BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Senator McGuire, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 524
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|Author: |Lara |
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|Version: |April 14, 2015 |Hearing |April 28, 2015 |
| | |Date: | |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Sara Rogers |
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Subject: Private alternative therapeutic institutions for youth
SUMMARY
This bill will establish the licensure and regulation category
of "private alternative therapeutic institution for youth,"
defined to mean any residential facility or program operated by
a private entity with a focus on serving persons 18 years of age
and younger with emotional, behavioral, or mental health issues
or disorders, as specified.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1)Establishes the Community Care Facilities Act, which provides
for the licensure and regulation by the California Department
of Social Services (CDSS) of nonmedical residential and
non-residential facilities for mentally ill, developmentally
and physically disabled individuals, and children and adults
who require care or services. (HSC Section 1500 et seq.)
2)Defines "residential facility" to mean a family home, group
care facility, or similar facility providing 24-hour
nonmedical care to persons in need of personal services,
supervision, or assistance that is essential for sustaining
the activities of daily living, or for the protection of the
individual. (HSC 1502 (a) (1))
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3)Prohibits the operation of an unlicensed community care
facility, defined as a facility providing, or representing
that it provides, care or supervision; or a facility which
accepts residents demonstrating the need for care and
supervision; or which represents itself as a licensed
community care facility, that is not exempted from licensure.
(HSC 1503.5)
4)Exempts specified facilities from the requirements of the
Community Care Facilities Act, including a health facility or
clinic, as defined, a juvenile placement facility approved by
the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of
Juvenile Justice or any juvenile hall operated by a county,
any child day care facility, foster homes, any facility
conducted for the adherents of any well-recognized church or
religious denomination who depend upon prayer or spiritual
means for healing in the practice of the church or
denomination, any school dormitory or similar facility
determined by the department, any facility that supplies board
and room only, or room only, recovery houses providing group
living arrangements, and others. (HSC 1505)
This bill:
1)Makes legislative findings and declarations regarding private
nontraditional treatment programs serving youth with
behavioral issues, noting thousands of allegations of abuse,
including death, and that former students have formed national
and local organizations to expose the trauma and abuse they
experienced at such facilities.
2)Defines "private alternative therapeutic institution for
youth" to mean any residential facility or program operated by
a private entity with a focus on serving persons 18 years of
age and younger with emotional, behavioral, or mental health
issues or disorders which provides the following:
A program with wilderness or outdoor experience,
expedition, or intervention.
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A boot camp experience or other experience designed to
simulate characteristics of basic military training or
correctional regimes.
A therapeutic boarding school.
A behavior modification program.
1)Prohibits a person or specified entity from operating,
establishing, managing, conducting, or maintaining a private
alternative therapeutic institution for youth, unless the
facility is licensed by the department.
2)Requires CDSS to adopt regulations no later than June 1, 2016,
establishing oversight and monitoring of private alternative
therapeutic institutions for youth that, at a minimum, ensure
the physical and mental well-being of youth in those
institutions, and create mandated personal rights for those
youth.
3)Provides that a school dormitory or similar facility that is a
private alternative therapeutic institution for youth, as
defined, is not exempt from licensure.
FISCAL IMPACT
This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal committee.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Purpose of the bill:
According to the author, in recent decades hundreds of
alternative treatment institutions have been established for
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youth with emotional or behavioral problems nationwide and
abroad. The author states that such institutions exist across
the state and provide services in a range of settings, from
residential boarding school facilities to military style
academies and boot camps, and offer a range of services such as
behavioral programs, emotional counseling, or drug and alcohol
treatment.
The author further states that many young people have
experienced abuse, neglect, and even death at these unregulated
institutions. According to the author, survivors report being
denied medical care, and subjected to corporal punishment,
solitary confinement, gender and sexual orientation
discrimination, and non-medically sound therapeutic practices.
