BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 403 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 27, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 403 (Mark Stone) - As Amended April 21, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Human Services |Vote:|7 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill implements Continuum of Care Reform (CCR) recommendations to better serve children and youth in California's child welfare services system. Specifically, this AB 403 Page 2 bill: 1)Describes the goals of the child welfare services system and the underlying principles of this bill. 2)Improves and expands home-based family care through additional training and support. 3)Establishes new out-of-home care and supervision options available for children and requirements for placement. 4)Establishes and sets forth responsibilities of Child and Family Teams. 5)Revises rate structures for the care and supervision of children in out-of-home care. 6)Sets forth new requirements for licensure, program integrity and transparency. FISCAL EFFECT: The Governor's 2015-16 Budget includes $9.6 million ($7 million GF) to begin implementation of the CCR reforms contained in this bill. COMMENTS: AB 403 Page 3 1)Purpose. Sponsored by the Department of Social Services (DSS), this bill establishes the framework for change in how California provides treatment and services to children and families involved in the state's child welfare system. This bill is built on the efforts of child welfare stakeholders and the Legislature, and the Continuum of Care Reform report submitted by DSS. The author states, "[This bill] is a comprehensive reform effort to make sure that youth in foster care have their day-to-day physical, mental, and emotional needs met; that they have the greatest chance to grow up in permanent and supportive homes; and that they have the opportunity to grow into self-sufficient, successful adults. "To the extent that children are provided needed services and support, this bill transitions children away from congregate care into home-based family care with resource families. In addition to new services and supports for resource families, the measure establishes targeted training and support that can better prepare families to help care for foster youth." "For children who are not yet ready to enter a family setting, the bill makes changes to the existing model for group homes. This bill is necessary to advance California's long-standing goal to move away from the use of long-term group home care by increasing youth placement in family settings and by transforming existing group home care into places where youth who are not ready to be placed with families can receive short AB 403 Page 4 term, intensive treatment. The measure creates a timeline to implement this shift in placement options, and it calls for the adoption of new standards and performance measures." 2)Child Welfare Services (CWS). On January 1, 2015, there were 62,898 children in foster care in California. Most of these children and youth were placed with relatives, extended family members, foster family agencies, or in foster family homes. Nearly 3,800 (6%) were placed in group homes. There has been growing consensus in the field of child welfare, at both the national and state levels, that institutionalized settings for foster youth should be used sparingly. The placement of maltreated children in group home settings has been increasingly viewed as a temporary solution in instances where emergency or crisis treatment is warranted. Yet, as of January 2015, 48% of youth placed in group homes in California via CWS had been there over two years, and 23% had been there over five years, indicating stays longer than what might have been necessary if appropriate, intensive treatments had been deployed upon placement. 3)Continuum of Care Reform. Senate Bill 1013 (Senate Budget and Fiscal Review) Chapter 35, Statutes of 2012, realigned CWS to counties, established a moratorium on the licensing of new group homes, and required DSS to convene a stakeholder workgroup discuss and recommend changes to the continuum of care within child welfare services and how to reform the use of congregate care. In January 2015, DSS submitted the AB 403 Page 5 Continuum of Care (CCR) workgroup report to the Legislature, which included general and fiscal recommendations, alongside recommendations on home-based family care, residential treatment, and performance measures and outcomes. The report reinforced the view that group home settings are best used sparingly and temporarily. This bill begins the implementation of the reforms and recommendations developed by the working group and expressed in the CCR report. Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081