BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1067| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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: AB 1067 Page 2 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 AB 1067 Page 3 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. AB 1067 Page 4 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 AB 1067 Page 5 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. AB 1067 Page 6 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 AB 1067 Page 7 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 AB 1067 Page 8 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 AB 1067 Page 9 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 **** END ****