BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Senator McGuire, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 794
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|Author: |Committee on Human Services |
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|Version: |March 3, 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: Child welfare services
SUMMARY
This bill addresses state compliance with the federal Preventing
Sex Trafficking, and Strengthening Families Act (Public Law
113-183).
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1)Pursuant to federal law, establishes the Preventing Sex
Trafficking, and Strengthening Families Act which includes new
requirements for states and counties regarding sex trafficking
prevention and reporting, data collection, reasonable and
prudent parent standards, adoption incentives payments,
successor guardianship, and successful adulthood. (Public Law
113-183)
2)Pursuant to federal law, requires each state to have a state
plan approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in
order to be eligible for payments under Title IV-E, and
establishes the requisite features of a state plan. (42 U.S.
Code § 671)
3)Provides that a child who is sexually trafficked, as defined,
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and whose parent or guardian failed to, or was unable to,
protect the child, is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile
court and shall be known as commercially sexually exploited
children. (WIC 300 (b) (2))
4)Establishes the California Fostering Connections to Success
Act (AB 12, Beall and Bass, Chapter 559 Statutes of 2010),
which corresponds with the federal Fostering Connections to
Success Act that provides an option for states to receive
federal financial participation for federally-eligible
nonminor dependents or former dependents of the juvenile court
who are between the ages of 18-21 and who satisfy certain
conditions, and provides for state-only extended benefits for
non-federally eligible youth. (WIC 11403)
5)Establishes multiple programs of support for dependent or
former dependent children and the families that care for them.
Each of the federally reimbursed programs has a corollary
state-only funded program for children who are not eligible
under Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) income
eligibility criteria from 1996 including:
Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care
(AFDC-FC); (WIC 11401)
Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program
(Kin-GAP); (WIC 11360; WIC 11385)
Adoption Assistance Program (AAP); (WIC 16115)
Non Relative Legal Guardianship (NRLG); (WIC 11405)
CalWORKs (for non-Title IV-E eligible children in
foster care residing with relatives). (WIC 11250)
1)Defines a "reasonable and prudent parent standard" as the
standard characterized by careful and sensible parental
decisions that maintain the child's health, safety, and best
interest. (WIC 362.04)
2)Provides that every dependent child shall be entitled to
participate in age-appropriate extracurricular, enrichment,
and social activities, as specified. Requires group homes and
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specified caregivers to use the reasonable and prudent parent
standard in determining whether to permit a child to
participate in extracurricular, enrichment, and social
activities. (WIC 362.05)
3)Requires, upon the 16th birthday of a child in foster care, a
county welfare or probation department to request a free
annual credit check available under the Fair Credit Reporting
Act, from each of the three major credit reporting agencies
and for specified documentation pertaining to this requirement
be included in the youth's case plan, as specified. (WIC
10618.6(a) and 16501.1)
This bill:
1)Requires licensed community care facilities that provide care
and supervision to children to designate at least one onsite
staff member to apply the reasonable and prudent parent
standards, as specified.
2)Requires a licensed or certified foster parent or facility
staff member to receive training related to the reasonable and
prudent parent standard, including knowledge and skills
relating to the standard for the participation of the child in
age and developmentally appropriate activities, as specified.
3)Amends the definition of the reasonable and prudent parent
standard to mean the standard characterized by careful and
sensible parental decisions that maintain the health, safety,
and best interests of a child while at the same time
encouraging the emotional and developmental growth of the
child.
4)Expands the definition of sexual exploitation to include a
person who sexually trafficks a child or commercially sexually
exploits a child, as specified.
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5)Requires county probation or child welfare agencies to
immediately notify the appropriate law enforcement authority
when a child or youth who is receiving child welfare services
and is known or suspected to be the victim of sexual
exploitation is missing or has been abducted, so that the
incident can be entered into the National Crime Information
Center database of the FBI and to the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children.
6)Requires the California Department of Social Services (CDSS)
to inquire about a dependent child's credit history at the age
of 14 instead of 16 and for specified documentation to be
included in a case plan of a youth 14 years of age or older.
7)Provides that a successor kinship guardian or co-guardian may
be appointed by the juvenile court only when the reason for
the appointment is the death or incapacity of the kinship
guardian and the successor guardian is named in the kinship
guardianship assistance agreements, as specified.
8)Clarifies that the foster care education training programs
provided to relative and nonrelative extended family members
under current law are aligned with the training requirements
established for licensed or certified foster parents, and
include training on the reasonable and prudent parent
standard, provided for in the bill.
9)Requires no less than 30 percent of savings realized from the
provision of new federal funding for adoption assistance
resulting from the Fostering Connections to Success and
Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 shall be spent on
post-adoption services, post-guardianship services, and
services to support and sustain positive permanent outcomes
for children who otherwise might enter into foster care.
