BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       AB 1067|
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 1067
          Author:   Gipson (D) 
          Amended:  8/1/16 in Senate
          Vote:     21 

           SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE:  5-0, 5/10/16
           AYES:  McGuire, Berryhill, Hancock, Liu, Nguyen

          SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  78-0, 1/27/16 (Consent) - See last page for  
            vote

           SUBJECT:   Foster children:  rights


          SOURCE:    California Youth Connection 
                     Humboldt County Transition Age Youth Collaboration 


          DIGEST:  This bill requires the California Department of Social  
          Services (CDSS) to convene a working group, with specified  
          participants, to consider revising the foster youth bill of  
          rights and make related recommendations to the Legislature. It  
          additionally requires a social worker or probation officer to  
          provide those rights to the care provider, the child and the  
          child and family team, to provide a written copy of the rights  
          to the child and to include the signature of a foster child, as  
          specified, at each six-month status review. 


          ANALYSIS:  

          Existing law:









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          1)Establishes a system of juvenile dependency for children who  
            are or are at risk of being physically, sexually or  
            emotionally abused, being neglected or being exploited to  
            ensure their safety, protection and physical and emotional  
            well-being. (WIC 300, et seq.)

          2)Requires the status of every dependent child in foster care to  
            be reviewed no less often than once every six months, and for  
            the court to consider the continuing necessity for placement,  
            whether the placement is appropriate and other factors. (WIC  
            366) 

          3)Delineates the rights of foster children: 

             a)   To live in a safe, healthy, and comfortable home where  
               he or she is treated with respect.
             b)   To be free from physical, sexual, emotional, or other  
               abuse, or corporal punishment.
             c)   To receive adequate and healthy food, adequate clothing,  
               and, for youth in group homes, an allowance.
             d)   To receive medical, dental, vision, and mental health  
               services.
             e)   To be free of the administration of medication or  
               chemical substances, unless authorized by a physician.
             f)   To contact family members, unless prohibited by court  
               order, and social workers, attorneys, foster youth  
               advocates and supporters, Court Appointed Special Advocates  
               (CASAs), and probation officers.
             g)   To visit and contact brothers and sisters, unless  
               prohibited by court order.
             h)   To contact the Community Care Licensing Division of CDSS  
               or the State Foster Care Ombudsperson regarding violations  
               of rights, to speak to representatives of these offices  
               confidentially, and to be free from threats or punishment  
               for making complaints.
             i)   To make and receive confidential telephone calls and  
               send and receive unopened mail, unless prohibited by court  
               order.
             j)   To attend religious services and activities of his or  
               her choice.
             aa)  To maintain an emancipation bank account and manage  
               personal income, consistent with the child's age and  








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               developmental level, unless prohibited by the case plan.
             bb)  To not be locked in a room, building, or facility  
               premises, unless placed in a community treatment facility.
             cc)  To attend school and participate in extracurricular,  
               cultural and personal enrichment activities, consistent  
               with the child's age and developmental level, with minimal  
               disruptions to school attendance and educational stability.
             dd)  To work and develop job skills at an age-appropriate  
               level, consistent with state law.
             ee)  To have social contacts with people outside of the  
               foster care system, including teachers, church members,  
               mentors, and friends.
             ff)  To attend Independent Living Program classes and  
               activities if he or she meets age requirements.
             gg)  To attend court hearings and speak to the judge.
             hh)  To have storage space for private use.
             ii)  To be involved in the development of his or her own case  
               plan and plan for permanent placement.
             jj)  To review his or her own case plan and plan for  
               permanent placement, if he or she is 12 years of age or  
               older and in a permanent placement, and to receive  
               information about his or her out-of-home placement and case  
               plan, including being told of changes to the plan.
             aaa) To be free from unreasonable searches of personal  
               belongings.
             bbb) To the confidentiality of all juvenile court records  
               consistent with existing law.
             ccc) To have fair and equal access to all available services,  
               placement, care, treatment, and benefits, and to not be  
               subjected to discrimination or harassment on the basis of  
               actual or perceived race, ethnic group identification,  
               ancestry, national origin, color, religion, sex, sexual  
               orientation, gender identity, mental or physical  
               disability, or HIV status.
             ddd) To be placed in out-of-home care according to their  
               gender identity, regardless of the gender or sex listed in  
               their court or child welfare record.
             eee) To have caregivers and child welfare personnel who have  
               received instruction on cultural competency and sensitivity  
               relating to, and best practices for, providing adequate  
               care to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth in  
               out-of-home care.








