BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Session SB 794 (Committee on Human Services) - Child welfare services ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Version: March 3, 2015 |Policy Vote: HUMAN S. 5 - 0 | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Hearing Date: May 18, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: SB 794 would provide for numerous amendments to state law intended to seek compliance with the federal Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (P.L. 113-183), as specified. Fiscal Impact: Federal compliance : Annual costs of $4.2 million ($1.7 million General Fund*) for new workload to child welfare services and probation departments to comply with several provisions of federal law including the development of case plans, documentation related to the reasonable and prudent parent standards, and notification of relatives. These costs are budgeted in the 2015-16 May Revision. CSEC protocols compliance : Annual costs to local agencies in the millions of dollars (General Fund*/Local Fund/Federal) to SB 794 (Committee on Human Services) Page 1 of ? develop and implement policies and procedures that identify, document, and determine appropriate services for youth identified as runaways/missing or commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC). The 2015-16 May Revision includes $20.2 million ($14 million General Fund) in 2015-16 to support both federally required and elective county program activities for CSEC. It is estimated $3.6 million General Fund will be utilized for federal compliance activities. Staff notes this bill mandates local agencies to develop and implement policies and procedures that "at a minimum" meet the federal standards. Any additional local costs above the federal requirement would be subject to Proposition 30, potentially requiring annual funding from the State. Child abuse reporting : The provisions of this bill go beyond federal law which requires reporting of CSEC to law enforcement within 24 hours. The additional reporting to child welfare agencies and the district attorney would result in increased costs for the interagency child abuse and neglect (ICAN) reporting mandate. To the extent the ICAN mandate is ultimately not suspended as currently proposed in the 2015-16 Governor's Budget, any increased costs to local agencies could be subject to reimbursement by the state or require additional state funds under Proposition 30. CWS/CMS enhancements : Unknown, potentially significant automation costs (General Fund) to enable CWS/CMS to collect specified information on youth identified as missing/runaways or CSEC. Proposition 30* : Exempts the State from mandate reimbursement for realigned programs, however, legislation that has an overall effect of increasing the costs already borne by a local agency for realigned programs including child welfare services, apply to local agencies only to the extent that the State provides annual funding for the cost increase. For changes in federal law, the state is required to annually provide at least 50 percent of the nonfederal share of increased costs to local agencies as determined by the State. Background: Existing federal law provides for the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (P.L. 113-183, the Act) which was signed into law 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 SB 794 (Committee on Human Services) Page 2 of ? reporting, data collection, reasonable and prudent parent standards, adoption incentive payments, successor guardianship, and successful adulthood. Proposed Law: This bill makes numerous amendments to state law intended to seek compliance with the federal Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (P.L. 113-183), as specified: 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. Expands the definition of sexual exploitation to include a person who sexually trafficks a child or commercially sexually exploits a child, as specified. Requires county probation or child welfare agencies to immediately, or in no case later than within 24 hours of receiving the information, report the incident to the local law enforcement agency, the agency investigating the allegation of abuse, and the district attorney. 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. 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. 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. Provides that for youth 14 years of age or older and nonminor dependents, 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 SB 794 (Committee on Human Services) Page 3 of ? case planning team who are chosen by the youth, as specified. Permits the child welfare agency to reject an individual under specified circumstances. Provides that for youth 14 years of age or older, the case plan shall include the following: o 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. o 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. Requires a case plan for a child or nonminor dependent that is, or is at risk of becoming, the victim of commercial sexual exploitation, to document the services provided to address that issue. 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: o 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. o Document the individuals identified in the CWS/CMS and any other agency record as determined by the county. Determine appropriate services for a child identified. 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. Requires DSS to ensure the CWS/CMS is capable of collection all of the following: o The number of dependent children or wards in foster care who were victims of commercial sexual exploitation before entering foster care. o The number of dependent children or wards in foster care who became victims of commercial sexual exploitation while in foster care. SB 794 (Committee on Human Services) Page 4 of ? o 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 the time away from placement. o The number of dependent children or wards in foster care who are at risk of becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Prior Legislation: SB 855 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) Chapter 29/2014 provided $5 million initially and $14 million General Fund annually ongoing for county child welfare agencies to provide services to child victims of commercial sexual exploitation Staff Comments: See "Fiscal Impact" section. Staff notes that the federal Act requires the State to demonstrate that the State has developed policies and procedures for identifying, documenting, and determining appropriate services for missing/runaway youth and CSEC, and additionally requires federal reporting of specified data. Given the provisions of this bill mandate that county child welfare agencies each develop these policies/procedures, it is unclear whether each county will develop its own unique policies and procedures. To the extent these procedures impact how CSEC youth are identified, counted, and subsequently reported to the federal government as required, would appear to potentially result in inconsistencies in data reporting across counties. Staff additionally notes the conforming amendments to state law for the provisions under federal law related to Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA) are currently not included in this bill. -- END -- SB 794 (Committee on Human Services) Page 5 of ?