10)Requires at least two-thirds of the above 30 percent to be
spent on post adoption and post guardianship services.
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11)Adds to the requirement to reinvest adoption incentive
payments, the requirement to require reinvest guardianship
incentive payments received through the Fostering Connections
to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 and the
Preventing Sex Trafficking, and Strengthening Families Act
into the child welfare system, as specified.
12)Replaces the term "independent living" with "successful
adulthood" in describing requirements pertaining to a nonminor
dependent's case plan.
13)Provides that for youth 14 years of age or older, the youth's
case plan shall be developed in consultation with the youth.
Provides that, at the youth's option, the consultation may
include up to two members of the case planning team who are
chosen by the youth, as specified. Permits the child welfare
agency to reject an individual under specified circumstances.
14)Provides that for youth 14 years of age or older, the case
plan shall include the following:
A document that describes the youth's rights with
respect to education, health, visitation and court
participation, the right to be annually provided with
copies of his or her credit reports at no cost while in
foster care, and the right to stay safe and avoid
exploitation.
A signed acknowledgement by the youth that he or she
has been provided a copy of the document and that the
rights described in the documents have been explained to
the youth in an age-appropriate manner.
1)Requires a case plan for a child or nonminor dependent who is,
or is at risk of becoming, the victim of commercial sexual
exploitation, to document the services provided to address
that issue.
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2)Requires county child welfare agencies to develop and
implement policies and procedures that, at a minimum, require
social workers and probation officers to do the following:
Identify children receiving child welfare services,
including dependents or wards in foster care, nonminor
dependents, and youth receiving services under the John
H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program.
Document the individuals identified in the Child
Welfare Services/Case Management System and any other
agency record as determined by the county.
Determine appropriate services for a child
identified.
1)Requires county child welfare agencies, on or before July 1,
2016, to develop and implement specific protocols to
expeditiously locate any child missing from foster care.
Specifically requires these protocols, at a minimum to do the
following:
Determine the primary factors that contributed to
the child or nonminor dependent running away or otherwise
being absent from care.
Respond to those factors in subsequent placements,
to the extent possible.
Determine the child's or nonminor's experiences
while absent from care.
Determine whether the child or nonminor is a
possible sex trafficking victim.
1)Requires CDDS to ensure the Child Welfare Services/Case
Management System is capable of collection all of the
following:
The number of dependent children or wards in foster
care who were victims of commercial sexual exploitation
before entering foster care.
The number of dependent children or wards in foster
care who became victims of commercial sexual exploitation
while in foster care.
The numbers of dependent children or wards in foster
care who go missing, run away, or are otherwise absent
from care and were commercially sexually exploited during
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the time away from placement.
The number of dependent children or wards in foster
care who are at risk of becoming victims of commercial
sexual exploitation.
FISCAL IMPACT
This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal committee.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Purpose of the bill:
According to the authors, this bill makes statutory changes
necessary to ensure state compliance with the federal Preventing
Sex Trafficking, and Strengthening Families Act (Public Law
113-183) as identified by the California Department of Social
Services.
The committee states that every year the California Department
of Social Services (CDSS) must ensure that state laws pertaining
to adult programs, children and family services, community care
licensing, human rights, state hearings, and Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families are in compliance with federal
statute and regulations. When CDSS determines that existing
state statute is out of compliance, legislation is introduced to
conform state law to federal requirements. Last year the Senate
Committee on Human Services introduced federal compliance bill
SB 1460 (Committee on Human Services, Chapter 772, Statutes of
2014) that ensured state compliance with federal statute and
regulation regarding the Multi Ethnic Placement Act, use of the
Federal Parent Locator Service, the federal Fostering
Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, and
the Adam Walsh Act.
Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC)
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Commercial sexual exploitation of children is defined as the
sexual exploitation of children at least primarily for financial
or other economic reasons. Under this definition, the economic
exchanges may be either monetary or non-monetary (i.e., for
food, shelter, drugs).<1> Sex trafficking of minors is defined
as the "recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or
obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act"
where the person is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident
under the age of 18.<2>
The California Child Welfare Council, in a March 2013 report,
states that children who fall victim to commercial sexual
exploitation frequently are involved with the child welfare
system. Specifically, the report states that 50 to 80 percent of
CSEC are or were involved in the child welfare system. Recent
news reports quote the northern California FBI task force on
trafficked minors as estimating that 90 percent of recovered
trafficked youth in northern California were involved with the
child welfare system. Additionally, the report states that youth
in the child welfare system are particularly vulnerable to
commercial sexual exploitation. Children who become victims of
such exploitation frequently have a history of suffering
physical and emotional abuse, which led to their contact with
the child welfare system. This abuse and neglect combined with
unstable placements in foster care and a frequent absence of
positive and loving adult relationships create emotional
vulnerabilities that are exploited. On average, early
adolescence is the most common age for children to fall victim
to commercial sexual exploitation - between ages 11 to 13 for
boys and ages 12 to 14 for girls.
