BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1001
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Date of Hearing: January 21, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1001 (Maienschein) - As Amended January 14, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY: This bill clarifies and enhances the requirements of
the Department of Social Services (DSS) regarding mandatory
reporters in community care facilities. Specifically, this bill:
1)Clarifies the actions that DSS can take regarding an
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administrator or supervisor for violating the prohibition on
impeding or inhibiting a mandated report of child abuse or
neglect in any facility governed by the Community Care
Facilities Act.
2)Requires an orientation provided to a chief executive officer
or other authorized member of the board of directors and the
administrator of a foster family agency (FFA) as a condition
of DSS licensure, to include a description of the policies,
procedures, or practices that violate the prohibition on
impeding or inhibiting a mandated report.
3)Requires a FFA to include a written plan establishing
policies, procedures, or practices to ensure the FFA does not
violate the prohibition on impeding or inhibiting mandated
reports, if a written plan of operation is required as a part
of an application for licensure,
4)Allows a FFA social worker, as of January 1, 2018, to access
the process for voluntary disclosures to DSS (hotline
currently available to county social workers) if the social
worker has reasonable cause to believe that a policy,
procedure, or practice, violates the prohibition on impeding
or inhibiting a mandated report.
5)Specifies information from voluntary disclosures that the
department must report to the Legislature and post on its
Internet Web site by July 1, 2019.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Minor costs to DSS to provide access to the voluntary disclosure
process and to compile the required report to the Legislature.
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COMMENTS:
1)Need for this bill: Supporters, citing anonymous complaints
from FFA social workers, assert that safeguards in current
law, including the criminal penalties within the Child Abuse
and Neglect Reporting Act, as well as employee whistleblower
protections, have not proven strong enough to deter an
administrator or supervisor from impeding or inhibiting a
mandated report. This bill seeks to give social workers in
FFAs access to a hotline established for county social workers
to voluntarily report process violations. The bill also seeks
to minimize violations by including a description of policies,
procedures, or practices that are violations of prohibited
practices in CEO and administrator licensure orientations.
Finally, the bill seeks to ensure that DSS takes action in
response to violations.
2)Mandated Reporters. Existing law enumerates 44 categories of
mandated reporters of child abuse, including teachers, clergy
members, peace officers, licensees, administrators, or
employees of a licensed community care facility, social
workers, therapists, and others. Mandated reporters are
required to report suspected child abuse or neglect to any
police department or sheriff's department, county probation
department, or the county welfare department. Current law
specifies procedures for the agencies receiving a report to
ensure it is transmitted to the proper jurisdiction.
A mandated reporter is required to make an initial report by
telephone immediately or as soon as is practicably possible,
and is required to prepare and send a written follow-up report
via fax or electronic transmission, within 36 hours of
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receiving the information concerning the incident.
Mandated reporting duties are individual, and a supervisor or
administrator is prohibited from impeding or inhibiting an
individual's reporting duties and from sanctioning an
individual for making a mandated report. Any supervisor or
administrator who impedes or inhibits a report of abuse or
neglect by a mandated reporter faces potential imprisonment
and monetary fines.
3)Foster Family Agencies (FFAs): Among the numerous facilities
and certified family homes that fall within the Community Care
Facilities Act are FFAs, which are licensed, private entities
that are used by county placement agencies to place children
within the child welfare services system who have intensive
care needs. FFAs are charged with recruiting, training, and
certifying families to provide homes for children, and they
are responsible for providing regular monitoring and oversight
of the families they certify to ensure they are able to meet
the needs of children who live with them. As of June 2015,
there were 242 FFAs throughout the state responsible for
11,034 FFA-certified homes.
4)Prior Legislation.
a) AB 403 (Stone), Chapter 773, Statutes of 2015,
implements Continuum of Care Reform recommendations to
better serve children and youth in California's child
welfare services system, including accreditation and other
requirements for FFAs and other out-of-home placement
options for children in the child welfare services system.
b) AB 1978 (Jones-Sawyer), Chapter 768, Statutes of 2014,
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among other provisions, requires DSS in consultation with
counties and labor organizations, to establish a process to
receive voluntary disclosures from county social workers
who have reasonable cause to believe that a policy,
procedure, or practice related to the provision of child
welfare services by a county child welfare agency endangers
the health or well-being of a child. The bill also sets
forth certain reporting requirements for the department
related to voluntary disclosures that are consistent with
this bill, A hotline for county social workers was
established on January 4, 2016 to meet the voluntary
disclosure process requirements.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081