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