Amended in Senate August 1, 2016

Amended in Senate May 11, 2016

Amended in Senate May 3, 2016

Amended in Assembly January 14, 2016

Amended in Assembly January 4, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1067

Introduced by Assembly Member Gipson

February 26, 2015

An act to amend Section 16501.1 of, and to add Section 16001.8 to, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to foster children.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1067, as amended, Gipson. Foster children: rights.

(1) Existing law provides that it is the policy of the state that all minors and nonminors in foster care have specified rights, including, among others, the right to be free of the administration of medication or chemical substances, unless authorized by a physician.

This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to convene a working group regarding the specified rights of all minors and nonminors in foster care in order to educate them, foster care providers, and others, and would require the working group to be composed of, among others, the County Welfare Directors Association of California and foster children advocacy groups. The bill would provide the responsibilities of the working group, including making recommendations to the Legislature, by January 1, 2018, for revising the rights, and developing standardized information regarding the revised rights, by July 1, 2018, as specified.

(2) Existing law requires, at least once every 6 months, at the time of a regularly scheduled placement agency contact with the foster child, a foster child’s social worker or probation officer to inform the child of the above-mentioned rights.

This bill would additionally require the social worker or probation officer to inform the care provider and child and family team, if applicable, of those rights, provide a written copy of the rights to the child, and document in the case plan that he or she has informed the child of, and has provided the child with a written copy of, his or her rights. By imposing duties on local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(3) 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

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 16001.8 is added to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, to read:

16001.8.  

(a) The State Department of Social Services shall
convene a working group regarding the rights of all minors and
nonminors in foster care, as specified in Section 16001.9, in order
to educate foster youth, foster care providers, and others.
Responsibilities of the working group shall include all of the
following:

(1) By January 1, 2018, make recommendations to the
Legislature for revising the rights based on a review of state law.

(2) By July 1, 2018, develop standardized information regarding
the revised rights in an age-appropriate manner and reflective of
any relevant licensing requirements with respect to the foster care
providers’ responsibilities to adequately supervise children in care.

(3) By July 1, 2018, develop recommendations regarding
methods for disseminating the standardized information specified
in paragraph (2), including whether to require the signature of a
foster child verifying that he or she has received and understands
his or her rights.

(4) By July 1, 2018, develop recommendations for measuring
and improving, if necessary, the degree to which foster youth are
adequately informed of their rights.

(b) The working group shall be composed of all of the following:

(1) The Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson.

begin insert

(2) The bureau at the Department of Justice whose mission is
to protect the rights of children.

end insert begin delete

(2)

end delete

begin insert (3) end insert  The County Welfare Directors Association of California.

begin delete

(3)

end delete

begin insert (4) end insert  The Chief Probation Officers of California.

begin delete

(4)

end delete

begin insert (5) end insert  The County Behavioral Health Directors Association of
California.

begin delete

(5)

end delete

begin insert (6) end insert  Current and former foster youth.

begin delete

(6)

end delete

begin insert (7) end insert  Foster parents and caregivers.

begin delete

(7)

end delete

begin insert (8) end insert  Foster children advocacy groups.

begin delete

(8)

end delete

begin insert (9) end insert  Foster care provider associations.

begin delete

(9)

end delete

begin insert (10) end insert  Any other interested parties.

SEC. 2.  

Section 16501.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code
is amended to read:

16501.1.  

(a) (1) The Legislature finds and declares that the
foundation and central unifying tool in child welfare services is
the case plan.

(2) The Legislature further finds and declares that a case plan
ensures that the child receives protection and safe and proper care
and case management, and that services are provided to the child
and parents or other caretakers, as appropriate, in order to improve
conditions in the parent’s home, to facilitate the safe return of the
child to a safe home or the permanent placement of the child, and
to address the needs of the child while in foster care.

(3) The agency shall consider the recommendations of the child
and family team, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of
Section 16501, if any are available. The agency shall document
the rationale for any inconsistencies between the case plan and the
child and family team recommendations.

(b) (1) A case plan shall be based upon the principles of this
section and the input from the child and family team.

(2) The case plan shall document that a preplacement assessment
of the service needs of the child and family, and preplacement
preventive services, have been provided, and that reasonable efforts
to prevent out-of-home placement have been made. Preplacement
services may include intensive mental health services in the home
or a community setting and the reasonable efforts made to prevent
out-of-home placement.

(3) In determining the reasonable services to be offered or
provided, the child’s health and safety shall be the paramount
concerns.

