BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 524
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
524 (Lara)
As Amended August 17, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 35-1
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Human Services |7-0 |Chu, Mayes, Calderon, | |
| | |Lopez, Maienschein, | |
| | |Mark Stone, Thurmond | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |16-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, | |
| | |Nazarian, Eggman, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Holden, Jones, Quirk, | |
| | |Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
SB 524
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SUMMARY: Establishes a new type of community care facility - a
private or public residential care facility for youth - and
provides for its licensure and regulation. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Makes Legislative findings and declarations related to
nontraditional treatment programs for children, including that
such facilities: receive numerous allegations of abuse,
including death; currently operate unlicensed in California;
advertise services for youth who may feel they have no other
options; and have students who may have been previous victims
of trauma, experienced parental rejection based on actual or
perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, and have
mental health and substance use issues. Further, states the
intent of the Legislature that the state license private or
public residential care facilities for youth as community care
facilities to ensure the safety of children residing in those
facilities.
2)Defines "private or public residential care facility for
youth" as a facility or program licensed by the Department of
Social Services (DSS) as a community care facility to provide
nonmedical care, counseling, or education or vocational
support to persons under the age of 18 with social, emotional,
behavioral, or mental health issues or disorders. Further,
specifies that a private or public residential care facility
for youth may provide any of the following: a program with
wilderness or outdoor experience, expedition, or intervention;
a boot camp or related experience; a therapeutic boarding
school; or a behavior modification program.
3)Requires DSS to license a private or public residential care
facility for youth as a community care facility.
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4)Prohibits DSS from licensing a private or public residential
care facility for youth unless all therapeutic components of
the programs provided are appropriately licensed.
5)Requires staff members of private or public residential care
facility for youth who supervise residents to receive
training, as specified. Further, specifies components to be
included in a private or public residential care facility for
youth's training plan, including components that DSS shall
establish by adopting regulations, and requires the facility
to submit its training plan to DSS for approval prior to
implementing it.
6)States that a staff member of a private or public residential
care facility for youth is a mandated child abuse reporter,
pursuant to current law.
7)Enumerates rights of residents of private or public
residential care facilities for youth, including, but not
limited to, the right to: be free of corporal punishment,
deprivation of basic necessities, including education, as a
punishment, deterrent, or incentive, and physical restraints
of any kind; be free from abusive, humiliating, degrading, or
traumatizing actions; be accorded dignity in his or her
relationships; and have frequent contact with parents or
guardians. Further, requires a list of these rights to be
publically posted and accessible to residents.
8)Prohibits a private or public residential care facility for
youth from accepting for placement or providing services to a
child assessed as seriously emotionally disturbed, with
exceptions as specified.
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9)Prohibits a private or public residential care facility for
youth from advertising or otherwise promoting services, as
specified, related to alcohol or drug use treatment unless the
facility has been licensed accordingly.
10)Prohibits a private or public residential care facility for
youth from using secure containment or restraints of any kind,
with specified exceptions.
11)States that a private or public residential care facility for
youth is not an eligible placement option for dependents or
wards of the court, and is not eligible for a foster care
group home rate.
12)Prohibits a private or public residential care facility for
youth from accepting for residential placement any child under
the age of 12.
13)Requires a licensee of a private or public residential care
facility for youth that advertises or otherwise promotes
special care, programming, or environments for persons with
mental health, emotional, or social challenges to provide
prospective residents and their parents or guardians with a
written description of its programs and services prior to
admission.
14)Makes conforming technical changes.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the California Community Care Facilities Act to
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provide for the licensure and regulation of community care
facilities. (Health and Safety Code (HSC) Section 1500 et
seq.)
2)Defines "community care facility" to mean any facility, place,
or building that is maintained and operated to provide
nonmedical residential care, day treatment, adult day care, or
foster family agency services for children, adults, or
children and adults, including, but not limited to,
individuals with physical disabilities or mental impairments
and abused or neglected children. Includes within this
definition, among a number of other facilities: group homes,
foster family homes, small family homes, full-service adoption
agencies, noncustodial adoption agencies, and transitional
shelters. (HSC Section 1502)
3)Requires community care facilities operating in California, as
specified, to have a valid license. (HSC Section 1503.5)
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill may result in the following costs:
1)One-time costs to DSS potentially in excess of $250,000
(General Fund) to develop two sets of regulations for the new
licensure category, for the establishment of the new
regulatory category as well as for the training plan
requirements for these programs.
2)Potentially significant ongoing costs likely in excess of
$500,000 (General Fund) to the DSS Community Care Licensing
(CCL) Division to license, monitor, and inspect additional
facilities, to be offset by the authority to charge both
application and regulatory fees. Ongoing costs would be
dependent on the number of entities impacted statewide, which
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is unknown and difficult to ascertain, making it difficult to
understand the full cost implications of this bill. To the
extent the number of new licensees is significant, CCL would
require additional field staff for monitoring and oversight.
3)Potential non-reimbursable local enforcement costs, offset to
a degree by fine revenue to the extent licensing and
regulatory violations are enforced and prosecuted.
COMMENTS:
Residential facilities for youth with emotional and behavioral
challenges: In 2008, the United States General Accountability
Office (GAO) released a report entitled, "Residential
Facilities: Improved Data and Enhanced Oversight Would Help
Safeguard the Well-Being of Youth with Behavioral and Emotional
Challenges." This reported described the proliferation since
the 1990s of residential facilities serving youth with
behavioral and emotional challenges. These facilities include
boarding schools and academies, boot camps, and wilderness
camps. Some such facilities have spawned reports of health and
safety risks for the youth who attend them. According to the
GAO report, "annual investigations by the Civil Rights Division
within the Department of Justice, have detailed incidents of
abuse and neglect, which in some cases have been severe enough
to result in hospitalization or death."
Regarding the licensure and regulation of these types of
facilities, the 2008 GAO report observed that:
States are primarily responsible for ensuring the
well-being of youth in facilities and other settings, and
states vary in how they license and monitor facilities in
accordance with individual state standards of care. In
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addition, in return for receiving funds under various
federal grant programs, state agencies agree to comply
with federal program requirements, including those
related to youth well-being. These programs generally
fall under the purview of three federal agencies: The
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides
funds to states for child welfare, mental health, and
substance abuse; the Department of Justice (DOJ), for
serving delinquent youth; and the Department of Education
(Education), for educating youth. These agencies have
authority to hold states accountable for state-operated
or private facilities that serve youth under federally
funded state programs. However, the federal government
does not have oversight authority for other private
facilities that serve only youth placed and funded by
parents or other private entities.
Nonetheless, the federal government has taken note of these
types of facilities and the potentially associated problems.
The existence of a GAO report on the issue is a testament to
this, as were bills introduced in Congress. While it ultimately
didn't pass, the "Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for
Teens Act" was introduced in 2013 (H.R. 1981) and 2014 (S.
2054). This Act would have required certain standards and
enforcement provisions for the prevention of child abuse and
neglect in residential programs.
Need for this bill: According to the author:
Tragically, many young people have experienced horrendous
abuse, neglect, and even death at unregulated boot camps,
wilderness camps, and residential institutions.
Survivors report being denied medical care, corporal
punishment, solitary confinement, discrimination due to
sexual orientation. Often parents and guardians have no
idea that the facility they are sending their child to is
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not held to any standards and does not have any
oversight.
The current lack of oversight and regulations over these
private institutions has opened up California's most
vulnerable youth to abuse. While private institutions
should retain the right to offer the unique programs they
specialize in, all children regardless of where they are
should have their essential health and safety needs met.
Analysis Prepared by:
Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN: 0001606