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             fff) At 16 years of age or older, to have access to existing  
               information regarding the educational options available,  
               including, but not limited to, the coursework necessary for  
               vocational and postsecondary educational programs, and  
               information regarding financial aid for postsecondary  
               education.
             ggg) To have access to age-appropriate, medically accurate  
               information about reproductive health care, the prevention  
               of unplanned pregnancy, and the prevention and treatment of  
               sexually transmitted infections at 12 years of age or  
               older. (WIC 16001.9)

          4)Establishes required elements of a child's case plan,  
            including identification of specific goals, an assessment of  
            circumstances that required child welfare services  
            intervention, and a description of the schedule of the  
            placement agency contacts. Requires a social worker to inform  
            the child at least once every six months of his or her rights  
            as a foster child in a manner that is age- and developmentally  
            appropriate for the child. (WIC 16501.1)

          This bill:

          1)Requires CDSS to convene a working group regarding the rights  
            of all minors and nonminors in foster care, as specified, in  
            order to educate foster youth, foster care providers, and  
            others, and requires the group to recommend to the Legislature  
            any revisions to the rights, as specified. 

          2)Requires the group by July 1, 2018, develop standardized  
            information about the revised rights in an age-appropriate  
            manner and reflective of any relevant licensing requirements  
            and the foster care providers' responsibilities to adequately  
            supervise children in care.

          3)Requires the group to recommend methods for disseminating the  
            information, including whether to require the signature of a  
            foster child verifying that he or she has received and  
            understands his or her rights.

          4)Additionally requires the group to develop recommendations for  
            measuring and improving, if necessary, the degree to which  








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            foster youth are adequately informed of their rights.

          5)Requires that working group shall be composed of all of the  
            following:

             a)   The Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson. 
             b)   The bureau at the Department of Justice whose mission is  
               to protect the rights of children.
             c)   The County Welfare Directors Association of California.
             d)   The Chief Probation Officers of California.
             e)   The County Behavioral Health Directors Association of  
               California.
             f)   Current and former foster youth.
             g)   Foster parents and caregivers.
             h)   Foster children advocacy groups.
             i)   Foster care provider associations.
             j)   Any other interested parties.

          6)Requires that the supplemental report to the court associated  
            with the six-month status hearing include the signature of the  
            foster child and the date of the signature if he or she is 12  
            years of age or older at the time of the report verifying that  
            he or she has received and understands his or her rights, as  
            specified.

          7)Adds to the requirement that a social worker inform the child  
            at least once every six months of his or her rights as a  
            foster child the requirement that a child be notified of his  
            or her rights at each placement change and that a written copy  
            of the rights be provided to the child during each  
            notification as a part of the explanation.

          8)Adds to the requirement that a child be notified of his or her  
            rights the requirement that the child's care provider and  
            child and family team, if applicable, be informed of the  
            child's rights as a foster child.

          9)Requires that a social worker or probation officer 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.









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          Background 


          California's county-based child welfare system is designed to  
          protect children at risk of child abuse and neglect or  
          exploitation by providing intensive services to families to  
          allow children to remain in their homes, or by arranging  
          temporary or permanent placement of the child in the safest and  
          least restrictive environment possible. It is the legal "parent"  
          for children in the foster care system. 


          Approximately 62,000 children were under the custody of the  
          child welfare system as of October 2015, according to the  
          state's child welfare case management system. About 45,000  
          children were in out-of-home placements in 2016, according to  
          data released by CDSS with the governor's budget. About 14,000  
          youth are placed with Foster Family Agencies.