(4) Upon a determination pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (e) of Section 361.5 that reasonable services will be
offered to a parent who is incarcerated in a county jail or state
prison, detained by the United States Department of Homeland
Security, or deported to his or her country of origin, the case plan
shall include information, to the extent possible, about a parent’s
incarceration in a county jail or the state prison, detention by the
United States Department of Homeland Security, or deportation
during the time that a minor child of that parent is involved in
dependency care.

(5) Reasonable services shall be offered or provided to make it
possible for a child to return to a safe home environment, unless,
pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (e) of Section 361.5, the court
determines that reunification services shall not be provided.

(6) If reasonable services are not ordered, or are terminated,
reasonable efforts shall be made to place the child in a timely
manner in accordance with the permanent plan and to complete
all steps necessary to finalize the permanent placement of the child.

(c) If out-of-home placement is used to attain case plan goals,
the case plan shall consider the recommendations of the child and
family team.

(d) (1) The case plan shall include a description of the type of
home or institution in which the child is to be placed, and the
reasons for that placement decision. The decision regarding choice
of placement shall be based upon selection of a safe setting that is
the least restrictive family setting that promotes normal childhood
experiences and the most appropriate setting that meets the child’s
individual needs and is available, in proximity to the parent’s home,
in proximity to the child’s school, and consistent with the selection
of the environment best suited to meet the child’s special needs
and best interests. The selection shall consider, in order of priority,
placement with relatives, nonrelated extended family members,
and tribal members; foster family homes, resource families, and
nontreatment certified homes of foster family agencies; followed
by treatment and intensive treatment certified homes of foster
family agencies; or multidimensional treatment foster care homes
or therapeutic foster care homes; group care placements in the
order of short-term residential treatment centers, group homes,
community treatment facilities, and out-of-state residential
treatment pursuant to Part 5 (commencing with Section 7900) of
Division 12 of the Family Code.

(2) If a short-term intensive treatment center placement is
selected for a child, the case plan shall indicate the needs of the
child that necessitate this placement, the plan for transitioning the
child to a less restrictive environment, and the projected timeline
by which the child will be transitioned to a less restrictive
environment. This section of the case plan shall be reviewed and
updated at least semiannually.

(A) The case plan for placements in a group home, or
commencing January 1, 2017, in a short-term residential treatment
center, shall indicate that the county has taken into consideration
Section 16010.8.

(B) After January 1, 2017, a child and family team meeting as
defined in Section 16501 shall be convened by the county placing
agency for the purpose of identifying the supports and services
needed to achieve permanency and enable the child or youth to be
placed in the least restrictive family setting that promotes normal
childhood experiences.

(3) On or after January 1, 2012, for a nonminor dependent, as
defined in subdivision (v) of Section 11400, who is receiving
AFDC-FC benefits begin insert and who is end insert up to 21 years of age pursuant to
Section 11403, in addition to the above requirements, the selection
of the placement, including a supervised independent living
placement, as described in subdivision (w) of Section 11400, shall
also be based upon the developmental needs of young adults by
providing opportunities to have incremental responsibilities that
prepare a nonminor dependent to transition to successful adulthood.
If admission to, or continuation in, a group home or short-term
residential treatment center placement is being considered for a
nonminor dependent, the group home or short-term residential
treatment center placement approval decision shall include a
youth-driven, team-based case planning process, as defined by the
department, in consultation with stakeholders. The case plan shall
consider the full range of placement options, and shall specify why
admission to, or continuation in, a group home placement is the
best alternative available at the time to meet the special needs or
well-being of the nonminor dependent, and how the placement
will contribute to the nonminor dependent’s transition to successful
adulthood. The case plan shall specify the treatment strategies that
will be used to prepare the nonminor dependent for discharge to
a less restrictive family setting that promotes normal childhood
experiences, including a target date for discharge from the group
home placement. The placement shall be reviewed and updated
on a regular, periodic basis to ensure that continuation in the group
home placement remains in the best interests of the nonminor
dependent and that progress is being made in achieving case plan
goals leading to successful adulthood. The group home placement
planning process shall begin as soon as it becomes clear to the
county welfare department or probation office that a foster child
in group home placement is likely to remain in group home
placement on his or her 18th birthday, in order to expedite the
transition to a less restrictive family setting that promotes normal
childhood experiences, if he or she becomes a nonminor dependent.
The case planning process shall include informing the youth of all
of his or her options, including, but not limited to, admission to
or continuation in a group home placement. Consideration for
continuation of existing group home placement for a nonminor
dependent under 19 years of age may include the need to stay in
the same placement in order to complete high school. After a
nonminor dependent either completes high school or attains his or
her 19th birthday, whichever is earlier, continuation in or admission
to a group home placement is prohibited unless the nonminor
dependent satisfies the conditions of paragraph (5) of subdivision
(b) of Section 11403, and group home placement functions as a
short-term transition to the appropriate system of care. Treatment
services provided by the group home placement to the nonminor
dependent to alleviate or ameliorate the medical condition, as
described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 11403,
shall not constitute the sole basis to disqualify a nonminor
dependent from the group home placement.

