BILL ANALYSIS
AB 422
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 14, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Jim Beall, Jr., Chair
AB 422 (Torres) - As Introduced: February 23, 2009
SUBJECT : State Youth and Family Master Plan.
SUMMARY : Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to
develop a State Youth and Family Master Plan. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop
a State Youth and Family Master Plan and to report annually on
the progress of the plan development.
2)Establishes the goals that the plan shall be designed to
achieve, including but not limited to:
a) Identifying all state governmental entities responsible
for delivering services to youth and families and ways of
bridging communication gaps between them;
b) Providing mechanisms for assessing of which state
policies are effective;
c) Identifying how the state hinders local governments'
efforts to serve youth and families, which services for
youth have been taken over by the state, and opportunities
to eliminate duplicate state and local efforts.
3)Requires the Secretary to develop input from a number of
stakeholders within state government (e.g., the Directors of
the Departments of Alcohol and Drug Programs, Developmental
Services, Employment Development) and others within the
nonprofit and private sector. Specifies that the Secretary
shall schedule meetings to allow for public participation.
4)Makes a number of declarations regarding the challenges
confronting youth and families.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes the Legislature's goal of giving every young
person in California a mentor by sustaining or growing the
AB 422
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resources under the Governor's Mentoring Partnership and
encourages state agencies and departments to collaborate to
build youth developmental assets. Specifies standards and
data collection required of mentoring programs in order for
them to receive funds appropriated by the Legislature.
2)Establishes the California Child Welfare Council to serve as
an advisory body responsible for improving the collaboration
and processes of the multiple agencies and the courts that
serve the children and youth in the child welfare and foster
care systems (Welfare and Institutions Code Section 16450).
Requires the Council to be comprised of the Secretary of the
Health and Human Services Agency, the Chief Justice of the
California Supreme Court, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, Directors of other state departments, youth
members, the chairperson of the Assembly Committee on Human
Services, and other stakeholders.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The author states that the purpose of this
member-sponsored bill is to help develop a general policy that
will guide state actions in the implementation of efforts to
serve youth and families. According to the author,
"particularly in a time of shrinking resources, the state
efforts should seek ways to complement each other and avoid
duplicity or disjoined approaches..." The author also states
that her goal is not to create bureaucracy, but rather to
eliminate silos and increase communication.
The National League of Cities points to examples of cities
across the country that have produced a master plan related to
youth. Examples in California include plans created by the
cities of San Jose, Santa Clarita, Sierra Madre and Thousand
Oaks.
Prior legislation : Prior bills have sought to create greater
efficiency or effectiveness in the state's overall efforts to
serve children and families through councils or commissions. AB
2252 (DeSaulnier, 2008) is a recent example of this type of
proposal. AB 2252 sought to establish a California Commission
on Youth to examine, discuss and offer recommendations about
issues affecting youth. AB 2252 was vetoed by the Governor.
Similar to AB 2252, SB 596 (1999, Alpert) and SB 215 (2003,
Alpert) were introduced with the goal of establishing a
AB 422
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statewide youth policy council, and were vetoed by the Governor.
AB 2216 (Bass) Chapter 384, Statutes of 2006, created the
California Child Welfare Council, a state-level advisory body
co-chaired by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and a
justice of the California Supreme Court. The Child Welfare
Council considers recommendations to improve outcomes for
children involved in the child welfare system through increased
collaboration and coordination among programs administered by
multiple agencies and courts.
Suggestions for clarification and further detail: As this bill
is currently drafted, it is unclear whether the master plan is
to be created as a one-time document or whether it is instead a
document that will evolve and change over time. There is also
no deadline for the development of the plan, but rather a
requirement for open-ended, annual progress reporting. The
author may wish to consider amendments to this bill that would
provide these additional details.
Suggested technical amendment: On page 2, line 27, after the
word "treatment" and before the words "in 2006" insert "in the
publicly-funded alcohol and other drug system".
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME)
Opposition
California Right to Life Committee, Inc.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Troia / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089