BILL NUMBER: AB 673 CHAPTERED 10/10/99 CHAPTER 1004 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 10, 1999 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 10, 1999 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 9, 1999 PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 7, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 3, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 16, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 15, 1999 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 1999 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 1999 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Honda (Coauthors: Assembly Members Alquist, Aroner, Ducheny, Keeley, Kuehl, Lempert, Mazzoni, Romero, and Washington) (Coauthors: Senators Ortiz, Perata, and Solis) FEBRUARY 23, 1999 An act to amend the heading of Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 3200) of Part 2 of Division 8 of, to add Sections 3201, 3202, 3203, and 3204 to, and to repeal Division 15 (commencing with Section 10100) of, the Family Code, relating to family law. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 673, Honda. Child visitation and exchange program. Existing law requires a court making a custody order to grant reasonable visitation rights to a parent unless it would be detrimental to the best interest of the child and authorizes the granting of reasonable visitation rights to other specified persons. This bill would authorize the family law division of a superior court, subject to the availability of federal funding, to establish programs for supervised visitation and exchange services, specified education programs, and group counseling for parents and children. The bill would authorize the court to contract with eligible supervised visitation and exchange, education, and group counseling providers, as defined, to provide supervised visitation and exchange program services subject to specified standards of practice, education, and group counseling. The bill would require the court to approve sliding scale fees so that families would pay for the services based on their ability to pay. The bill would also require the Judicial Council to apply for federal grants, as specified, to fund child custody and visitation programs; charge the Judicial Council with the administration of the grant funds; specify criteria for awarding of grant funds; state the intent of the Legislature that, effective October 1, 2000, grant funds shall be used for supervised visitation and exchange services, specified education, and group counseling for parents and children; and require the Judicial Council to report to the Legislature regarding the programs, as specified. Existing law, known as the Friend of the Court Act, expresses legislative intent to create in each superior court, an office of the friend of the court, contingent upon federal funding therefor. This bill would repeal that act. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The heading of Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 3200) of Part 2 of Division 8 of the Family Code is amended to read: CHAPTER 13. SUPERVISED VISITATION AND EXCHANGE SERVICES, EDUCATION, AND COUNSELING SEC. 2. Section 3201 is added to the Family Code, to read: 3201. (a) The programs described in this chapter shall be administered by the family law division of the superior court in the county. (b) For purposes of this chapter, "education about protecting children during family disruption" includes education on parenting skills and the impact of parental conflict on children, how to put a parenting agreement into effect, and the responsibility of both parents to comply with custody and visitation orders. SEC. 3. Section 3202 is added to the Family Code, to read: 3202. (a) All supervised visitation and exchange programs funded pursuant to this chapter shall comply with all requirements of the Uniform Standards of Practice for Providers of Supervised Visitation set forth in Section 26.2 of the Standards of Judicial Administration as amended. The family law division of the superior court may contract with eligible providers of supervised visitation and exchange services, education, and group counseling to provide services under this chapter. (b) As used in this section, "eligible provider" means: (1) For providers of supervised visitation and exchange services, a local public agency or nonprofit entity that satisfies the Uniform Standards of Practice for Providers of Supervised Visitation. (2) For providers of group counseling, a professional licensed to practice psychotherapy in this state, including, but not limited to, a licensed psychiatrist, licensed psychologist, licensed clinical social worker, or licensed marriage and family therapist; or a mental health intern working under the direct supervision of a professional licensed to practice psychotherapy. (3) For providers of education, a professional with a bachelor's or master's degree in human behavior, child development, psychology, counseling, family-life education, or a related field, having specific training in issues relating to child and family development, substance abuse, child abuse, domestic violence, effective parenting, and the impact of divorce and interparental conflict on children; or an intern working under the supervision of that professional. SEC. 4. Section 3203 is added to the Family Code, to read: 3203. Subject to the availability of federal funding for the purposes of this chapter, the family law division of the superior court in each county may establish and administer a supervised visitation and exchange program, programs for education about protecting children during family disruption, and group counseling programs for parents and children under this chapter. The programs shall allow parties and children to participate in supervised visitation between a custodial party and a noncustodial party or joint custodians, and to participate in the education and group counseling programs, irrespective of whether the parties are or are not married to each other or are currently living separately and apart on a permanent or temporary basis. SEC. 5. Section 3204 is added to the Family Code, to read: 3204. (a) The Judicial Council shall annually submit an application to the federal Administration for Children and Families, pursuant to Section 669B of the "1996 Federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Recovery Act" (PRWORA), for a grant to fund child custody and visitation programs pursuant to this chapter. The Judicial Council shall be charged with the administration of the grant funds. (b) (1) It is the intention of the Legislature that, effective October 1, 2000, the grant funds described in subdivision (a) shall be used to fund the following three types of programs: supervised visitation and exchange services, education about protecting children during family disruption, and group counseling for parents and children, as set forth in this chapter. Contracts shall follow a standard request for proposal procedure, that may include multiple year funding. Requests for proposals shall meet all state and federal requirements for receiving access and visitation grant funds. (2) The grant funds shall be awarded with the intent of approving as many requests for proposals as possible while assuring that each approved proposal would provide beneficial services and satisfy the overall goals of the program under this chapter. The Judicial Council shall determine the final number and amount of grants. Requests for proposals shall be evaluated based on the following criteria: (A) Availability of services to a broad population of parties. (B) The ability to expand existing services. (C) Coordination with other community services. (D) The hours of service delivery. (E) The number of counties or regions participating. (F) Overall cost effectiveness. (G) The purpose of the program to promote and encourage healthy parent and child relationships between noncustodial parents and their children, while ensuring the health, safety, and welfare of the children. (3) Special consideration for grant funds shall be given to proposals that coordinate supervised visitation and exchange services, education, and group counseling with existing court-based programs and services. (c) The family law division of the superior court in each county shall approve sliding scale fees that are based on the ability to pay for all parties, including low-income families, participating in a supervised visitation and exchange, education, and group counseling programs under this chapter. (d) The Judicial Council shall, on March 1, 2002, and on the first day of March of each subsequent year, report to the Legislature on the programs funded pursuant to this chapter and whether and to what extent those programs are achieving the goal of promoting and encouraging healthy parent and child relationships between noncustodial or joint custodial parents and their children while ensuring the health, safety, and welfare of children, and the other goals described in this chapter. SEC. 6. Division 15 (commencing with Section 10100) of the Family Code is repealed.