(4) In addition to the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (3),
inclusive, and taking into account other statutory considerations
regarding placement, the selection of the most appropriate home
that will meet the child’s special needs and best interests shall also
promote educational stability by taking into consideration
proximity to the child’s school of origin, and school attendance
area, the number of school transfers the child has previously
experienced, and the child’s school matriculation schedule, in
addition to other indicators of educational stability that the
Legislature hereby encourages the State Department of Social
Services and the State Department of Education to develop.

(e) A written case plan shall be completed within a maximum
of 60 days of the initial removal of the child or of the in-person
response required under subdivision (f) of Section 16501 if the
child has not been removed from his or her home, or by the date
of the dispositional hearing pursuant to Section 358, whichever
occurs first. The case plan shall be updated, as the service needs
of the child and family dictate. At a minimum, the case plan shall
be updated in conjunction with each status review hearing
conducted pursuant to Sections 364, 366, 366.3, and 366.31, and
the hearing conducted pursuant to Section 366.26, but no less
frequently than once every six months. Each updated case plan
shall include a description of the services that have been provided
to the child under the plan and an evaluation of the appropriateness
and effectiveness of those services.

(1) It is the intent of the Legislature that extending the maximum
time available for preparing a written case plan from 30 to 60 days
will afford caseworkers time to actively engage families, and to
solicit and integrate into the case plan the input of the child and
the child’s family, as well as the input of relatives and other
interested parties.

(2) The extension of the maximum time available for preparing
a written case plan from the 30 to 60 days shall be effective 90
days after the date that the department gives counties written notice
that necessary changes have been made to the Child Welfare
Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS) to account for
the 60-day timeframe for preparing a written case plan.

(f) The child welfare services case plan shall be comprehensive
enough to meet the juvenile court dependency proceedings
requirements pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 300)
of Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 2.

(g) The case plan shall be developed considering the
recommendations of the child and family team, as follows:

(1) The case plan shall be based upon an assessment of the
circumstances that required child welfare services intervention.
The child shall be involved in developing the case plan as age and
developmentally appropriate.

(2) The case plan shall identify specific goals and the
appropriateness of the planned services in meeting those goals.

(3) The case plan shall identify the original allegations of abuse
or neglect, as defined in Article 2.5 (commencing with Section
11164) of Chapter 2 of Title 1 of Part 4 of the Penal Code, or the
conditions cited as the basis for declaring the child a dependent of
the court pursuant to Section 300, or all of these, and the other
precipitating incidents that led to child welfare services
intervention.

(4) The case plan shall include a description of the schedule of
the placement agency contacts with the child and the family or
other caretakers. The frequency of these contacts shall be in
accordance with regulations adopted by the State Department of
Social Services. If the child has been placed in foster care out of
state, the county social worker or probation officer, or a social
worker or probation officer on the staff of the agency in the state
in which the child has been placed, shall visit the child in a foster
family home or the home of a relative, consistent with federal law
and in accordance with the department’s approved state plan. For
children in out-of-state group home facilities, visits shall be
conducted at least monthly, pursuant to Section 16516.5. At least
once every six months, at the time of a regularly scheduled
placement agency contact with the foster child, and at each
placement change, the child’s social worker or probation officer
shall inform the child, the care provider, and the child and family
team, if applicable, of the child’s rights as a foster child, as
specified in Section 16001.9, and shall provide a written copy of
the rights to the child as part of the explanation. The social worker
or probation officer shall provide the information to the child in a
manner appropriate to the age or developmental level of the child.
The social worker or probation officer shall document in the case
plan that he or she has informed the child of, and has provided the
child with a written copy of, his or her rights.

(5) (A) When out-of-home services are used, the frequency of
contact between the natural parents or legal guardians and the child
shall be specified in the case plan. The frequency of those contacts
shall reflect overall case goals, and consider other principles
outlined in this section.