The author notes that children's residential facilities that
receive state or federal funding are required to be licensed by
the state. However, according to the author, children sent by
their parents or guardians to participate in private programs do
not experience the same protections. The author further states
that, currently in California, residential boarding schools are
exempt from state licensing and do not have any oversight beyond
filing a one-page affidavit with the California Department of
Education. The current lack of oversight and regulations over
private institutions has opened up California's vulnerable youth
to abuse, according to the author.
Private Children's Residential Facilities
Private, self-described "therapeutic boarding schools,"
"wilderness programs," "residential treatment centers," or
"reform schools" are 24-hour residential facilities serving
children and adolescents who face emotional, mental, academic,
physical or social challenges. In some instances, facilities may
be licensed as a residential group home or a residential
community treatment facility. However, there are facilities and
programs in the state that are unlicensed and either relying on
the exemption for "school dormitories" provided for in statute
(HSC 1505) or because there is no licensing provision
pertaining to wilderness camps or boot camps. Additionally,
numerous programs advertise a presence in California,
maintaining corporate offices in-state, with the facility itself
located another state such as Utah or Texas, which have minimal
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regulatory oversight.
According to the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and
Programs (NATSAP), its members "provide residential, therapeutic
and/or education services to children, adolescents and young
adults entrusted to them by parents and guardians. The common
mission of NATSAP members is to promote the healthy growth,
learning, motivation, and personal well-being of program
participants. The objective of member therapeutic and
educational programs is to provide excellent treatment for
program participants; treatment that is rooted in concern for
their well-being and growth; respect for them as human beings;
and sensitivity to their individual needs and integrity."<1>
One for-profit corporation operating over two dozen facilities
nationwide, for example, recently operated an unlicensed
year-round 24-hour residential facility in Reedley, marketed as
serving teens struggling with their weight. The Reedley campus
was a self-described college preparatory school for grades 8-12,
that promised families that children enrolled "achieve immediate
and dramatic weight loss from thorough Diet and Activity
Management," and that they "undergo behavioral change through
intensive cognitive-behavioral therapy, retraining the brain to
make better decisions with regard to diet and physical activity
as well as addressing other behavioral issues that may be
causing (or resulting from) the weight."<2>
Safety and Abuse Concerns
Aspen Education Group, which operates more than two dozen
facilities across the nation, including one in California, has
been the subject of numerous lawsuits and accusations of abuse
and neglect including incidents of "sexualized role play."
---------------------------
<1> http://www.natsap.org/natsap-principles/
<2> National Assoc of Therapeutic Schools. 2011 Directory.
http://n.b5z.net/i/u/10044700/f/NATSAP_2011.pdf
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In 2004, a 14-year-old boy died in an Aspen wilderness program
after hiking several miles in 90-degree weather. Reportedly, "a
combination of excessive heat, a constrictive uniform, and
Matthew's obesity caused his body to overheat. He suffered
severe heatstroke requiring immediate medical attention however
program staffers ignored complaints and the youth died an hour
later at the hospital. In 2012, a mother sued Aspen alleging
that her 15-year-old daughter was subjected to hours of stress
positions, threats of suffocation, exposure to animal abuse and
regular public humiliation. On December 11, 2013, the case was
dismissed under the two-year statute of limitations that applies
for claims involving a health care provider.
General Accounting Office report
A US General Accounting Office report entitled, "Residential
Facilities: Improved Data and Enhanced Oversight Would Help
Safeguard the Well-Being of Youth with Behavioral and Emotional
Challenges" from May, 2008 evaluated regulatory oversight of
residential facilities serving children, including private
facilities receiving no government funding. The report
identified gaps in regulatory oversight and licensure of private
residential facilities serving youth and states:
Licensing all facilities, public or private, can help
ensure that residential facilities meet the relevant
standards for protecting youth well-being...