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<1> Estes and Weiner. "The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
Children in the U. S., Canada and Mexico." Univ. of PA, 2002.
http://www.sp2.upenn.edu/restes/CSEC_Files/Exec_Sum_020220.pdf
<2> Smith et al. "The National Report on Domestic Minor Sex
Trafficking: America's Prostituted Youth." Shared Hope Int'l,
2009.
http://sharedhope.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/SHI_National_Rep
ort_on_DMST_2009.pdf
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The report cites research finding that 68 percent of victims of
CSEC suffered from chronic health problems and Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder and likened the experience of victims to
experiences of "hostages, prisoners of war, or concentration
camp inmates."
The Preventing Sex Trafficking, and Strengthening Families Act
The Preventing Sex Trafficking, and Strengthening Families Act
(Public Law 113-183) was signed by the President on September
29, 2014. The Act makes numerous changes to the title IV-E
foster care program and enacts new requirements regarding sex
trafficking prevention and reporting, data collection,
reasonable and prudent parent standards, adoption incentives
payments, successor guardianship, and successful adulthood.
Sex Trafficking Prevention and Data Collection
According to the federal Administration for Children and
Families,<3> the new law requires title IV-E agencies to
demonstrate, by September 29, 2015, that policies and procedures
have been developed to identify, document, and determine
appropriate services for a child or nonminor dependent who is or
who is at risk of becoming a sex trafficking victim, has run
away from home, or is receiving services under the Chafee Foster
Care Independence Program. By September 29, 2016, state agencies
must demonstrate that they are implementing these policies and
procedures.
Also by September 29, 2015, title IV-E agencies must develop and
implement protocols to locate children and nonminor dependents
missing from foster care, determine the factors that lead to the
youth's absence from foster care and, to the extent possible,
address those factors in subsequent placements, determine the
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<3> ACYF-CB-IM-14-03 October 23, 2014
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youth's experiences while absent from care, including whether
the youth is a sex trafficking victim, and report related
information as required by HHS.
By September 29, 2016, the Act also requires title IV-E agencies
to report immediately (no later than 24 hours) to law
enforcement when a child or nonminor dependent is identified to
be a victim of sex trafficking. Additionally, by the same year,
agencies must develop and implement protocols to report
immediately (no later than 24 hours after receiving information)
to law enforcement, information on missing or abducted youth
receiving child welfare services who are identified as being, or
are at risk of being, a victim of sex trafficking, for entry
into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database, and
to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
SB 855 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, Chapter 29, Statutes
of 2014) provided $5 million initially, and $14 million General
Fund ongoing, to enable county child welfare agencies to provide
services to child victims of commercial sexual exploitation to
enable county child welfare agencies to serve victims of
commercial sexual exploitation.
Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standards (RPPS)
Existing state statute provides for a reasonable and prudent
parent standard that serves to guide caregiver's day-to-day
decision making to ensure youth in their care are safely able to
participate in important age and developmentally important
activities such as extracurricular events or visiting friends.
The Act adds new staffing requirements for group homes and
training for group home staff and foster family homes.
Specifically, SB 794 requires the following:
Training for all foster parents to include training
on RPPS.
All foster family homes and congregate care
facilities to permit the use of RPPS.
Each congregate care facility to designate an onsite
staff member to exercise RPPS for foster children in the
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facility, who would receive the same RPPS training as
foster parents.
Additionally, SB 794 would align the definition of RPPS in state
statute with the federal definition and would enact training and
staff designation requirements that conform to the above federal
requirements.
Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA)
APPLA is an out of home placement type referring to long-term
foster care placement when the youth is expected to remain until
adulthood. It is intended to be identified as the permanency
option as a last resort, only when other options such as
reunification, relative placement, adoption, or legal
guardianship have been ruled out.
The Act adds new case plan and case review system requirements
for youth with Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement,
prohibiting the use of APPLA for dependent children under the
age of 16 and adding case review and case plan requirements on
its use for youth age 16 and older to ensure efforts to place
youth permanently with a parent, relative or in guardianship or
adoptive placement are documented.