(B) Information regarding any court-ordered visitation between
the child and the natural parents or legal guardians, and the terms
and conditions needed to facilitate the visits while protecting the
safety of the child, shall be provided to the child’s out-of-home
caregiver as soon as possible after the court order is made.

(6) When out-of-home placement is made, the case plan shall
include provisions for the development and maintenance of sibling
relationships as specified in subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) of Section
16002. If appropriate, when siblings who are dependents of the
juvenile court are not placed together, the social worker for each
child, if different, shall communicate with each of the other social
workers and ensure that the child’s siblings are informed of
significant life events that occur within their extended family.
Unless it has been determined that it is inappropriate in a particular
case to keep siblings informed of significant life events that occur
within the extended family, the social worker shall determine the
appropriate means and setting for disclosure of this information
to the child commensurate with the child’s age and emotional
well-being. These significant life events shall include, but shall
not be limited to, the following:

(A) The death of an immediate relative.

(B) The birth of a sibling.

(C) Significant changes regarding a dependent child, unless the
child objects to the sharing of the information with his or her
siblings, including changes in placement, major medical or mental
health diagnoses, treatments, or hospitalizations, arrests, and
changes in the permanent plan.

(7) If out-of-home placement is made in a foster family home,
group home, or other child care institution that is either a
substantial distance from the home of the child’s parent or out of
state, the case plan shall specify the reasons why that placement
is in the best interest of the child. When an out-of-state group home
placement is recommended or made, the case plan shall, in
addition, specify compliance with Section 7911.1 of the Family
Code.

(8) A case plan shall ensure the educational stability of the child
while in foster care and shall include both of the following:

(A) An assurance that the placement takes into account the
appropriateness of the current educational setting and the proximity
to the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement.

(B) An assurance that the placement agency has coordinated
with the person holding the right to make educational decisions
for the child and appropriate local educational agencies to ensure
that the child remains in the school in which the child is enrolled
at the time of placement or, if remaining in that school is not in
the best interests of the child, assurances by the placement agency
and the local educational agency to provide immediate and
appropriate enrollment in a new school and to provide all of the
child’s educational records to the new school.

(9) (A) If out-of-home services are used, or if parental rights
have been terminated and the case plan is placement for adoption,
the case plan shall include a recommendation regarding the
appropriateness of unsupervised visitation between the child and
any of the child’s siblings. This recommendation shall include a
statement regarding the child’s and the siblings’ willingness to
participate in unsupervised visitation. If the case plan includes a
recommendation for unsupervised sibling visitation, the plan shall
also note that information necessary to accomplish this visitation
has been provided to the child or to the child’s siblings.

(B) Information regarding the schedule and frequency of the
visits between the child and siblings, as well as any court-ordered
terms and conditions needed to facilitate the visits while protecting
the safety of the child, shall be provided to the child’s out-of-home
caregiver as soon as possible after the court order is made.

(10) If out-of-home services are used and the goal is
reunification, the case plan shall describe the services to be
provided to assist in reunification and the services to be provided
concurrently to achieve legal permanency if efforts to reunify fail.
The plan shall also consider in-state and out-of-state placements,
the importance of developing and maintaining sibling relationships
pursuant to Section 16002, and the desire and willingness of the
caregiver to provide legal permanency for the child if reunification
is unsuccessful.

(11) If out-of-home services are used, the child has been in care
for at least 12 months, and the goal is not adoptive placement, the
case plan shall include documentation of the compelling reason
or reasons why termination of parental rights is not in the child’s
best interest. A determination completed or updated within the
past 12 months by the department when it is acting as an adoption
agency or by a licensed adoption agency that it is unlikely that the
child will be adopted, or that one of the conditions described in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 366.26 applies, shall
be deemed a compelling reason.

(12) (A) Parents and legal guardians shall have an opportunity
to review the case plan, and to sign it whenever possible, and then
shall receive a copy of the plan. In a voluntary service or placement
agreement, the parents or legal guardians shall be required to
review and sign the case plan. Whenever possible, parents and
legal guardians shall participate in the development of the case
plan. Commencing January 1, 2012, for nonminor dependents, as
defined in subdivision (v) of Section 11400, who are receiving
AFDC-FC or CalWORKs assistance begin insert and who are end insert up to 21 years
of age pursuant to Section 11403, the transitional independent
living case plan, as set forth in subdivision (y) of Section 11400,
shall be developed with, and signed by, the nonminor.

