BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2580 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 12, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES Susan Bonilla, Chair AB 2580 (Olsen) - As Amended March 18, 2016 SUBJECT: Dependency proceedings SUMMARY: Requires the juvenile court to provide in writing the factual bases for certain conclusions regarding a child's case and requires a social worker to provide foster parents with specified information. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires the court, at various dependency review and permanency hearings, to specify in writing the factual bases for the following conclusions: a) That returning a child to his or her parent or legal guardian would be or would not be detrimental; b) That there is substantial probability that a child who was under three years of age when first removed or who is a member of a sibling group, as specified, may be returned to his or her parent or legal guardian within six months, or that reasonable services have not been provided, justifying AB 2580 Page 2 continuance to the 12-month permanency hearing; c) That it is in the best interest of each child in a sibling group to schedule a hearing to determine a permanent plan for some or all members of the sibling group, as specified; and d) That, for a child who has not been adopted and who has had three or more years pass since termination of parental rights, as specified, it is in the best interest of that child to reinstate parental rights. 2)Requires a social worker to, at the time a child is being considered for placement in a foster home, provide foster parents with all of the following: a) Notification that he or she has the right to be present at the dispositional hearing and at any hearing thereafter at which the status of the child is at issue; b) Information regarding de facto parent status and the manner in which a foster parent can apply to the juvenile court to become a de facto parent; and c) Notification that if the child reenters foster care, the foster parents of the child have the right to be provided written notice from the court if the child, after being reunified with his or her parents, is returned to the court for further dependency proceedings. 3)Makes technical changes. AB 2580 Page 3 AB 2580 Page 4 EXISTING LAW: 1)Permits the juvenile court to adjudge a child a dependent of the court for specified reasons, including, but not limited to, if a child has suffered or is at substantial risk of suffering serious physical harm, emotional damage, or sexual abuse, as specified. (WIC 300) 2)States that the purpose of foster care law is to provide maximum safety and protection for children who are currently being physically, sexually, or emotionally abused, neglected, or exploited, and to ensure the safety, protection, and physical and emotional well-being of children who are at risk of harm. (WIC 300.2) 3)Declares the intent of the Legislature to, whenever possible, preserve and strengthen a child's family ties and, when a child must be removed from the physical custody of his or her parents, to give preferential consideration to placement with relatives. States the intent of the Legislature to reaffirm its commitment to children who are in out-of-home placement to live in the least restrictive family setting and as close to the child's family as possible, as specified. Further states the intent of the Legislature that all children live with a committed, permanent, nurturing family and states that services and supports should be tailored to meet the specific needs of the individual child and family being served, as specified. (WIC 16000) 4)Requires out-of-home placement of a child in foster care to 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, as specified. Further requires the AB 2580 Page 5 selection of placement to 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, as specified. (WIC 16501.1(d)(1)) 5)Establishes requirements and processes for the court, and further provides for various hearings to review the status of the dependent child during which certain case information regarding the child must be provided and reviewed. (WIC 360-370) FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. COMMENTS: Child Welfare Services: The purpose of California's Child Welfare Services (CWS) system is to protect children from abuse and neglect and provide for their health and safety. When children are identified as being at risk of abuse, neglect or abandonment, county juvenile courts hold legal jurisdiction and children are served by the CWS system through the appointment of a social worker. Through this system, there are multiple opportunities for the custody of the child, or his or her placement outside of the home, to be evaluated, reviewed and determined by the judicial system, in consultation with the child's social worker, to help provide the best possible services to the child. The CWS system seeks to help children who have been removed from their homes reunify with their AB 2580 Page 6 parents or guardians, whenever appropriate, or unite them with other individuals they consider to be family. As of October 1, 2015, there were 62,605 children in California's child welfare system. Of those, 9,079 had been in foster care for five years or more; 37% of those in foster care five years or more were between the ages of 18 and 20, 22% between the ages of 16 and 17, 29% between the ages of 11 and 15, and 11% between