Facility licensing is also important because parents and
others considering placing youth in private facilities at
their own expense do not always have the information they
need to screen facilities and make an informed decision. In
our testimony on private facilities last October, we
described cases in which program leaders told parents their
programs could provide services that they were not
qualified to offer, claimed to have credentials in therapy
or medicine that they did not have, and led parents to
trust them with youth who had serious mental disabilities.
One national association for programs serving youth with
behavioral and emotional difficulties testified before
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Congress that state licensing was important because the
field does not currently have the capacity to certify
facility integrity.
Weaknesses in the current federal-state regulatory
structure have failed to safeguard the civil rights and
well-being of some of the nation's most vulnerable youth.
Alliance for the Safe, Therapeutic and Appropriate use of
Residential Treatment
The Alliance for the Safe, Therapeutic and Appropriate use of
Residential Treatment (ASTART) a self-described "community of
professionals, family members and survivors working to protect
children from abuse and neglect in residential programs" states
that private therapeutic boarding schools and residential
programs for youth often isolate children from parents and
advocates. The organization states that contact with parents and
the outside world is often limited and that "survivors
consistently report that scheduled calls with parents are
permitted only rarely, if at all, and are strictly monitored and
controlled. Calls are never granted at the request of the child
who feels they may be in danger. Mail, if allowed, is censored
and/or withheld. The teens almost never see their parents-a few
days a year at most-and family members are rarely, if ever,
allowed to visit.
Additionally, ASTART states that "nearly all youth we've talked
to who were confined in these facilities tell us they were
required to attend harsh, confrontational group "rap" groups two
to three times per week for two to four hours. In these sessions
they were forced to accuse and yell at each other. One student
becomes the focus of debasing verbal attacks by the group. The
attacks go on until the teen is humiliated and sobbing.
Survivors tell us that when they did not participate in
attacking another teen, they risked being attacked themselves.
These abusive "group therapy" sessions take the place of up to
12 hours of class time each week."
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Related legislation:
SB 1089 (Liu, 2010) would have defined "private nontraditional
alternative treatment facility for youth," as any residential or
nonresidential facility or program operated by an organization
that provides aggressive nontraditional punitive, retaliatory,
aversive, or military style behavioral treatment or intervention
services for youth, and prohibits their use in California
without accreditation by specific entities. Failed passage in
the Assembly Appropriations Committee 2012.
COMMENTS
The author proposes the following amendments to provide
additional direction to CDSS in establishing regulatory
oversight of these facilities. These amendments provide for a
new licensing category "private residential care facilities for
youth" as defined, and establishing a series of rights for youth
residents, as specified, and clarifying that facilities
providing certain mental health and drug dependency services be
certified by the California Department of Health Care Services
in accordance with requirements applicable to other community
care facilities.
Staff recommends the author continue discussions with CDSS to
clarify regulatory provisions pertaining to the licensing of
wilderness camps that do not have a brick-and-mortar facility
serving residents.
POSITIONS
Support:
American Civil Liberties Union of California
Equality California
Gender Health Center
LGBTQ Center of Long Beach
Transgender Law Center
WWASP Survivors
Opposition:
None.
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Amendments Mock-up for 2015-2016 SB-524 (Lara (S))
*********Amendments are in BOLD*********
Mock-up based on Version Number 98 - Amended Senate 4/14/15
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Since the 1990s, hundreds of nontraditional treatment
programs that are intended to be less restrictive treatment
options for children with significant behavioral issues have
been established nationwide, with thousands of allegations of
abuse, including death.
(b) There are currently facilities operating within California
that are not licensed by the State Department of Social
Services.
(c) These facilities are often owned and operated by nonprofit
organizations described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code.
(d) These facilities advertise services for youth with
behavioral issues to families who may feel they have no other
options.
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(e) Former students have formed national and local organizations
to expose the trauma and abuse they experienced at these
facilities.
(f) Students at these facilities are previous victims of trauma,
have experienced parental rejection based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation or gender identity, and have mental health
and substance use issues.
(g) It is the role of the Legislature to ensure proper licensing
and regulation of residential facilities for the protection and
care of all citizens.