(B) Parents and legal guardians shall be advised that, pursuant
to Section 1228.1 of the Evidence Code, neither their signature on
the child welfare services case plan nor their acceptance of any
services prescribed in the child welfare services case plan shall
constitute an admission of guilt or be used as evidence against the
parent or legal guardian in a court of law. However, they shall also
be advised that the parent’s or guardian’s failure to cooperate,
except for good cause, in the provision of services specified in the
child welfare services case plan may be used in any hearing held
pursuant to Section 366.21, 366.22, or 366.25 of this code as
evidence.

(13) A child shall be given a meaningful opportunity to
participate in the development of the case plan and state his or her
preference for foster care placement. A child who is 12 years of
age or older and in a permanent placement shall also be given the
opportunity to review the case plan, sign the case plan, and receive
a copy of the case plan.

(14) The case plan shall be included in the court report and shall
be considered by the court at the initial hearing and each review
hearing. Modifications to the case plan made during the period
between review hearings need not be approved by the court if the
casework supervisor for that case determines that the modifications
further the goals of the plan. If out-of-home services are used with
the goal of family reunification, the case plan shall consider and
describe the application of subdivision (b) of Section 11203.

(15) (A) If the case plan has as its goal for the child a permanent
plan of adoption or legal guardianship, it shall include a statement
of the child’s wishes regarding their permanent placement plan
and an assessment of those stated wishes. The agency shall also
include documentation of the steps the agency is taking to find an
adoptive family or other permanent living arrangements for the
child; to place the child with an adoptive family, an appropriate
and willing relative, or a legal guardian, and to finalize the adoption
or legal guardianship. At a minimum, the documentation shall
include child-specific recruitment efforts, such as the use of state,
regional, and national adoption exchanges, including electronic
exchange systems, when the child has been freed for adoption.
Regardless of whether the child has been freed for adoption,
documentation shall include a description of any barriers to
achieving legal permanence and the steps the agency will take to
address those barriers. If the plan is for kinship guardianship, the
case plan shall document how the child meets the kinship
guardianship eligibility requirements.

(B) When the child is 16 years of age or older and is in another
planned permanent living arrangement, the case plan shall identify
the intensive and ongoing efforts to return the child to the home
of the parent, place the child for adoption, place the child for tribal
customary adoption in the case of an Indian child, establish a legal
guardianship, or place the child nonminor dependent with a fit and
willing relative, as appropriate. Efforts shall include the use of
technology, including social media, to find biological family
members of the child.

(16) (A) (i) For a child who is 14 or 15 years of age, the case
plan shall include a written description of the programs and services
that will help the child, consistent with the child’s best interests,
to prepare for the transition from foster care to successful
adulthood. The description may be included in the document
described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (18).

(ii) When appropriate, for a child who is 16 years of age or older
and, commencing January 1, 2012, for a nonminor dependent, the
case plan shall include the transitional independent living plan
(TILP), a written description of the programs and services that
will help the child, consistent with the child’s best interests, to
prepare for the transition from foster care to successful adulthood,
and, in addition, whether the youth has an in-progress application
pending for Title XVI Supplemental Security Income benefits or
for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status or other applicable
application for legal residency and an active dependency case is
required for that application. When appropriate, for a nonminor
dependent, the transitional independent living case plan, as
described in subdivision (v) of Section 11400, shall include the
TILP, a written description of the programs and services that will
help the nonminor dependent, consistent with his or her best
interests, to prepare for transition from foster care and assist the
youth in meeting the eligibility criteria set forth in paragraphs (1)
to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 11403. If applicable,
the case plan shall describe the individualized supervision provided
in the supervised independent living placement as defined in
subdivision (w) of Section 11400. The case plan shall be developed
with the child or nonminor dependent and individuals identified
as important to the child or nonminor dependent, and shall include
steps the agency is taking to ensure that the child or nonminor
dependent achieves permanence, including maintaining or
obtaining permanent connections to caring and committed adults.

(B) During the 90-day period prior to the participant attaining
18 years of age or older as the state may elect under Section
475(8)(B)(iii) of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec.
675(8)(B)(iii)), whether during that period foster care maintenance
payments are being made on the child’s behalf or the child is
receiving benefits or services under Section 477 of the federal
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 677), a caseworker or other
appropriate agency staff or probation officer and other
representatives of the participant, as appropriate, shall provide the
youth or nonminor dependent with assistance and support in
developing the written 90-day transition plan, that is personalized
at the direction of the child, information as detailed as the
participant elects that shall include, but not be limited to, options
regarding housing, health insurance, education, local opportunities
for mentors and continuing support services, and workforce
supports and employment services, a power of attorney for health
care, and information regarding the advance health care directive
form.

