Senate Bill No. 484

Introduced by Senator Beall

(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Chiu)

(Coauthors: Senators Mitchell and Monning)

February 26, 2015

An act to amend Section 1536 of, and to add Section 1538.8 to, the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Section 11469 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to juveniles.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 484, as introduced, Beall. Juveniles.

(1) The California Community Care Facilities Act provides for the licensure and regulation of community care facilities, including foster family homes and group homes, by the State Department of Social Services. A violation of this act is a misdemeanor.

Existing law requires the department director, at least annually, to publish and make available to interested persons a list covering all licensed community care facilities, except as specified, and the services for which each facility has been licensed or issued a special permit.

This bill would require the department director to include in that list specified information regarding administering psychotropic medications to children in those facilities. The bill would also require the department, if it determines based on that information that a facility is administering psychotropic medications to children at a rate exceeding the average authorization for all group homes, to inspect that facility at least once a year to examine specified factors that contribute to the high utilization of psychotropic medications. The bill would require an inspected facility to submit to the department, within 60 days of that inspection, a corrective action plan including steps the facility shall take to reduce the utilization of psychotropic medications. The bill would require the department to monitor the facility’s implementation of that plan and make a report, as provided. Because this bill would create a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2) Existing law requires the department, on or before January 1, 2016, in consultation with specified associations and other stakeholders, to develop additional performance standards and outcome measures that require group homes to implement programs and services to minimize law enforcement contacts with minors in group homes or under supervision of group home staff.

This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2017, in consultation with specified associations and other stakeholders, to develop additional performance standards and outcome measures that require group homes to implement programs and services to reduce utilization of psychotropic medications for children in group homes. The bill would also delete an obsolete provision.

(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 1536 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:

1536.  

(a) (1) At least annually, the director shall publish and
make available to interested persons a list or lists covering all
licensed community care facilities, other than foster family homes
and certified family homes of foster family agencies providing
24-hour care for six or fewer foster children, and the services for
which each facility has been licensed or issued a special permit.

(2) For a group home, transitional housing placement provider,
community treatment facility, or runaway and homeless youth
shelter, the list shall include begin delete both end delete begin insert all end insert of the following:

(A) The number of licensing complaints, types of complaint,
and outcomes of complaints, including citations, fines, exclusion
orders, license suspensions, revocations, and surrenders.

(B) The number, types, and outcomes of law enforcement
contacts made by the facility staff or children, as reported pursuant
to subdivision (a) of Section 1538.7.

begin insert

(C) The number of children administered psychotropic
medications in the facility, and all off the following information
pertaining to those children:

end insert begin insert

(1) The number of children for whom the juvenile court
preauthorized the administration of the psychotropic medication.

end insert begin insert

(2) The number of children administered psychotropic
medication on an emergency basis.

end insert begin insert

(3) The number of those children who are 6 to 11 years of age,
inclusive.

end insert begin insert

(4) The number of those children who are 12 to 17 years of age,
inclusive.

end insert begin insert

(5) The number of children administered an antipsychotic, mood
stabilizing, or antidepressant medication.

end insert begin insert

(6) The number of children administered two or more drugs
from the same class, including, but not limited to, antidepressants,
antipsychotics, antianxiety medications.

end insert begin insert

(7) The number of children administered two, three, four, or
more psychotropic medications concurrently.

end insert begin insert

(8) The number of children administered one or more
medications for longer than 90 days.

end insert begin insert

(9) The number of children terminated from the program due
to the child’s refusal to take psychotropic medication.

end insert

(b) Subject to subdivision (c), to encourage the recruitment of
foster family homes and certified family homes of foster family
agencies, protect their personal privacy, and to preserve the security
and confidentiality of the placements in the homes, the names,
addresses, and other identifying information of facilities licensed
as foster family homes and certified family homes of foster family
agencies providing 24-hour care for six or fewer children shall be
considered personal information for purposes of the Information
Practices Act of 1977 (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1798)
of Title 1.8 of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code). This
information shall not be disclosed by any state or local agency
pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the
Government Code), except as necessary for administering the
licensing program, facilitating the placement of children in these
facilities, and providing names and addresses only to bona fide
professional foster parent organizations upon request.

(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the department, a county,
or a foster family agency may request information from, or divulge
information to, the department, a county, or a foster family agency,
regarding a prospective certified parent, foster parent, or relative
caregiver for the purpose of, and as necessary to, conduct a
reference check to determine whether it is safe and appropriate to
license, certify, or approve an applicant to be a certified parent,
foster parent, or relative caregiver.

(d) The department may issue a citation and, after the issuance
of that citation, may assess a civil penalty of fifty dollars ($50) per
day for each instance of a foster family agency’s failure to provide
the department with the information required by subdivision (h)
of Section 88061 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.

(e) The Legislature encourages the department, when funds are
available for this purpose, to develop a database that would include
all of the following information:

(1) Monthly reports by a foster family agency regarding family
homes.

(2) A log of family homes certified and decertified, provided
by a foster family agency to the department.

(3) Notification by a foster family agency to the department
informing the department of a foster family agency’s determination
to decertify a certified family home due to any of the following
actions by the certified family parent:

(A) Violating licensing rules and regulations.

