BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Elaine K. Alquist, Chair
BILL NO: AB 2161
A
AUTHOR: Hancock
B
VERSION: June 19, 2006
HEARING DATE: June 27, 2006
2
FISCAL: Appropriations, 2/3rds
1
6
CONSULTANT:
1
Hailey
SUBJECT
Child welfare services, resource family pilot program
SUMMARY
Creates the unified resource family approvals pilot project
by streamlining the licensing and approval process for
relative caregivers, foster parents, and adoptive homes.
ABSTRACT
Current law:
1) Establishes separate categories of surrogate caregivers
- relative caregivers, foster parents, and adoptive homes -
and has a licensing or approval process for each.
This bill:
1) Requires the State Department of Social Services (DSS),
in consultation with county child welfare agencies, foster
parent associations and other interested parties to
implement a pilot project to streamline approval of
adoptive families.
2) Specifies that up to five counties be selected to
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STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2161 (Hancock) Page
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voluntarily participate in the project.
3) Directs DSS to choose counties that reflect a range of
sizes and geography.
4) Requires that prior to implementing the pilot program,
DSS establish standards and uniform documentation for a
unified home approval and permanency assessment for
resource families based on specified criteria.
5) Defines a "resource family" as a family that a
participating county has approved to care for a child under
the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
6) Requires completion of the assessment within 90 days of
the child's placement in the approved home unless good
cause exists.
7) Requires participating counties to report to DSS on a
quarterly basis the number of families whose permanency
assessment goes beyond 90 days and summarize the reasons
for such delays.
8) Requires participating counties to submit an
implementation plan for the pilot project.
9) Requires DSS to prepare or have prepared a report on
the results of the pilot no later than 180 days after the
conclusion of the pilot program.
10) Requires that the evaluation include information on
statutory or regulatory barriers to expanding the program
to additional counties and families.
11) Exempts approved resource families from additional
licensure under the Community Care Facilities Act, and from
meeting additional requirements for foster care under the
Welfare and Institutions and the Family codes.
12) Mandates that the Department of Justice (DOJ) deem
criminal records information requests made by the counties
or by DSS for applicant and approved resource families as
criminal records information requests for prospective
adoptive families.
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13) Specifies that when a resource family moves to another
county, the DOJ must notify the new county of residence
about subsequent arrest notification for that family.
14) Allows the status of the resource family's approval to
continue even after the pilot project is completed.
15) Prohibits the DOJ or DSS from charging any additional
fee for the live-scan, fingerprinting or provision of
criminal record information as a result of instituting this
pilot.
FISCAL IMPACT
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this
bill will cost several hundred thousand dollars in state
personnel costs to oversee the development and
implementation of the pilot project; also, up to $300,000
would be needed to evaluate the pilot project.
Streamlining the approval process and eliminating
duplicative steps for foster/adoptive parents may lead to
offsetting savings for county welfare departments.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The author believes that the existing approval and
licensure processes for foster parents, relative
caregivers, and adoptive parents are duplicative and
confusing for potential caregivers. For example, according
to the author, all currently approved relatives and
licensed foster parents caring for a child in their home
must undergo a second, nearly identical criminal background
check if they want to adopt that child. The author
believes that such redundancies in the current process
create confusion for caregivers, make the licensure process
cumbersome, and cause delays for children in need of
permanent adoptive homes.
The author states that the current system also fails to
consider the new realities of child welfare including
mandates for concurrent planning. County child welfare
agencies simultaneously work with the birth family to
reunify with their children, while preparing a plan for
permanency (such as adoption or guardianship) if
reunification efforts fail.
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2161 (Hancock) Page
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The author believes that the pilot project is consistent
with federal and state legislation calling for systemic
improvements in child welfare. Both the Child Welfare
System Improvement and Accountability Act (AB 636,
Steinberg, Chapter 678, Statutes of 2001) and California's
federal performance improvement plan seek to improve
outcomes for children in the child welfare system through
comprehensive oversight and accountability of local child
welfare programs. The author believes that this bill and
the proposed pilot would facilitate these goals by
improving timeliness to adoptions, increasing placement
stability for children, and enhancing well-being as
children are placed with stable and supportive families.
The author states that no federal waiver approval is
required for this pilot, and DSS has been notified by the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that the Title
IV-E funding would continue to be available for the pilot
counties while other non-pilot counties continue the
current licensing and approval process.
PRIOR ACTIONS
Assembly Floor: 80 - 0(Pass)
Assembly Appropriations: 14 - 4(Do pass)
Assembly Human Services: 6 - 0(Do pass)
POSITIONS
Support: California State Association of Counties
(co-sponsor)
County Welfare Directors Association (co-sponsor)
American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees
Butte County Department of Employment and Social
Services
Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services Inc.
Humboldt County Department of Health and Human
Services
Imperial County Department of Social Services
Legal Advocates for Permanent Parenting
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles County Department of Children and
Family Services
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2161 (Hancock) Page
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Marin County Child Protective Services
Merced County Human Services Agency
National Association of Social Workers, California
Chapter
Riverside County Department of Public Social
Services
Sacramento County Board of Supervisors
Sacramento County Department of Health and Human
Services
San Francisco Human Services Agency
San Luis Obispo County Department of Social
Services
Santa Barbara Department of Social Services
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Santa Cruz County Human Resources Agency
Service Employees International Union
Solano County Board of Supervisors
Tehama County Department of Social Services
Ventura County Human Services Agency
Oppose:None received
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