(C) For youth 14 years of age or older, the case plan shall
include documentation that a consumer credit report was requested
annually from each of the three major credit reporting agencies at
no charge to the youth and that any results were provided to the
youth. For nonminor dependents, the case plan shall include
documentation that the county assisted the nonminor dependent
in obtaining his or her reports. The case plan shall include
documentation of barriers, if any, to obtaining the credit reports.
If the consumer credit report reveals any accounts, the case plan
shall detail how the county ensured the youth received assistance
with interpreting the credit report and resolving any inaccuracies,
including any referrals made for the assistance.

(17) For youth 14 years of age or older and nonminor
dependents, the case plan shall be developed in consultation with
the youth. At the youth’s option, the consultation may include up
to two members of the case planning team who are chosen by the
youth and who are not foster parents of, or caseworkers for, the
youth. The agency, at any time, may reject an individual selected
by the youth to be a member of the case planning team if the
agency has good cause to believe that the individual would not act
in the youth’s best interest. One individual selected by the youth
to be a member of the case planning team may be designated to
be the youth’s adviser and advocate with respect to the application
of the reasonable and prudent parent standard to the youth, as
necessary.

(18) For youth in foster care 14 years of age and older and
nonminor dependents, the case plan shall include both of the
following:

(A) A document that describes the youth’s rights with respect
to education, health, visitation, and court participation, the right
to be annually provided with copies of his or her credit reports at
no cost while in foster care pursuant to Section 10618.6, and the
right to stay safe and avoid exploitation.

(B) A signed acknowledgment by the youth that he or she has
been provided a copy of the document and that the rights described
in the document have been explained to the youth in an
age-appropriate manner.

(19) The case plan for a child or nonminor dependent who is,
or who is at risk of becoming, the victim of commercial sexual
exploitation, shall document the services provided to address that
issue.

(h) If the court finds, after considering the case plan, that
unsupervised sibling visitation is appropriate and has been
consented to, the court shall order that the child or the child’s
siblings, the child’s current caregiver, and the child’s prospective
adoptive parents, if applicable, be provided with information
necessary to accomplish this visitation. This section does not
require or prohibit the social worker’s facilitation, transportation,
or supervision of visits between the child and his or her siblings.

(i) The case plan documentation on sibling placements required
under this section shall not require modification of existing case
plan forms until the Child Welfare Service/Case Management
System (CWS/CMS) is implemented on a statewide basis.

(j) When a child is 10 years of age or older and has been in
out-of-home placement for six months or longer, the case plan
shall include an identification of individuals, other than the child’s
siblings, who are important to the child and actions necessary to
maintain the child’s relationship with those individuals, provided
that those relationships are in the best interest of the child. The
social worker or probation officer shall ask every child who is 10
years of age or older and who has been in out-of-home placement
for six months or longer to identify individuals other than the
child’s siblings who are important to the child, and may ask any
other child to provide that information, or may seek that
information from the child and family team, as appropriate. The
social worker or probation officer shall make efforts to identify
other individuals who are important to the child, consistent with
the child’s best interests.

(k) The child’s caregiver shall be provided a copy of a plan
outlining the child’s needs and services. The nonminor dependent’s
caregiver shall be provided with a copy of the nonminor’s TILP.

(l) Each county shall ensure that the total number of visits made
by caseworkers on a monthly basis to children in foster care during
a federal fiscal year is not less than 95 percent of the total number
of those visits that would occur if each child were visited once
every month while in care and that the majority of the visits occur
in the residence of the child. The county child welfare and
probation departments shall comply with data reporting
requirements that the department deems necessary to comply with
the federal Child and Family Services Improvement Act of 2006
(Public Law 109-288) and the federal Child and Family Services
Improvement and Innovation Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-34).

(m) The implementation and operation of the amendments to
subdivision (i) enacted at the 2005-06 Regular Session shall be
subject to appropriation through the budget process and by phase,
as provided in Section 366.35.

SEC. 3.  

To the extent that this act has an overall effect of
increasing the costs already borne by a local agency for programs
or levels of service mandated by the 2011 Realignment Legislation
within the meaning of Section 36 of Article XIII of the California
Constitution, it shall apply to local agencies only to the extent that
the state provides annual funding for the cost increase. Any new
program or higher level of service provided by a local agency
pursuant to this act above the level for which funding has been
provided shall not require a subvention of funds by the state nor
otherwise be subject to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.