of being physically, sexually,
or emotionally abused, being neglected, or being exploited,
while at the same time maintaining a focus on the preservation
of the family. (WIC 300.2)
The court has broad authority to direct orders to the parent,
parents, or guardian of a minor who is subject to a dependency
proceeding as the court deems necessary and proper for the best
interests of the minor. These orders may concern the care,
supervision, custody, conduct, maintenance, and support of the
minor, including education and medical treatment."
Existing law permits a social worker to take a minor into
"temporary custody" if it is suspected that a child is being, or
is at risk of being abused or neglected. In such cases the abuse
has not yet been validated, the child has not yet been adjudged
to be a dependent of the court, and parental rights have not
been formally limited. The authority for the juvenile dependency
system to limit parental authority over children is subject to a
series of rigorous and lengthy hearings and extensive court
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oversight designed to ensure that parental rights are only
limited to the extent necessary to protect the child. In
addition, the court may order a child to be a dependent of the
court but order the county welfare department to supervise while
the child remains at home. (WIC 300 et seq.)
Under current law, there is no prohibition against submitting as
evidence, information contained in a parent's own dependency
case file, including information about the parent which may have
occurred prior to pregnancy and birth of the child.
Family Reunification and Maintenance Services: At the initial
detention hearing and at subsequent hearings, the court is
required to consider whether reasonable efforts have been made
to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the child.
Except in specified circumstances, whenever a child is removed
from a parent's or guardian's custody, the juvenile court is
required to order the social worker to provide child welfare
family reunification or family maintenance services. (WIC 361.5,
11254 and 16507)) These encompass a broad range of services,
varying widely between counties, including case management,
parenting classes, counseling, mental health and substance abuse
treatment, transportation, home visiting and in-home caretaking,
emergency shelter care, and others. (WIC 16500 et seq.) These
services are time limited and may be terminated or extended if
the court makes specified findings.
This bill intends to build upon efforts to prevent or eliminate
the need for removal of the child by declaring legislative
intent that information regarding the past behaviors of a minor
parent or a nonminor dependent parent not be used as the sole
basis for removing a child, or as the sole basis for terminating
reunification services. Additionally, this bill requires the
court to more carefully consider whether reasonable efforts were
made to provide remedial services to parents who were dependents
of the state at the time of the child's birth, prior to foster
care placement of the child or termination of the parental
rights of the dependent or formerly dependent parent.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
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According to Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill would
incur the following costs:
Potential increase in child welfare services costs (General
Fund), including but not limited to the provision of
reunification services, to specified cases. While the number
of potentially applicable cases is unknown at this time, for
every 10 cases that would have otherwise been denied
reunification services, annual costs would be about $100,000.
Unknown, potential future cost savings (Local/General Fund*)
in averted or reduced time spent in a dependency placement to
the extent youth remain or are reunified with their parents
sooner than otherwise would occur under existing law.
Minor ongoing administrative costs (General Fund) to maintain
court files and records of dependent parents and their
children separately.
Exempts the State from mandate reimbursement for realigned
programs, however, legislation that has an overall effect of
increasing the costs already borne by a local agency for
realigned programs including child welfare services, apply to
local agencies only to the extent that the State provides
annual funding for the cost increase.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/28/15)
California Youth Connection (source)
AFSCME
Alliance for Children's Rights
American Civil Liberties Union of California
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies
Children Now
Disability Rights California
Family Law Section of the State Bar of California
Mental Health America of California
NAMI California
OPPOSITION: (Verified 08/28/2015)
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None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 6/2/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd,
Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chávez, Mayes
Prepared by:Sara Rogers / HUMAN S. / (916) 651-1524
8/30/15 19:06:49
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