(h) It is the intent of the legislature that the State of
California license private residential care for youth as a
community care facility to ensure the safety of children
residing in such facilities.
SEC. 2. Section 1502.2 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
1502.2.
(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions
apply:
(1) "Administrator" means the individual designated by the
licensee to act on behalf of the licensee in the overall
management of the facility. The licensee, if an individual, and
the administrator may be one and the same person.
(2) "Department" means the State Department of Social Services.
(3) "Director" means the Director of Social Services.
(4) "License" means a basic permit to operate a private
residential care facility for youth.
(5) "Private alternative therapeutic institution residential
care facility for youth" means any 24-hour residential facility
or program operated by a private entity providing nonmedical
care, counseling, educational or vocational support to with a
focus on serving persons 18 years of age and younger with
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social, emotional, behavioral, or mental health issues or
disorders, and that including a program that provides any of the
following:
(1) A program with wilderness or outdoor experience, expedition,
or intervention.
(2) A boot camp experience or other experience designed to
simulate characteristics of basic military training or
correctional regimes.
(3) A therapeutic boarding school.
(4) A behavior modification program.
(b) (1) A person, firm, partnership, association, organization,
or corporation shall not operate, establish, manage, conduct, or
maintain a private alternative therapeutic institution
residential care facility for youth, unless the facility is
licensed by the department.
(c) The department shall adopt regulations no later than June 1,
2016, establishing oversight and monitoring of private
alternative therapeutic institutions for youth that, at a
minimum, ensure the physical and mental well-being of youth in
those institutions, and create mandated personal rights for
those youth.
(2) The department shall inspect and license private residential
care facilities for youth as a community care facility. A
license is not transferable.
(d) (c) The department shall not license a private alternative
therapeutic institution residential care facility for youth
unless all therapeutic components of the programs provided at
the institution are licensed by the appropriate agency or
department.
(d) Any person or entity desiring issuance of a license for a
private residential care facility for youth under this chapter
shall file an application on forms furnished by the department.
The application shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
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(1) Evidence satisfactory to the department of the ability of
the applicant to comply with this section and any rules and
regulations adopted by the department under this section.
(2) (A) Evidence satisfactory to the department that the
applicant is of reputable and responsible character.
(B) The evidence shall include, but not be limited to, all of
the following:
(i)(I) A criminal record clearance pursuant to Section 1522. The
law enforcement agency from which a criminal record is requested
may charge a reasonable fee sufficient to cover its cost in
providing the criminal record in accordance with this paragraph.
(II) The department shall review the criminal record to
determine whether the applicant has ever been convicted of a
crime other than a minor traffic violation or arrested for any
crime specified in subdivision (c) of Section 290 of the Penal
Code, or for violating Section 245, 273ab, or 273.5, subdivision
(b) of Section 273a, or, prior to January 1, 1994, paragraph (2)
of Section 273a, of the Penal Code, or for any crime for which
the department is prohibited from granting a criminal record
exemption. If the applicant has been convicted of one of these
crimes, the department shall not license the applicant.
(ii) Employment history.
(iii) Character references.
(C) If the applicant is a firm, association, organization,
partnership, business trust, corporation, or company, the
evidence required by this paragraph shall be submitted for
members or shareholders of the entity and the person who will
act as administrator.
(3) Evidence satisfactory to the department that the applicant
has sufficient financial resources to maintain the standards of
service required by this section and regulations adopted
pursuant to this section.
(4) Disclosure of any revocation or other disciplinary action
taken, or in the process of being taken, against a license held
or previously held by applicant.
(5) Evidence satisfactory to the department of the applicant's
ability to meet regulatory requirements for the level of care
the applicant intends to provide.
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(6) Evidence satisfactory to the department of adequate
knowledge of supportive services and other community supports
which may be necessary to meet the needs of youth residents.
