BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1911
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 12, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Susan Bonilla, Chair
AB 1911
(Eggman) - As Amended March 31, 2016
SUBJECT: Dual-status minors
SUMMARY: Requires the development and implementation of
standardized definitions and defined goals for youth involved
with both the child welfare system and the juvenile justice
system.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the Judicial Council to convene a committee of
stakeholders serving the needs of dependents and wards of the
juvenile court, including judges, social workers, probation
officers, education officials, youth, attorneys and advocates
involved with both the child welfare and juvenile justice
systems, and representatives from the Department of Social
Services (DSS), child welfare agencies and probation agencies.
2)Requires the committee, by January 1, 2018, to develop and
AB 1911
Page 2
report to the Legislature recommendations to facilitate and
enhance comprehensive data and outcome tracking for youth
involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice
systems, and further requires recommendations to include:
a) A common identifier and standard definitions for
counties to use across child welfare and juvenile justice
systems;
b) Outcomes for counties to track youth involved in both
systems, including, but not limited to, outcomes related to
recidivism, health, pregnancy, homelessness, employment and
education;
c) Established baselines and goals for outcomes to be
tracked; and
d) An assessment of costs and benefits associated with
requiring counties to implement the committee's
recommendations.
3)Requires DSS, by January 1, 2019, to implement a function
within the child welfare services automation system that will
allow county child welfare and juvenile justice departments to
identify youth involved in both systems and to issue
instructions to all counties on how to completely and
consistently track the involvement of these youth in both
systems.
EXISTING LAW:
AB 1911
Page 3
1)Provides that a juvenile court has jurisdiction over a child
who is subject to abuse or neglect. (WIC 300)
2)Provides that a juvenile court has jurisdiction over a child
when that child has committed acts that trigger delinquency
jurisdiction rendering the child a ward. (WIC 601 and 602)
3)Requires that, if a child is both a dependent and a
delinquent, the probation department and child welfare
services agency must initially determine which status will
best serve the interests of the child and the protection of
society. Notwithstanding the above, authorizes the probation
department and the child welfare services agency in any
county, in consultation with the presiding juvenile court
judge, to create a dual status protocol which would permit a
minor who meets specified criteria to be designated
simultaneously as both a dependent child and a ward of the
juvenile court. (WIC 241.1)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
AB 1911
Page 4
Dual status youth: It has been acknowledged that youth involved
in the juvenile justice system and the child welfare system face
greater challenges and adversity as they move into adulthood.
They often face challenges that youth involved in only one of
the systems or youth involved in neither of the systems face,
and their outcomes are often poorer and require greater supports
and services to address their needs, reduce recidivism and
foster rehabilitation. The State of California has passed
legislation and authorized various pilot projects in an attempt
to address the needs of these youth, but a comprehensive
statewide approach to meet those needs and help youth
successfully transition to adulthood does not yet exist.
At the request of this bill's author, the Joint Legislative
Audit Committee asked the State Auditor (Auditor) to determine
if and how counties are serving these "dual status" minors --
that is, youth who are part of both the juvenile justice system
and the child welfare system. The Auditor, however, was unable
to determine which counties had successful programs, as counties
were unable to accurately identify and track these dually
involved youth. One of the Auditor's resulting recommendations
was that the state child welfare automation system identify
dually involved youth and stakeholders and, under the leadership
of the Judicial Council, develop common data to collect, track
and evaluate outcomes for these youth and report these outcomes
to the Legislature.
Dual status jurisdiction: Counties are enabled to adopt dual
status protocols in order to allow for better oversight and
provision of services to youth who are involved in both the
child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Dual status for
children who are both wards of the court and dependent children
allow for better oversight and coordination between the child
welfare services and probation systems. Counties that elect to
participate in this voluntary program are tasked with creating a
dual status protocol to permit a youth who meets specified
criteria to be designated as both a dependent child and a ward
AB 1911
Page 5
of the court simultaneously.
However, according to the Judicial Council website, only 18 of
California's 58 counties have elected to develop these
protocols. Still, the counties that have elected to participate
include: Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Clara, Riverside, and
San Bernardino Counties, so that most youth involved with both
the dependency and delinquency systems in California today live
in dual-status jurisdictions.
State Auditor report: At the direction of the Joint Legislative
Audit Committee, the California State Auditor was tasked with
determining how well counties are serving youth involved with
both the child welfare and delinquency system. Because the
state has not issued guidelines to the counties on how to track
or identify youth, the State Auditor was unable to determine how
county programs were performing.
The Auditor therefore recommended that DSS, which is tasked with
operating the state case management automation system for
tracking youth in the child welfare system -the Child Welfare
Services/Case Management System- develop a function in the
system that will allow child welfare and juvenile justice
systems staff to identify and track dual status youth. The goal
of this recommendation is to ensure that California has
statewide consistency in its management systems that will help
ensure dual status youth receive all necessary supports and
services.
Need for this bill: According to the author, "For youth
involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems,
coordination is critical in order to ensure the proper services
are identified and delivered. In current law, there are no
standardized definitions for terms relating to youth involved in
both systems, nor is there an integrated system to track and
AB 1911
Page 6
monitor youth and outcomes. Without standardized definitions of
what it means to be a youth involved in both the child welfare
and juvenile justice systems or identified outcomes for counties
to track, there is little that can be done to track this
population of youth. This bill provides guidance to the
counties, including definitions, common identifiers, and
identified outcomes to better track youth involved in both the
child welfare system and the juvenile justice system. Proper
tracking systems will enable California to better serve one of
its most vulnerable populations."
SECOND COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE . This bill was previously heard
in the Assembly Judiciary Committee, on April 5, 2016, and was
approved on a 10-0 vote.
RELATED LEGISLATION:
AB 2813 (Bloom), 2016, prevents a probation officer from
detaining a youth unnecessarily if it is determined that the
child is in need of child welfare services, or is already a part
of the child welfare system. This bill will be heard in
Assembly Human Services on April 12th.
AB 388 (Chesbro), Chapter 760, Statutes of 2014, specified that
a dependent ward of the juvenile court is not necessarily
subject to other sanctions because of his or her status as a
dependent of the court.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
AB 1911
Page 7
Support
Children's Advocacy - Sponsor
Children Now
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Kelsy C. Castillo / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089