(B) Aiding, abetting, or permitting the violation of licensing
rules and regulations.

(C) Conducting oneself in a way that is inimical to the health,
morals, welfare, or safety of a child placed in that certified family
home.

(D) Being convicted of a crime while a certified family parent.

(E) Knowingly allowing any child to have illegal drugs or
alcohol.

(F) Committing an act of child abuse or neglect or an act of
violence against another person.

SEC. 2.  

Section 1538.8 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:

1538.8.  

(a) If the department, based upon the information
gathered pursuant to Section 1536, determines that the children
and adolescents in a facility are administered psychotropic
medications at a rate that exceeds the average authorization for all
group homes, the department shall inspect the facility at least once
a year to examine the policies, procedures, practices, child-to-staff
ratios, staff training, and other factors that the department
determines contribute to the high utilization of psychotropic
medications.

(b) A facility inspected pursuant to subdivision (a) shall submit
to the department a corrective action plan within 60 days of that
inspection. The plan shall address the steps that the facility shall
take to reduce the utilization of psychotropic medications among
residents.

(c) The department shall monitor a facility’s implementation of
its corrective action plan to determine both of the following:

(1) Whether the facility has reduced the rate at which residents
are administered psychotropic medications, and, if so, the
percentage decrease in the administration of those medications.

(2) Whether and to what extent alternative, less invasive
treatments are being provided to residents.

(d) Following an inspection pursuant to subdivision (a), the
Community Care Licensing Division shall provide a report to the
department’s Children and Family Services Division and to any
other public agency that has certified the facility’s program or any
component of the facility’s program, including, but not limited to,
the State Department of Health Care Services, which certifies
group homes pursuant to Section 4096.5 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code.

SEC. 3.  

Section 11469 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:

11469.  

(a) The department, in consultation with group home
providers, the County Welfare Directors Association, the Chief
Probation Officers of California, the California Mental Health
Directors Association, and the State Department of Health Care
Services, shall develop performance standards and outcome
measures for determining the effectiveness of the care and
supervision, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 11460,
provided by group homes under the AFDC-FC program pursuant
to Sections 11460 and 11462. These standards shall be designed
to measure group home program performance for the client group
that the group home program is designed to serve.

(1) The performance standards and outcome measures shall be
designed to measure the performance of group home programs in
areas over which the programs have some degree of influence, and
in other areas of measurable program performance that the
department can demonstrate are areas over which group home
programs have meaningful managerial or administrative influence.

(2) These standards and outcome measures shall include, but
are not limited to, the effectiveness of services provided by each
group home program, and the extent to which the services provided
by the group home assist in obtaining the child welfare case plan
objectives for the child.

(3) In addition, when the group home provider has identified
as part of its program for licensing, ratesetting, or county placement
purposes, or has included as a part of a child’s case plan by mutual
agreement between the group home and the placing agency,
specific mental health, education, medical, and other child-related
services, the performance standards and outcome measures may
also measure the effectiveness of those services.

(b) Regulations regarding the implementation of the group home
performance standards system required by this section shall be
adopted no later than one year prior to implementation. The
regulations shall specify both the performance standards system
and the manner by which the AFDC-FC rate of a group home
program shall be adjusted if performance standards are not met.

(c) Except as provided in subdivision (d), effective July 1, 1995,
group home performance standards shall be implemented. Any
group home program not meeting the performance standards shall
have its AFDC-FC rate, set pursuant to Section 11462, adjusted
according to the regulations required by this section.

(d)  begin delete Effective July 1, 1995, group end delete begin insert A group end insert home begin delete programs end delete
begin insert program end insert shall be classified at rate classification level 13 or 14
only if all of the following are met:

(1) The program generates the requisite number of points for
rate classification level 13 or 14.

(2) The program only accepts children with special treatment
needs as determined through the assessment process pursuant to
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 11462.01.

(3) The program meets the performance standards designed
pursuant to this section.

(e) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), the group home program
performance standards system shall not be implemented prior to
the implementation of the AFDC-FC performance standards
system.

(f)  begin delete By end delete begin insert On or before end insert January 1, 2016, the department, in
consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association, the
Chief Probation Officers of California, the California Mental
Health Directors Association, research entities, foster youth begin delete and end delete begin insert , end insert
advocates for foster youth, foster care provider business entities
organized and operated on a nonprofit basis, Indian tribes, and
other stakeholders, shall develop additional performance standards
and outcome measures that require group homes to implement
programs and services to minimize law enforcement contacts and
delinquency petition filings arising from incidents of allegedly
unlawful behavior by minors occurring in group homes or under
the supervision of group home staff, including individualized
behavior management programs, emergency intervention plans,
and conflict resolution processes.

begin insert

(g) On or before January 1, 2017, the department, in
consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association, the
Chief Probation Officers of California, the California Mental
Health Directors Association, research entities, foster youth,
advocates for foster youth, foster care provider business entities
organized and operated on a nonprofit basis, Indian tribes, and
other stakeholders, shall develop additional performance standards
and outcome measures that require group homes to implement
programs and services to reduce the utilization of psychotropic
medications for children in group homes, including individualized
behavior management programs, emergency intervention plans,
and conflict resolution processes.

end insert

SEC. 4.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.