(7) Designation by the applicant of the individual who will be
the administrator of the facility, including, if the applicant
is an individual, whether or not the licensee will also be the
administrator.
(8) A signed statement that the person desiring issuance of a
license has read and understood the private residential care
facility for youth statutes and regulations.
(9) Any other information as may be required by the department
for the proper administration and enforcement of this chapter.
(10) The facilities plan of operation in accordance with Section
80022 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.
(e) A prospective applicant for licensure shall be notified at
the time of the initial request for information regarding
application for licensure that, prior to obtaining licensure,
the facility shall secure and maintain a fire clearance approval
from the local fire enforcing agency, as defined in Section
13244, or the State Fire Marshal, whichever has primary fire
protection jurisdiction. The prospective applicant shall be
notified of the provisions of Section 13235, relating to the
fire safety clearance application. The prospective applicant for
licensure shall be notified that the fire clearance shall be in
accordance with state and local fire safety regulations.
(f) Failure of the applicant to cooperate with the department
in the completion of the application shall result in the denial
of the application. Failure to cooperate means that the
information described in this section and in regulations of the
department has not been provided, or not provided in the form
requested by the department, or both.
(g) Any duly authorized officer, employee, or agent of the
department may, upon presentation of proper identification,
enter and inspect any place providing personal care,
supervision, and services at any time, with or without advance
notice, to secure compliance with, or to prevent a violation of,
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this chapter.
(h) (1) The department may charge a reasonable application fee
adjusted by facility and capacity for the issuance of a license
to operate private residential care facilities for youth.
(2) The department may also charge an annual regulatory fee on
each anniversary of the effective date of the license.
(3) The Legislature finds that all revenues generated by fees
for licenses computed under this section and used for the
purposes for which they were imposed are not subject to Article
XIII B of the California Constitution.
(i) (1) The Legislature finds that the quality of services
provided to residents of a private residential care facility for
youth is dependent upon the training and skills of staff. It is
the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to ensure
that a direct-care staff member has the knowledge and
proficiency to carry out the tasks of his or her job.
(2) A staff members of a private residential care facility for
youth who supervises residents shall receive appropriate
training. This training shall consist of 10 hours of training
within the first four weeks of employment and eight hours
annually thereafter. This training shall be administered on the
job, or in a classroom setting, or any combination of the two.
The department shall establish the subject matter required for
this training.
(3) The training shall be approved by the department and shall
include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) Residents' rights as described in subdivision (j).
(B) Psychosocial needs of youth.
(C) Appropriate response to emergencies.
(4) Physical needs for youth residents.
(5) Cultural competency and sensitivity in issues relating to
the underserved, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
community.
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(6) Laws and regulations pertaining to community care facilities
and private residential care programs for youth.
(j) Residents of a private residential care facility for youth
shall have all of the following rights:
(1) To be accorded dignity in their personal relationships with
staff, residents, and other persons.
(2) To be granted a reasonable level of personal privacy in
accommodations, medical care, personal care and assistance,
visits, written and electronic communications, and telephone
conversations.
(3) To confidential care of their records and personal
information and to approve their release, except as authorized
by law.
(4) To care, supervision, and services that meet their
individual needs and are delivered by staff that are sufficient
in numbers, qualifications, and competency to meet their needs
and ensure their safety.
(5) To be served food of the quality and in the quantity
necessary to meet their nutritional needs.
(6) To present grievances and recommend changes in policies,
procedures, and services to the staff of the facility, the
facility's management and governing authority, and to any other
person without restraint, coercion, discrimination, reprisal, or
other retaliatory actions. The licensee shall take prompt
actions to respond to residents' grievances.
(7) To have frequent contact with parents or guardians including
scheduled and unscheduled phone calls, unrestricted
correspondence, and electronic communications.
(8) To be fully informed, as evidenced by the resident's written
acknowledgement, prior to or at the time of admission, of all
rules governing residents' conduct and responsibilities.
(9) To receive in the admission agreement information that
details the planned treatments and care for the resident.
