BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 131|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 131
Author: Evans (D)
Amended: 7/15/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 3-2, 6/23/09
AYES: Corbett, Florez, Leno
NOES: Harman, Walters
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-5, 6/1/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Juvenile proceedings: costs
SOURCE : Judicial Council
DIGEST : This bill requires the Judicial Council to
establish a cost-recovery program for appointed counsel in
dependency cases.
Senate Floor Amendments of 7/15/09 provide that the court
shall not issue an order for repayment if it finds that
repayment would be unjust under the circumstances of the
case.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law permits the court to appoint counsel in a
dependency case for a parent or guardian of a dependent
CONTINUED
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child when it appears to the court that the parent or
guardian wants counsel but is currently unable to afford
counsel. Existing law requires the court to appoint
counsel when the child is or may be placed in out-of-home
care, except as specified. (Welfare & Institutions Code
Section 317(a), (b).)
Existing law requires the court to appoint counsel for an
unrepresented child in a dependency case, unless the court
finds that the child would not benefit from the appointment
of counsel. Existing rules of court require appointed
counsel to have caseload and training that assures adequate
representation of the child. (Welfare & Institutions Code
Section 317(c); Rule of Court 5.660.)
Existing law provides that a person liable for support of a
minor shall be liable to the county for the costs of legal
services rendered to the minor by an attorney. Existing
law provides that there is no liability for legal services
if the petition to declare the minor a dependent of the
court is dismissed at or before the jurisdictional hearing.
(Welfare & Institutions Code Section 903.1.)
Existing law allows a county board of supervisors to
designate a financial evaluation officer to make financial
evaluations of liability for specified reimbursement
programs, including reimbursement for legal services
rendered to a minor, and specifies the procedure for doing
so. (Welfare & Institutions Code Section 903.45.)
This bill provides that persons who are liable for the
support of the minor shall also be liable for the cost to
the county or the court for the cost of legal services
rendered to the minor, except under specified
circumstances.
This bill requires the Judicial Council to establish a
cost-recovery program to collect reimbursements for counsel
appointed by the court to represent parents or their
children in dependency cases.
This bill allows the court to designate a financial
evaluation officer to make financial evaluations of
liability for specified reimbursement programs, including
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reimbursement for legal services rendered to a minor and
specifies the procedure for doing so.
This bill provides that, with the consent of the county and
pursuant to its terms and conditions agreed upon by the
court and county, the court may designate a county
financial evaluation officer for the purposes of handling
reimbursements in the cost-recovery program.
This bill requires the Judicial Council to develop a
statewide standard for determining ability to pay
reimbursements for counsel, considering, at a minimum, the
family's income, their necessary obligations, the number of
individuals dependent on this income, and the
cost-effectiveness of the collection.
This bill provides that the financial officer shall not
petition for repayment, and the court shall not issue an
order for repayment if either the court or the financial
officer determines that repayment of costs for counsel
would harm the ability of a reunified parent or guardian to
support the child or pose a barrier to reunification for
families receiving reunification services or in any case in
which the court finds that the repayment would be unjust
under the circumstances of the case.
This bill requires the Judicial Council to adopt policies
and procedures allowing a court to recover from the money
collected the costs associated with collecting delinquent
reimbursements. The policies will, at a minimum, be
required to limit the amount of money a court may recover
to a reasonable proportion of the delinquent reimbursements
collected and provide terms and conditions under which a
court may use a third-party to collect delinquent
reimbursements.
This bill requires that all funds collected through this
reimbursement program be used to reduce dependency counsel
caseloads to specified levels.
This bill provides that priority for these recovered funds
be given to courts with the highest caseloads and that have
also demonstrated the ability to immediately improve
outcomes for parents and children as the result of reduced
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caseloads.
This bill makes technical corrections to court fee
reference sections.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/15/09)
Judicial Council (source)
Family Law Section of the State Bar
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The Judicial Council, the sponsor
of this bill, states, "Caseloads for attorneys who
represent children and parents in dependency matters far
exceed the standard adopted by the Judicial Council
pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 317.
That standard is 188 clients per attorney, provided that
the attorney has a half-time investigator or social worker
assigned to support the attorney. Despite that standard,
the average case load is 273 clients per attorney because
the funding for counsel in these cases is insufficient to
implement the standard statewide.
"Current law (Welfare and Institutions Code, section 903.1)
authorizes the county to seek reimbursement for counsel
provided to a child in either a juvenile delinquency or
dependency action. The county is responsible for providing
counsel in juvenile delinquency cases, but, since state
trial court funding, the court is responsible for providing
trial counsel in dependency cases. However, the current
statute does not authorize the courts to seek reimbursement
for the costs they incur in providing the services in
dependency cases."
This bill establishes a program whereby parents who have
the ability to do so will be required to reimburse the cost
of providing counsel to parents and children in dependency
actions.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
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AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan,
Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway,
Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Emmerson, Eng,
Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez,
Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning,
Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel
Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NOES: Anderson, DeVore, Gaines, Hagman, Harkey
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block, Duvall, Jeffries
RJG:do 7/16/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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