          Foster youth rights.  California's Foster Youth Bill of Rights  
          was established in 2001 (AB 899, Liu, Chapter 683) and requires  
          that children in out-of-home care be provided with information  
          by their social worker every six months. Additionally HSC  
          1530.91 requires that any provider of care for foster children  
          must provide each school age child and his or her authorized  
          representative with an age- and developmentally appropriate  
          orientation that includes an explanation of the bill of rights  
          and addresses the child's questions and concerns. Any facility  
          licensed to provide foster care for six or more children must  
          post a listing of a foster child's rights. The statute requires  
          that state Foster Care Ombudsperson design posters, which  
          include the telephone number for the Ombudsman, and to provide  
          posters to each facility of six beds or more.


          In addition, a number of other bills have established rights for  
          California's foster youth. AB 490 (Steinberg, Chapter 862,  
          Statutes of 2003) provided foster youth with specific  
          educational protections in the wake of studies that demonstrated  
          children may lose up to six months of academic and social growth  








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          every time they change schools. Foster children have the right  
          to remain in their school of origin, to immediately enroll  
          without normally required documentation such as a birth  
          certificate or immunization records and the right to partial  
          credits, among others. Under California Education Code 51225.1,  
          a foster child may remain in school for a fifth year to complete  
          graduation requirements, exempts a foster child from some  
          graduation requirements and establishes other rights. 


          Meanwhile, the federal Preventing Sex Trafficking and  
          Strengthening Families Act of 2014 (HR 4980) now requires state  
          child welfare agencies to develop a reasonable and prudent  
          parenting standard for foster parents to make parental decisions  
          to maintain the health and safety of foster youth and also make  
          decisions about the youth's participation in extracurricular,  
          enrichment, cultural and social activities. It also requires  
          states to ensure that foster children age 14 or older  
          participate in the development or revision of the case plan  
          which must describe the foster child's rights and various  
          specific documents. 


          The office of the state Foster Care Ombudsman in its most recent  
          report identified 271 complaints of personal rights violations,  
          mostly from youth living in group homes complaining that the  
          staff did not treat them with respect or that they did not  
          receive adequate food and clothing. The report recommended that  
          social workers be required to document in court reports and  
          contact notes the date they reviewed the Foster Care Rights with  
          the foster child and youth in age-appropriate language to ensure  
          a review of rights occurs every six months as mandated. 


          Other states. Fifteen states and Puerto Rico have enacted bills  
          of rights for foster children, and 17 states have enacted bills  
          of rights for foster parents, according to the National  
          Conference of State Legislators.   During the 2014 legislative  
          session, 10 states introduced bills either seeking to enact a  
          bill of rights or otherwise extending or defining the rights of  
          foster children and parents. Some of these rights include  
          independent living services for older youth, educational  








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          consistency and enrollment, foster child input into evaluations  
          of out-of-home care placements, and extracurricular activities.


          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   Yes


          SUPPORT:   (Verified8/2/16)


          California Youth Connection (co-source)
          Humboldt County Transition Age Youth Collaboration (co-source) 
          Office of the Attorney General Kamala Harris
          All Saints Church Foster Care Project
          American Academy of Pediatrics, California
          Aspiranet
          California Alliance of Child and Family Services
          California Youth Empowerment Network
          Children NOW
          County Behavioral Health Directors Association
          County Welfare Directors Association of California
          Families NOW
          Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services
          John Burton Foundation for Children without Homes
          National Center for Youth Law
          The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal  
          Employees, AFL-CIO


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified8/2/16)


          Department of Finance


          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:     The California Youth Connection, a  
          sponsor of the bill, writes that the Foster Youth Bill of Rights  
          is a necessary tool for foster youth to access and exercise  
          their rights. "Updating this document to include the various  
          rights as they relate to both education as well as mental health  
          is long overdue. The current document merely reflects laws that  








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          impact the foster care system since 2001."


          ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION:     The California Department of  
          Finance writes in opposition that this bill "is duplicative of  
          existing practice. DSS currently performs the prescribed  
          activities in collaboration with the Office of the Foster Care  
          Ombudsman, which is tasked with protecting the rights of foster  
          youth by disseminating information to foster youth, compiling  
          data on the rights of foster youth, and investigating complaints  
          of rights violations."

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  78-0, 1/27/16
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,  
            Chau, Chávez, 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, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez,  
            Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson,  
            Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,  
            Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,  
            Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Mathis

          Prepared by:Mareva Brown / HUMAN S. / (916) 651-1524
          8/3/16 18:31:54


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