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(10) For parents or guardians to remove youth from a facility.
(11) To consent to have relatives and other individuals of the
resident's choosing visit or call during reasonable hours,
privately and without prior notice.
(12) To be free of corporal punishment, depravation of basic
necessities, including education, as a punishment or incentive,
and physical restraints of any kind.
(13) To receive supportive mental and emotional health-related
services from trained staff who are licensed or are overseen by
licensed mental health professionals.
(14) To be free from abusive, humiliating, degrading and
traumatizing activities.
(k) A community care facility licensed as a private residential
care facility for youth pursuant to this chapter shall not
accept for placement, and provide care and supervision to, a
child assessed as seriously emotionally disturbed unless the
facility has been certified by the State Department of Social
Services pursuant to Section 4096.5 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code as a program that provides mental health
treatment services for seriously emotionally disturbed children.
(1) "Seriously emotionally disturbed" means the same as
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 5600.3 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code.
(l) A community care facility licensed as a private residential
care facility for youth shall not advertise or promote services
designed to promote treatment and maintain recovery from alcohol
or drug problems which includes one or more of the following:
detoxification, group sessions, individual sessions, educational
sessions, and/or alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment
planning unless the facility has been licensed as an alcoholism
or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility pursuant to Section
11834.01.
(m) A community care facility licensed as a private residential
care facility for youth shall not provide secure containment or
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use restraints of any kind unless the program components are
subject to program standards developed and enforced by the State
Department of Mental Health pursuant to Section 4094 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code.
(n) A community care facility licensed as a private residential
care facility for youth is not an eligible placement option
pursuant to Sections 319, 361.2, 450, and 727 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code.
(o) A community care facility licensed as a private residential
care facility for youth shall not be eligible for a rate
pursuant to Section 11462 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(p) A community care facility licensed as a private residential
care facility for youth shall not accept children under the age
of 12 for residential placement.
(q) A licensee of a private residential care facility for youth
that advertises or promotes special care, programming, or
environments for persons with a mental health, emotional, or
social related challenge, shall provide to each prospective
resident and their parent or guardian an accurate narrative
description of these programs and services. The description
shall be provided in writing prior to admission.
SEC. 3. Section 1505 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
1505. This chapter does not apply to any of the following:
(a) Any health facility, as defined by Section 1250.
(b) Any clinic, as defined by Section 1202.
(c) Any juvenile placement facility approved by the Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice,
or any juvenile hall operated by a county.
(d) Any place in which a juvenile is judicially placed pursuant
to subdivision (a) of Section 727 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code.
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(e) Any child day care facility, as defined in Section 1596.750.
(f) Any facility conducted by and for the adherents of any
well-recognized church or religious denomination for the purpose
of providing facilities for the care or treatment of the sick
who depend solely upon prayer or spiritual means for healing in
the practice of the religion of the church or denomination.
(g) Any school dormitory or similar facility determined by the
department, except a private alternative therapeutic institution
residential care facility for youth as defined in Section
1502.2.
(h) Any house, institution, hotel, homeless shelter, or other
similar place that supplies board and room only, or room only,
or board only, provided that no resident thereof requires any
element of care as determined by the director.
(i) Recovery houses or other similar facilities providing group
living arrangements for persons adults recovering from
alcoholism or drug addiction where the facility provides no care
or supervision.
(j) Any alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility
serving adults, as defined by Section 11834.11.
(k) Any arrangement for the receiving and care of persons by a
relative or any arrangement for the receiving and care of
persons from only one family by a close friend of the parent,
guardian, or conservator, if the arrangement is not for
financial profit and occurs only occasionally and irregularly,
as defined by regulations of the department. For purposes of
this chapter, arrangements for the receiving and care of persons
by a relative shall include relatives of the child for the
purpose of keeping sibling groups together.
