BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
                               Senator McGuire, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:              SB 731
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          |Author:   |Leno                                                  |
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          |Version:  |February 27, 2015      |Hearing    |April 21, 2015   |
          |          |                       |Date:      |                 |
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          |Urgency:  |No                     |Fiscal:    |Yes              |
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          |Consultant|Sara Rogers                                           |
          |:         |                                                      |
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                Subject:  Foster children:  housing:  gender identity


            SUMMARY
          
          This bill provides that foster children and nonminor dependents  
          in out-of-home care shall be placed according to their gender  
          identity, regardless of the gender or sex listed in their court  
          or child welfare records. Additionally, this bill adds the above  
          requirement to the foster care bill of rights.

            ABSTRACT
          
          Existing law:


          1)Enacts the California Community Care Facilities Act which  
            provides for the licensure and regulation by the California  
            Department of Social Services (CDSS) of community care  
            facilities, as defined, including licensed foster family  
            homes, foster family agencies that certify foster family  
            homes, and group home facilities. (HSC 1500 et. seq)


          2)Establishes the criteria by which a child who has suffered, or  
            is at risk of suffering, significant abuse or harm shall be  
            within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court which may  
            adjudge that person to be a dependent child of the court. (WIC  
            300)  









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           3)Establishes, as the policy of the state, a series of rights  
            provided to minors and nonminors in foster care, including:
                     The right to have caregivers and child welfare  
                 personel who have received instruction on cultural  
                 competency and sensitivity relating to, and best  
                 practices for, providing adequate care to lesbian, gay,  
                 bisexual and transgender youth in out of home care. 
                     The right to have fair and equal access to all  
                 available services, placement, care, treatment, and  
                 benefits, and to not be subjected to discrimination or  
                 harassment on the basis of actual or perceived race,  
                 ethnic group identification, ancestry, national origin,  
                 color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender  
                 identity, mental or physical disability, or HIV status.  
                 (WIC 16001.9)


          1)Requires group home administrator certification programs,  
            foster parent trainings, and relative and nonrelative extended  
            family member trainings to include instruction on cultural  
            competency and sensitivity relating to, and best practices  
            for, providing adequate care to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and  
            transgender youth in out-of-home care. (HSC 1522.41, 1529.2,  
            16003)


          


          This bill:

          1)Provides that foster children and nonminor dependents in  
            out-of-home care shall be placed according to their gender  
            identity, regardless of the gender or sex listed in their  
            court or child welfare records.


          2)Adds to the established rights afforded to minors and  
            nonminors in foster care, the right to be placed according to  
            their gender identity, regardless of the gender or sex listed  
            in their court or child welfare records.

            FISCAL IMPACT









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          This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal committee.

            BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
          
          Purpose of the bill:

          According to the author, many transgender youth face rejection,  
          harassment, and physical abuse at the hands of their families,  
          communities, and schools due to bias against their gender  
          identity or expression. The author states that these children  
          are at extremely high risk for poor health and mental health  
          outcomes, risks that are magnified for children in foster care,  
          many of whom have already experienced significant trauma. The  
          author states that when a foster child is improperly placed  
          without consideration of gender identity, the child may be at  
          risk for further bullying, harassment, and abuse.


          The author additionally states that studies show that lesbian,  
          gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth are at much higher  
          risk for homelessness, abuse, depression, and suicide and that  
          an estimated 25 to 40 percent of LGBT homeless youth report  
          leaving home due to conflicts with family members related to  
          their sexual orientation or gender expression.  


          A recent best practices guide published by the National Center  
          for Lesbian Rights states:<1> 


               Many transgender youth experience emotional distress and  
               are at risk of abuse when placed in facilities according to  
               their assigned birth sex. Because most group care  
               facilities are segregated by sex, almost all transgender  
               and gender non-conforming youth in group care are living in  
               facilities that house either boys or girls, or where boys  
               and girls are housed on separate units or in separate  
               buildings. When facilities encounter transgender youth,  
               -------------------------


          <1> A Place of Respect: A Guide for Group Care Facilities  
          Serving Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Youth. National  
          Center for Lesbian Rights, Spring 2011.








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               most often they place these youth according to their  
               assigned birth sex rather than their gender identity,  
               without considering other, more appropriate, options.  
               Placing transgender youth with youth of the same assigned  
               birth sex without doing an individualized analysis of the  
               transgender youth's gender identity and related needs in  
               this regard, can cause serious harm to the youth's  
               well-being, create unnecessary safety risks, and may  
               violate non-discrimination laws. In addition, once  
               improperly placed, youth are frequently required to conform  
               to gender norms that are inappropriate for them, which  
               increase their levels of stress and discomfort.


          Group Homes 

          Group homes are 24-hour residential facilities licensed by CDSS  
          to provide board and care to foster youth from both the  
          dependency and delinquency jurisdictions. Group home facilities  
          are organized under a system of rate classification levels  
          (RCLs) ranging from 1-14 that are based on levels of  
          professional training and adult-to-child ratios. In practice,  
          the majority of group homes are RCL 10 and above with nearly 50  
          percent of groups homes at RCL 12. There is wide variation in  
          group home size from as few as six children to group homes that  
          house more than 100 children. 


          Existing law requires that children removed from their homes and  
          made dependents of the court be placed in the most family-like  
          and "least restrictive" setting. Existing law requires counties  
          to seek timely permanent placements, such as guardianship or  
          adoption, for dependent youth that are removed from their homes.  
          Group homes, which provide an institutional type of care as  
          opposed to a family like setting, are not intended to be long  
          term placements, however in practice many children placed in  
          group homes remain in that setting for the duration of their  
          time in foster care, and many age out of the system while  
          residing in group home placements. While in a group home  
          program, it is intended that children receive services and  
          treatment designed to eliminate or reduce the conditions,  
          behaviors and characteristics that led to their group home  











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          placement, and to teach new, adaptive skills and behavior.<2>


          Staff training


          Group homes are required to establish a "group home program  
          statement" that includes a training plan that is appropriate for  
          the client population and the training needs and skill level of  
          child care staff. Through regulation, existing law provides that  
          newly hired staff complete at least 24 hours of training within  
          90 days of being hired, and 40 hours within 12 months, as  
          specified, with all existing staff receiving 20 hours annually.  
          Regulations provide for the minimum topics that must be included  
          (e.g. discipline policies and procedures, behavior  
          problems/psychological disorders, and mental health/behavioral  
          interventions). Social work staff are required to establish a  
          "needs and services plan" for each child that identifies the  
          specific needs of an individual child, and delineates those  
          services necessary in order to meet the child's identified  
          needs. 


          Related legislation:


          AB 1856 (Ammiano, Chapter 639, Statutes of 2012) required  
          certification programs for foster care providers to include  
          instruction on cultural competency and sensitivity related to  
          lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in out-of-home  
          care.







          ---------------------------
          <2> California Alliance for Child and Family Services. Group  
          Homes for Foster Children Fact Sheet  
           http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.cacfs.org/resource/resmgr/advocacy/p 
          ublicpolicy10.pdf  










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            POSITIONS
                                          
          Support:       
               Equality California (Co-Sponsor)
               AFSCME
               California Alliance of Child and Family Services
               California Communities United Institute
               County Welfare Directors Association of California
               East Bay Children's Law Offices
               Equality California 
               Family Builders
               Gender Health Center
               Gender Spectrum
               Juvenile Court Judges of California
               Legal Services for Children
               National Center for Lesbian Rights
               National Center for Youth Law
               National Council on Crime & Delinquency
               Youth Law Center

          Oppose:
               None.          


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