Specifically, the Act requires child welfare agencies to
document at each permanency hearing, the efforts to place a
child permanently with a parent, relative, or in a guardianship
or adoptive home. It also requires child welfare agencies to
implement procedures ensuring that the court or administrative
body conducting the permanency hearing asks the child about
his/her desired permanency outcome and makes a judicial
determination at each permanency hearing that APPLA is the best
permanency plan for the child and to identify compelling reasons
why it's not in the best interest of the child to be placed
permanently with a parent, relative, or in a guardianship or
adoptive placement.
This bill currently does not amend statutes pertaining to these
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provisions, but the author states such amendments may be
forthcoming.
Adoption Incentives Payment Program
Under the Adoption Incentives program, states earn federal
bonuses when they increase adoptions of children in foster care
above a 2007 FY baseline. Under the current Adoption Incentive
bonus structure, states earn $4,000 for each adoption of a
foster child that is above the number of foster child adoptions
finalized by the state in FY 2007 and $8,000 for each adoption
of a child 9 years or older, above the number of older child
adoptions it finalized in FY 2007.
Title IV-E agencies are required to reinvest the savings for the
provision of foster care and adoption services per mandates in
the Act. Specifically, state statute would recognize the
Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act and
would reinvest adoption and guardianship incentive payments to
fund post-adoption and guardianship services.
California has not received any incentive payments since
2008.<4> The state's baseline in 2007 was 7,622 children, and
has decreased substantially since then, reportedly due to the
state's overall decline in the number of foster youth since
2007. Since the incentives payment methodology is calculated
based on the outright increase in number of adoptions following
the 2007 baseline, instead of based on the ratio of children in
foster care to adoptions, California is not expected to receive
an incentive payment in the near future.
Successor Kin-GAP Guardian
Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) provides
eligible relative legal guardians a subsidy that is equal to the
basic foster care rate. To be eligible for the program, the
child must have been placed with the relative caregiver for at
least twelve consecutive months as a dependent or delinquent
child, legal guardianship must be established with the relative
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<4> http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43025.pdf
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caregiver, and dependency must be dismissed at the same time or
after the establishment of the legal guardianship by the
Juvenile Court.
Federal law permits states to receive federal reimbursement
under the Kin-GAP program for Title IV-E eligible relative legal
guardians. Prior to the federal Act, this program was solely
state funded. Relative legal guardians who are not Title IV-E
eligible remain in the state-only program. Kin-GAP guardians
must wait a minimum of six months and until dependency is
terminated and guardianship established prior to receiving
Kin-GAP payments. During that time, relatives receive a
child-only CalWORKs reimbursement of approximately $369 per
month.
Under the federal Act, foster youth who move into Kin-GAP are
eligible for extended foster care benefits only if the youth was
older than age 16 at the time that a Kin-GAP agreement was
negotiated. Similarly, the Adoption Assistance Program provides
a federally funded subsidy for Title IV-E eligible families or a
state-funded subsidy for families not eligible for Title IV-E.
As is the case for Kin-GAP, youth are eligible for extended
foster care benefits only if they entered the adoption
assistance program after turning 16.
Existing state law permits a foster youth receiving Kin-GAP to
have a new "alternative or co-guardian" established without
having to wait six months if the new guardian has been assessed
by the court and child welfare agency, as specified. The Act
allows continued eligibility of a successor guardian when the
previous relative guardian dies or is incapacitated. This bill
narrows state statute to allow a successor guardian, who is also
a kinship guardian, to receive Kin-GAP only if the prior kinship
guardian dies or is incapacitated.
Successful Adulthood
The Act extends case plan requirements under the Chaffee
Independent Living Program and replaces the outcome of
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"independent living" with "successful adulthood."
Under the Act, a case plan of a child age 14 or older must
document the child's education, health, visitation, and court
participation rights, the right to receive a credit report
annually, and a signed acknowledgement that the child was
provided these rights and that they were explained in an age
appropriate way. Additionally, the case plan must be developed
in consultation with the child, and at the option of the child,
include two members of the case planning team, who are not the
caseworker or foster parent. The case plan and permanency
hearing must describe the services to help the youth transition
to successful adulthood (formerly at age 16), and the child
welfare agency must provide a copy of his/her credit report
annually and assistance in fixing any inaccuracies (formerly age
16)
Related legislation:
SB 855 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, Chapter 29, Statutes
of 2014) provided $5 million initially, and $14 million General
Fund ongoing, for county child welfare agencies to provide
services to child victims of commercial sexual exploitation.
SB 1460 (Committee on Human Services, Chapter 772, Statutes of
2014) that ensured state compliance with federal statute and
regulation regarding the Multi Ethnic Placement Act, use of the
Federal Parent Locator Service, the federal Fostering
Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, and
the Adam Walsh Act
POSITIONS
Support:
District Attorney of Alameda County
Junior League of San Diego
Opposition:
None.
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