BILL NUMBER: AB 1955	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Leslie

                        FEBRUARY 2, 2006

   An act to add Chapter 2.8 (commencing with Section 16180) to Part
4 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to
foster care.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1955, as introduced, Leslie  California Foster Care
Investigative Procedures Act of 2006.
   (1) Existing law establishes procedures for the placement of
children in foster care, with these provisions administered by the
State Department of Social Services and county licensing agencies.
   This bill would enact the California Foster Care Investigative
Procedures Act of 2006, which would require the State Department of
Social Services or county licensing agencies to take various actions
to ensure the efficient investigation of complaints against a foster
parent or family. The bill would require the department, or a county
foster care licensing agency, in the process of investigating a
complaint against a foster parent or foster family, to consider a
foster care client's documented history of filing complaints, if any,
including any history of making false accusations against a foster
parent or foster family. The bill would require the department or a
county licensing agency, if it determines that there is no reasonable
basis for a complaint filed against a foster parent or foster
family, to ensure that any record of the complaint be removed from a
specified Child Abuse Central Index. The bill would guarantee certain
rights to a foster parent or family that is the subject of an
investigation pursuant to the bill.
   By imposing additional duties on county licensing agencies, the
bill would constitute a state-mandated local program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Chapter 2.8 (commencing with Section 16180) is added to
Part 4 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

      CHAPTER 2.8.  CALIFORNIA FOSTER CARE INVESTIGATIVE PROCEDURES
ACT OF 2006

   16180.  (a) This act shall be known, and may by cited, as the
California Foster Care Investigative Procedures Act of 2006.
   (b) (1) The department, or a county licensing agency, shall, in
the process of investigating a complaint against a foster parent or
foster family, consider a foster care client's documented history of
filing complaints, if any, including any history of making false
accusations against a foster parent or foster family.
   (2) If the department or a county licensing agency determines that
there is no reasonable basis for the complaint, the department or
county licensing agency shall ensure that any record of the false
complaint is removed from the Child Abuse Central Index, maintained
pursuant to Section 11170 of the Penal Code.
   (c) (1) The department or a county licensing agency shall ensure
that, if it conducts any investigative interview with a foster parent
or foster family in connection with the investigation of a
complaint, a representative of the foster care agency responsible for
the placement of the client in a foster home is present at the
interview, unless the right to have that representative present is
waived, in writing, by the foster parent or other individual
representing the foster family that is subject to the investigation.

   (2) If a representative of the foster care agency is not available
to be present at an interview conducted pursuant to paragraph (1),
the foster parent or family may designate another person to be
present and serve as a witness at the interview.
   (d) Any person who is suspected of the abuse or neglect of a child
client who is in foster care and who is the subject of an
investigation under this section may tape-record any interview or
other communication between himself or herself and staff of the
department or a county licensing agency in the course of any
investigation or family assessment carried out pursuant to this
section, in which case the interview may also be recorded by the
department, or a county licensing agency, if both of the following
requirements are met:
   (1) All the parties participating in the interview or
communication are aware that the conversation is to be recorded.
   (2) All the parties verbally consent to the recording at the
beginning of the recorded communication.
   (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit or
otherwise interfere with the timely removal of a child in foster care
whose safety or well-being may be at risk.
  SEC. 2.  If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.