BILL NUMBER: AB 880 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 6, 2005
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 21, 2005
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 13, 2005
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2005
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Cohn
FEBRUARY 18, 2005
An act to amend Section 16500.1 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to dependent children.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 880, as amended, Cohn. Dependent children.
Existing law provides for the placement of dependent children by
the juvenile court according to specified procedures. Existing law
requires the state to encourage the development of approaches to
child protection that employ specified methods.
This bill would expand the latter provision by requiring the state
to encourage the development of approaches that include ensuring
that a search for relatives available for placement is initiated
before permanent placement decisions are made for children who cannot
be reunited with their families. The bill would also set forth
various requirements for the State Department of Social Services to
ensure that as many family members as possible of dependent children
are identified, including drafting guidelines outlining best
practices in the use of advanced technology to assist counties in
identifying all relatives and nonrelative extended family members at
the earliest possible time for a foster child and developing a cost
benefit analysis , including funding estimates, as
specified. The bill would authorize the department to identify best
practices for implementing optimal foster child placement
opportunities, as reported by designated counties that have developed
kinship care programs for that purpose.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) Currently, social workers make the effort to maintain
relationships between the child in foster care and certain
individuals who are important to the child.
(b) The Legislature recognizes the right of a child in foster care
to be involved in the development of his or her own case plan to
identify all relatives, extended family members, and nonrelative
extended family members, and the need to place the child in a safe
home and to complete any steps necessary to finalize the permanent
placement of the child and his or her siblings, if any.
(c) In California, at least eight counties have voluntarily
initiated programs to provide the vital function of seeking to find a
foster child's relatives and nonrelative extended family members
using new advances in technology. These proven search methods can
serve to provide family members who may agree to house children who
would otherwise be at risk of foster care placement. Relative homes
offer stability to children in crisis and enhance family
reunification. Outcome data from Washington and Illinois show that
children in the care of relatives are less likely to enter state
custody, and most of these arrangements do not require intensive
supervision of the placement by the courts or by the department of
social services. Moreover, results from these states demonstrate that
even the most difficult to place foster children have been
successfully placed with extended family members by utilizing family
finding technologies.
SEC. 2.
(a) The State Department of Social Services, in conjunction with
stakeholders, including, but not limited to, the California Youth
Connection and the , County Welfare
Directors Association, and the California Alliance of Child and
Family Services shall draft guidelines outlining best practices
in the use of advanced technology to assist counties in identifying
all relatives and nonrelative extended family members at the earliest
possible time for a foster child. The department, in conjunction
with stakeholders, shall also develop a cost benefit analysis ,
including estimates of the funding needed to support family
finding technology that counties can utilize , and develop
recommended funding strategies, including the use of state master
contracts, public and private partnerships, and available federal
funds.
(b) (1) The State Department of Social Services may identify best
practices for the development of optimal foster child placement
opportunities, as reported by the counties listed in paragraph (2),
that are planning, designing, and implementing strategies, such as
kinship care programs, to prioritize the placement of foster
children. The creation of public and private partnerships is
encouraged, and will enhance programs designed to quickly identify
relatives and nonrelative extended family members of children placed
in foster care. The purpose of these programs is to create a robust
component in the spectrum of foster care placement options, to be
used when out-of-home placement is necessary and to secure permanency
for a foster child and any siblings.
(2) Counties that have developed kinship care programs, whose
practices may be considered by the department pursuant to this
subdivision, include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(A) Alameda County.
(B) Monterey County.
(C) Orange County.
(D) Placer County.
(E) Sacramento County.
(F) Santa Clara County.
(G) Stanislaus County.
(H) San Mateo County.
SEC. 3. Section 16500.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
16500.1.
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to use the strengths of
families and communities to serve the needs of children who are
alleged to be abused or neglected, as described in Section 300, to
reduce the necessity for removing these children from their home, to
encourage speedy reunification of families when it can be safely
accomplished, to locate permanent homes and families with relatives,
as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 361.3, for
children who cannot return to their biological families, to reduce
the number of placements experienced by these children, to ensure
that children leaving the foster care system have support within
their communities, to improve the quality and homelike nature of
out-of-home care, and to foster the educational progress of children
in out-of-home care.
(b) In order to achieve the goals specified in subdivision (a),
the state shall encourage the development of approaches to child
protection that do all of the following:
(1) Allow children to remain in their own schools, in close
proximity to their families.
(2) Ensure that a search for relatives available for placement is
initiated before permanent placement decisions are made for children
who are unable to be reunited with their families.
(3) Increase the number and quality of foster families available
to serve these children.
(4) Use a team approach to foster care that permits the biological
and foster family to be part of that team.
(5) Use team decisionmaking in case planning.
(6) Provide support to foster children and foster families.
(7) Ensure that licensing requirements do not create barriers to
recruitment of qualified, high-quality foster homes.
(8) Provide training for foster parents and professional staff on
working effectively with families and communities.
(9) Encourage foster parents to serve as mentors and role models
for biological parents.
(10) Use community resources, including community-based agencies
and volunteer organizations, to assist in developing placements for
children and to provide support for children and their families.
(11) Ensure an appropriate array of placement resources for
children in need of out-of-home care.
(12) Ensure that no child leaves foster care without a life-long
connection to a committed adult.
(c) In carrying out the requirements of subdivision (b), the
department shall do all of the following:
(1) Consider the existing array of program models provided in
statute and in practice, including, but not limited to, wraparound
services, as defined in Section 18251, children's systems of care, as
provided for in Section 5852, the Oregon Family Unity or Santa Clara
County Family Conference models, which include family conferences at
key points in the casework process, such as when out-of-home
placement or return home are is
considered, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation Family to Family
initiative, which uses team decisionmaking in case planning,
community-based placement practices requiring that children be placed
in foster care in the communities where they resided prior to
placement, and involve foster families as team members in family
reunification efforts.
(2) Ensure that emergency response services, family maintenance
services, family reunification services, and permanent placement
services are coordinated with the implementation of the models
described in paragraph (1).
(3) Ensure consistency between child welfare services program
regulations and the program models described in paragraph (1).
(d) The department, in conjunction with stakeholders, including,
but not limited to, county child welfare services agencies, foster
parent and group home associations, the California Youth Connection,
and other child advocacy groups, shall review the existing child
welfare services program regulations to ensure that these regulations
are consistent with the legislative intent specified in subdivision
(a). This review shall also determine how to incorporate the best
practice guidelines for assessment of children and families receiving
child welfare and foster care services, as required by Section
16501.2.
(e) The department shall report to the Legislature on the results
of the actions taken under this section on or before January 1, 2002.