BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 731|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 731
Author: Leno (D), et al.
Amended: 8/31/15
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE: 3-0, 4/21/15
AYES: McGuire, Hancock, Liu
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill, Nguyen
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 5-1, 4/28/15
AYES: Jackson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning, Wieckowski
NOES: Anderson
NO VOTE RECORDED: Moorlach
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-1, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Nielsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates
SENATE FLOOR: 28-5, 6/1/15
AYES: Allen, Beall, Block, Cannella, De León, Galgiani,
Glazer, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso,
Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell,
Monning, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk
NOES: Anderson, Moorlach, Morrell, Nielsen, Runner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates, Berryhill, Fuller, Gaines, Huff,
Nguyen, Stone
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 60-1, 9/2/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Foster children: housing: gender identity
SOURCE: Equality California
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DIGEST: This bill requires foster children and nonminor
dependents in out-of-home care to 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.
Assembly Amendments return this bill to the prior version as
passed by the Senate.
ANALYSIS:
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, as the policy of the state, a series of rights
provided to minors and nonminors in foster care, including:
a) The right to have caregivers and child welfare personnel
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.
b) 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)
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
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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.
3)Requires CDSS to promulgate regulations implementing the above
provisions.
Background
According to the author, children in the child welfare system
are protected by the Foster Care Bill of Rights, which includes
the right to fair and equal access to all services. Though
California law intends to protect all children from
discrimination, it does not give specific guidance to caregivers
when placing foster children who are transgender.
The author states that many transgender youth face rejection,
bullying, and physical abuse at the hands of their families,
communities, and schools due to bias against their gender
identity or expression. These children are at extremely high
risk for poor health and mental health and are at much higher
risk than other youth for homelessness, abuse, depression, and
suicide. The author states that it is essential that we provide
caregivers and environments that affirm and respect these young
people so that they can thrive.
Best Practices: A recent best practices guide published by the
National Center for Lesbian Rights states that 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, most often they
place these youth according to their assigned birth sex rather
than their gender identity, without considering other, more
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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, 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 at or above RCL 10, with nearly
50 percent of group homes at RCL 12. There is wide variation in
group home size from as few as six children to 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
placement, and to teach new, adaptive skills and behavior.
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
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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 must
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.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill
may result in the following costs:
1)Likely minor caseload impact statewide. To the extent county
agencies incur increased workload associated with implementing
and adhering to the specified regulations, it is unlikely
statewide costs would exceed $100,000 (General Fund). Under
Proposition 30 of 2012, these costs are not reimbursable, but
this bill will apply to local agencies only to the extent the
state provides annual funding for the cost increase.
2)One-time minor costs (General Fund) for the DSS to promulgate
regulations.
SUPPORT: (Verified9/2/15)
Equality California (source)
National Center for Lesbian Rights
AFSCME
American Civil Liberties Union of California
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Communities United Institute
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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 Association of social workers
National Center for Youth Law
National Council on Crime & Delinquency
Youth Law Center
OPPOSITION: (Verified9/2/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 60-1, 9/02/15
AYES: Achadjian, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Dababneh,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia,
Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, Levine,
Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Olsen, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,
Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Gallagher
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Travis Allen, Bigelow, Brough, Chang,
Cooper, Dahle, Beth Gaines, Grove, Harper, Jones, Kim, Mathis,
Melendez, Obernolte, Patterson, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron
Prepared by:Sara Rogers / HUMAN S. / (916) 651-1524
9/2/15 15:30:32
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