BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 942 (Liu) - Dependency proceedings: relative caregivers
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|Version: April 19, 2016 |Policy Vote: HUMAN S. 4 - 0, |
| | JUD. 6 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: May 9, 2016 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 942 would establish additional procedures for the
temporary placement of a child with a relative, as follows:
Requires a social worker to conduct an assessment and
background check of up to two relatives, as specified, and
provide results or status to the court within seven days.
Authorizes a child or parent/guardian to request a hearing on
the recommendations, and requires the court to hold a hearing
within 10 court days after such a request.
Requires a county to complete the assessment process,
including any exemptions and waivers, within 30 calendar days,
and would authorize the court to conduct hearings to determine
why the assessment has not been completed and/or if the county
has abused its discretion.
Requires a county to assist, to the extent possible, a person
to locate and obtain any documents required for a criminal
records exemption, as specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
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Social worker activities : Potentially major increase in
social worker workload, potentially in the millions of dollars
(General Fund*) annually to meet the specified timeframes to
complete up to two in-home assessments, background checks,
exemptions, and document assistance, as well as expedited
reporting to the court and participation at additional court
hearings.
Court hearings : Potentially significant increase in state
court costs (General Fund**) to conduct additional hearings
both mandatory and discretionary.
Department of Justice (DOJ) : Minor workload increase (Special
Fund***) to complete background checks through CLETS/CACI, to
be reimbursed through fees.
Proposition 30* : Exempts the State from mandate reimbursement
for realigned responsibilities for "public safety services"
including the provision of child welfare services, however,
legislation enacted after September 30, 2012, that has an
overall effect of increasing the costs already borne by a
local agency for public safety services apply to local
agencies only to the extent that the State provides annual
funding for the cost increase. The provisions of Proposition
30 have not been interpreted through the formal court process
to date, however, to the extent the local agency costs
resulting from this measure are determined to be applicable
under the provisions of Proposition 30, could result in
additional costs to the State.
**Trial Court Trust Fund
***Fingerprint Fees Account
Background: Existing law provides that a minor may be removed from the
physical custody of his or her parents and become a dependent of
the juvenile court for serious abuse or neglect, or risk of
serious abuse or neglect, as specified. (Welfare & Institutions
Code (WIC) § 300.)
Existing law requires at the detention hearing, that the court
take certain steps to evaluate the case, determine whether the
child can be returned home safely, and, if not, to ensure the
child is placed in an appropriate placement, with priority
consideration for family members and nonrelative extended family
members (NREFM). (WIC § 319.)
Existing law establishes criteria for approving a relative or
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NREFM home for the placement of a child, including a home visit
and the submission of fingerprints for a state and federal
criminal background check, and requires the county to prohibit
placement with anyone who has an arrest or conviction for a
serious or violent felony, as specified. (WIC § 361.4.)
Existing law prohibits placement of the child in a home where an
adult in the home has a criminal history until an exemption is
granted by the county. (WIC § 361.4 (d).)
Proposed Law:
This bill would establish additional procedures for the
temporary placement of a child with a relative, as follows
Requires the court to order a social worker to conduct an
assessment of up to two able and willing relatives that
request temporary placement of a child, including an in-home
inspection, if that child is not placed with a relative at the
time of the initial detention hearing.
Requires that the social worker shall provide the results or
status of the assessment to the court, parent or guardian, the
child, and the child's attorney, within seven calendar days,
and would authorize the child or his or her parent to request
a hearing to consider the recommendations of the social worker
based on the assessment. If a hearing is requested, this bill
would require the court to hold the hearing within 10 days.
Requires a county, to the extent possible, to assist a person
requesting an exemption relating to a criminal background
check in locating and obtaining any documents required, which
may include having a social worker contact any other
government entity directly to obtain any required arrest
reports or court dispositions.
Requires the county to complete the assessment process,
including any exemptions and waivers, within 30 calendar days
and would authorize the court to set a hearing to determine
why the assessment has not been completed within 30 days.
Authorizes a court to conduct a hearing to determine if the
county has abused its discretion in the event that an
exemption or waiver is denied or if any administrative process
is not complete within 60 calendar days of the court ordering
the county to conduct the assessment.
Provides Legislative findings and declarations related to the
benefits of placing dependent children with relatives.
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Related
Legislation: SB 1201 (Mitchell) 2016 would move consideration
of an exemption for specified crimes into the resource family
approval process in the context of other elements, such as the
psychosocial assessment, among other changes. This bill is
pending hearing in this Committee.
SB 1336 (Jackson) 2016 would require the juvenile court to
consider whether the social worker exercised due diligence in
conducting his or her investigation to identify, locate, and
notify the child's relatives. This bill is pending referral in
Senate Rules Committee.
Staff
Comments: This bill imposes new activities on social workers as
well as imposes specified timelines within which a social worker
must complete certain activities required under existing law. To
the extent the provisions of this bill will require social
workers to conduct additional activities within a shorter period
of time for a significant number of cases will result in
significant additional costs for the provision of child welfare
services. Based on historical estimates for relative home
approvals, the potential caseload to be impacted is potentially
in excess of 15,000 cases (in 2011-12, initial assessment
caseload was over 20,000). It is unknown how many additional
hours of social worker time will be required to meet the
mandates in this bill, but assuming an additional five to 10
hours per case, additional costs could range from $5 million to
$10 million per year, based on the social worker hourly cost of
$72.60. To the extent the number of placements is larger or
smaller in any one year, or to the extent the time required to
meet the requirements outlined in this bill is greater or less
than assumed above, costs would be affected accordingly.
Proposition 30, passed by the voters in November 2012, among
other provisions, eliminated any potential mandate funding
liability for any new program or higher level of service
provided by counties related to realigned programs. Although the
provisions of this bill impose additional workload on social
workers, the associated costs would not be subject to
reimbursement by the state. Rather, Proposition 30 specifies
that for legislation enacted after September 30, 2012, that has
an overall effect of increasing the costs already borne by a
local agency for realigned programs such as child welfare
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services, the provisions shall apply to local agencies only to
the extent that the state provides annual funding for the cost
increase.
To the extent the provisions of this measure result in more
expedient placement of children with relatives could result in
reduced costs associated with placements in congregate care
settings or temporary shelters. Importantly, the placement of
children with approved relative caregivers supports ongoing
placement stability that is likely to result in better long-term
outcomes for these youth.
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