(l) (1) Any home of a relative caregiver of children who are
placed by a juvenile court, supervised by the county welfare or
probation department, and the placement of whom is approved
according to subdivision (d) of Section 309 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code.
(2) Any home of a nonrelative extended family member, as
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described in Section 362.7 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
providing care to children who are placed by a juvenile court,
supervised by the county welfare or probation department, and
the placement of whom is approved according to subdivision (d)
of Section 309 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(3) On and after January 1, 2012, any supervised independent
living placement for nonminor dependents, as defined in
subdivision (w) of Section 11400 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, who are placed by the juvenile court, supervised by the
county welfare department, probation department, Indian tribe,
consortium of tribes, or tribal organization that entered into
an agreement pursuant to Section 10553.1 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, and whose placement is approved pursuant to
subdivision (k) of Section 11400 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code.
(4) A Transitional Housing Program-Plus, as defined in
subdivision (s) of Section 11400 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, that serves only eligible former foster youth over 18
years of age who have exited from the foster care system on or
after their 18th birthday, and that has obtained certification
from the applicable county in accordance with subdivision (c) of
Section 16522 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(m) Any supported living arrangement for individuals with
developmental disabilities, as defined in Section 4689 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code.
(n) (1) Any family home agency, family home, or family teaching
home as defined in Section 4689.1 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, that is vendored by the State Department of
Developmental Services and that does any of the following:
(A) As a family home approved by a family home agency, provides
24-hour care for one or two adults with developmental
disabilities in the residence of the family home provider or
providers and the family home provider or providers' family, and
the provider is not licensed by the State Department of Social
Services or the State Department of Public Health or certified
by a licensee of the State Department of Social Services or the
State Department of Public Health.
(B) As a family teaching home approved by a family home agency,
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provides 24-hour care for a maximum of three adults with
developmental disabilities in independent residences, whether
contiguous or attached, and the provider is not licensed by the
State Department of Social Services or the State Department of
Public Health or certified by a licensee of the State Department
of Social Services or the State Department of Public Health.
(C) As a family home agency, engages in recruiting, approving,
and providing support to family homes.
(2) No part of this subdivision shall be construed as
establishing by implication either a family home agency or
family home licensing category.
(o) Any facility in which only Indian children who are eligible
under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (Chapter 21
(commencing with Section 1901) of Title 25 of the United States
Code) are placed and that is one of the following:
(1) An extended family member of the Indian child, as defined in
Section 1903 of Title 25 of the United States Code.
(2) A foster home that is licensed, approved, or specified by
the Indian child's tribe pursuant to Section 1915 of Title 25 of
the United States Code.
(p) (1) (A) Any housing occupied by elderly or disabled persons,
or both, that is initially approved and operated under a
regulatory agreement pursuant to Section 202 of Public Law
86-372 (12 U.S.C. Sec. 1701q), or Section 811 of Public Law
101-625 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 8013), or whose mortgage is insured
pursuant to Section 236 of Public Law 90-448 (12 U.S.C. Sec.
1715z), or that receives mortgage assistance pursuant to Section
221d (3) of Public Law 87-70 (12 U.S.C. Sec. 1715l), where
supportive services are made available to residents at their
option, as long as the project owner or operator does not
contract for or provide the supportive services.
(B) Any housing that qualifies for a low-income housing credit
pursuant to Section 252 of Public Law 99-514 (26 U.S.C. Sec. 42)
or that is subject to the requirements for rental dwellings for
low-income families pursuant to Section 8 of Public Law 93-383
(42 U.S.C. Sec. 1437f), and that is occupied by elderly or
disabled persons, or both, where supportive services are made
SB 524 (Lara) PageU
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available to residents at their option, as long as the project
owner or operator does not contract for or provide the
supportive services.
(2) The project owner or operator to which paragraph (1) applies
may coordinate, or help residents gain access to, the supportive
services, either directly, or through a service coordinator.
(q) A resource family, as defined in Section 16519.5 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code
(r) Any similar facility determined by the director.
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.