BILL ANALYSIS
AB 488
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 29, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 488 (Torres) - As Amended: April 21, 2009
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:6 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes the Department of Social Services (DSS) to
renew or extend beyond a three-year time period specified
performance agreements with private, nonprofit agencies that
provide child welfare services.
FISCAL EFFECT
There negligible costs associated with this legislation. Without
the extension of the waiver, these children would need to be
placed in other group homes and residential facilities that
require comparable monthly payments.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . DSS has approved waiver applications from eight
counties that place youth at the main campus in Chino,
California of a provider called Boys Republic. Boys Republic
states in its letter that this campus serves 140 youth between
the ages of 13 and 17. This bill is intended to allow the
waiver to continue so that those boys may continue to be
served at Boys Republic.
The author states that "the overall goal of the waiver project
is to demonstrate that under a more flexible rate framework,"
youth with complex needs placed at Boys Republic can satisfy
specific performance outcome measures, including measures
related to community transition, educational achievement and
public safety. Also according to the author, a secondary goal
is to demonstrate that fewer staff with longer tenure and
higher levels of training is a cost-effective approach to
AB 488
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providing care.
2)Boys Republic . Boy's Republic has been in existence over 100
years. It is a non-profit, privately-endowed agency providing
both residential and non-residential youth services to
disadvantaged, at-risk youth from throughout California. It
operates a total of nine programs in Southern California, in
Chino Hills, Los Angeles, Pomona and Santa Ana, and a Girls
Republic group home in Monrovia.
Total capacity for all Boys Republic facilities is 256
including 220 residential beds and the capacity to serve up to
36 youth (and their families) in day treatment centers. Boys
Republic provides educational, psychological, vocational and
family reunification services.
Boys Republic's main campus is located in Chino Hills,
California. Students live in cottages of 25, within 240-acre
farm and school. The self-contained campus offers
multidisciplinary treatment for teenagers in need of highly
structured supervision. An on-grounds high school, vocational
preparedness and work experience programs, athletics and
student government leadership training are all part of the
services provided at the facility.
3)Opposition . In opposition, the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO states that
"under the thin veil of innovation, this bill seeks to allow
private companies to provide children's services to counties
under less regulation than otherwise allowed. Reducing these
regulations will directly affect the quality of care given to
this vulnerable population..."
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081