the ages of 3 and 5. Need for this bill: According to the author, "California has more children in foster care than any other state in the nation, with over 60,000 children placed in our state's foster care system. Foster parents provide a supportive and stable family for children who cannot live with their parents. They develop close bonds with the children they welcome into their home, and are active participants in major decisions for the children. Too often, however, this bond is needlessly broken to the detriment of the child. Numerous cases have seen children being removed from their foster homes without any indication that reunification will be in their best interest. In one recent case, a decision was made to reunify a disabled toddler with her father who was recovering from drug addiction and living in a transitional home. Sadly, the child was found dead AB 2580 Page 7 shortly after being reunified with her father. It is difficult to measure the extent of the problem because the process is mostly confidential. This makes it difficult for foster parents and other stakeholders to really know whether decisions are made in the child's best interest. Current law does not provide a method for informing foster parents of de facto parent status, nor does it inform a foster parent when a child they have cared for previously returns to the dependency court system after being reunified with their biological/legal parent. This leaves foster parents without any way of knowing how to protect their rights to continue to care for a child when a social worker or the court determines that reunification should occur in the absence of concrete evidence showing that this would be in the child's best interest. Courts are also not required to put into writing their decision(s) when reunification should occur. This bill would provide a method to correct these deficiencies." The Yolo County Board of Supervisors, writing in support of this bill, states that, "[This bill] will protect the best interests of foster children by ensuring that foster parents have access to the information they need to empower them to protect the rights of the children they care for." Opposition: Writing in opposition to this bill, the Juvenile Court Judges of California state that: "?sections of the bill pose undue burden on the courts. In counties where judges handle 1,000-3,000 cases (children) each, this could amount to approximately 25-40 hearings per week for which judges would then have to produce additional written findings, or order attorney to draft proposed factual findings after the hearing. Judges are already required to make factual findings on the record, and juvenile dependency courts are courts of record with transcript ability. Many juvenile courts are already impacted, and this will cause further continuances and delay in placement, return, or permanence, and more work for already overburdened dependency AB 2580 Page 8 counsel." The Children's Law Center of California, also writing in opposition, similarly argues that this bill will "impose incredibly burdensome requirements on an already overburdened system, which will jeopardize the court's ability to adhere to the strict dependency court timelines and will cause children to unnecessarily languish in foster care." They also go on to raise issues with some of the bill's requirements of social workers to provide certain information, including that, "of additional concern in [this bill] is the requirement that all foster parents be provided of notice of their 'right' to attend all court hearings, which is not an accurate statement of current law," and that some of the requirements will burden county welfare agencies and, in all, that the bill will have a "chilling effect on reunification efforts." Staff comments: As currently written, this bill could have the effect of hampering reunification efforts and delaying and truncating dependency hearings, as courts take on the burdensome task of documenting findings and factual bases in writing - a task that is duplicative, given that these findings are already required to be on the record, and transcripts may be obtained. Additionally, the additional requirements this bill places on social workers, and the "rights" it affords foster parents raise a number of concerns and questions. The "right" this bill affords a foster parent to be notified when youth for whom they previously provided care re-enters foster care is quite broad and open-ended: it has no time limit, meaning a child could re-enter the system a decade after placement with that foster parent, and that parent would still be notified; additionally, issues of privacy are not addressed, and these provisions leave no room for youth choice or voice in whether they want a former foster parent notified of their re-entry into foster care. The AB 2580 Page 9 requirement that social workers provide information regarding de facto parent status and how to apply for it may leave social workers open to claims that they are giving legal advice. And some of the bill's requirements are also duplicative of current law; Welfare and Institutions Code Section 16010.4 already states that caregivers should have knowledge of the right to receive notice of all review and permanency hearings concerning the child during placement, and their right to attend those hearings or submit information they deem relevant to the court in writing. Suggested amendments: In order to address the concerns raised above, committee staff recommends deleting this bill's requirements that courts provide information in writing, and narrowing and revising the requirements it places on social workers to provide certain information. Therefore, committee staff recommends the following amendments: 1)Strike lines 1 through 12 on page 3, and pages 4 through 47 of the bill. 2)Make the following amendments to Welfare and Institutions Code Section 16010.4: WIC 16010.4. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) The State of California is guardian to more than 90,000 children in foster care, more than any other state in the nation. As of 2002, California has a disproportionately high number of children in foster care. While the state is home to 12 percent of the nation's population, it guards over 20 percent of the nation's children in its foster care system. Thirty-five percent of foster children live with relatives. (b) Foster parents are one of the most important sources of AB 2580 Page 10 information about the children in their care. Courts, lawyers, and social workers should have the benefit of caregivers' perceptions. Both federal and state law recognize the importance of foster parents' participation in juvenile court proceedings. Federal law requires that foster parents and other caregivers receive expanded opportunities for notice, the right to participate in dependency court review and permanency hearings, and the right to communicate concerns to the courts. State law similarly provides that caregivers may submit their concerns to courts in writing. (c) It is in the children's best interests that their caregivers are privy to important information about them. This information is necessary to obtain social and health services for children, enroll children in school and extracurricular activities, and update social workers and court personnel about important developments affecting foster children. (d) Most school districts and extracurricular organizations require proof of age before enrolling a child in their programs. Moreover, caregivers are required to obtain a medical appointment for their foster children within the first month of receiving the children into their homes. It would therefore be in both the children's and the caregivers' best interests to be provided with any available medical information, medications and instructions for use, and identifying information about the children upon receiving the children into their homes. (e) Caregivers should have certain basic information in order to provide for the needs of children placed in their care, including all of the following: (1) The name, mailing address, telephone number, and facsimile number of the child's social worker and the social worker's supervisor. (2) The name, mailing address, telephone number, and facsimile number of the child's attorney and court-appointed special advocate (CASA), if any. AB 2580 Page 11 (3) The name, address, and department number of the juvenile court in which the child's juvenile court case is pending. (4) The case number assigned to the child's juvenile court case. (5) A copy of the child's birth certificate, passport, or other identifying documentation of age as may be required for enrollment in school and extracurricular activities. (6) The child's State Department of Social Services identification number. (7) The child's Medi-Cal identification number or group health insurance plan number. (8) Medications or treatments in effect for the child at the time of placement, and instructions for their use. (9) A plan outlining the child's needs and services, including information on family and sibling visitation. (f) Caregivers should have knowledge of all of the following: (1) Their right to receive notice of all review and permanency hearings concerning the child during the placement. (2) Their right to attend those hearings or submit information they deem relevant to the court in writing. (3) The "Caregiver Information Form" (Judicial Council Form JV-290), which allows the caregiver to provide information directly to the court. (4) Information about and referrals to any existing services, including transportation, translation, training, forms, and other available services. (5) The caregiver's obligation to cooperate with any AB 2580 Page 12 reunification, concurrent, or permanent planning for the child. (6) Any known siblings or half-siblings of the child, whether the child has, expects, or desires to have contact or visitation with any or all siblings, and how and when caregivers facilitate the contact or visitation. (g) Courts should know, at the earliest possible date, the interest of the caretaker in providing legal permanency for the child. (h) If a foster child is removed from the caregiver in order to reunify with his or her parent or guardian, the caregiver may indicate to the child's social worker at the time of removal that the caregiver is interested in and willing to provide care for the child should that child be removed from his or her parent or guardian and in need of foster care placement. DOUBLE REFERRAL . This bill has been double-referred. Should this bill pass out of this committee, it will be referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support County of Yolo Board of Supervisors Opposition Children's Law Center of California (CLC) AB 2580 Page 13 Juvenile Court Judges of California Analysis Prepared by:Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089