BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 743|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 743
Author: Portantino (D)
Amended: 7/15/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 3-0, 6/10/10
AYES: Liu, Runner, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Romero, Vacancy
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/29/10
AYES: Corbett, Harman, Hancock, Leno
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 11-0, 8/12/10
AYES: Kehoe, Ashburn, Alquist, Corbett, Emmerson, Leno,
Price, Walters, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 67-0, 1/27/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Foster care: sibling placement
SOURCE : Childrens Law Center of Los Angeles
DIGEST : This bill makes changes to the standards for
sibling visitation, interaction, and placement for children
who are placed out-of-home, in foster care, or adoption, to
conform with language in the federal Fostering Connections
Act, and requires placing agencies to notify a dependent
child's attorney of placements and changes in placement, as
specified.
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ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Provides for the establishment and support of a
statewide child welfare system through the Department of
Social Services (DSS) and county welfare departments.
2. Requires, a social worker, where possible and
appropriate, to place a child, who has been removed from
his or her parents or guardian because of abuse or
neglect, together with his/her siblings or half-siblings
also being removed, or to describe continuing efforts to
place them together if they are not initially placed
together, or to explain why placing them together is
inappropriate.
3. Requires, when the court has ordered the removal of a
child from his/her parents, to consider whether there
are siblings also under the court's jurisdiction, the
nature of the relationships between the siblings and the
appropriateness of developing or maintaining those
relationships, and the impact of those relationships on
placement and permanency planning.
4. States the intent of the Legislature to ensure that
siblings who are removed from the home will be placed in
foster care together, unless the placement is not in the
best interest of one or more siblings. Recognizes the
importance of sibling relationships and requires the
responsible local agency to develop and maintain sibling
relationships. Requires the responsible local agency to
make diligent effort in all out-of-home placements of
dependent children to develop and maintain sibling
relationships. Requires that, if siblings are not
placed together in the same home, the social worker must
explain why, what efforts are being exerted to place
them together in the same home, or why those efforts are
not appropriate.
5. Requires a placing agency to notify the child's attorney
as soon as possible after the agency makes a decision
regarding a placement or a change of placement for the
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child.
6. Requires any order placing a child in foster care to
provide for visitation between a child and any siblings,
unless the court finds by clear and convincing evidence
that sibling interaction is detrimental to either child.
Requires a county adoption agency or DSS to take steps
to facilitate ongoing sibling contact for a dependent
child placed in adoption, except in cases where the
court determines by a preponderance of evidence that
sibling interaction is detrimental to the child.
This bill:
1. Requires a placing agency to notify a dependent child's
attorney and provide specified information no later than
the close of the following business day of a decision to
place, or change the placement of, the child (instead of
"as soon as possible" under current law).
2. Requires, absent emergency circumstances, a placing
agency to notify the child's attorney and the child's
siblings' attorneys at least 10 calendar days prior to
the change in placement of a dependent child, if the
change will result in the separation of siblings.
Requires a lesser timeline for changes in placement that
are initiated by a foster family agency, group home, or
other foster care provider. Requires, in an emergency,
a placing agency to provide notice as soon as possible,
but no later than the next business day following the
change of placement.
3. Requires a notice that is given after the change in
placement to include information on the child's address,
telephone number, and caregiver. Requires a notice that
is given prior to a change in placement to include this
same information to the extent that the information is
known.
4. Makes changes to the standards for sibling visitation,
interaction, and placement for children who are placed
out-of-home, in foster care, or adoption, in order to
conform with federal law. Specifically, requires court
orders for foster care placement to provide for sibling
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visitation, unless the court finds by clear and
convincing evidence that sibling interaction is
"contrary to the safety or well-being" of either child.
Applies the same "contrary to the safety or well-being"
of either child standard to requirements to facilitate
sibling interaction in adoption cases, and to place
siblings together in out-of-home placements. (Current
law sometimes specifies a "detrimental" or
"inappropriate" standard.)
5. Requires a social worker, if siblings are not placed
togther, to explain why those efforts would be contrary
to the safety or well-being of any of the siblings, and
requires the social worker to make diligent efforts to
place siblings together in the same placement.
Background
Data on sibling placement . As of October 1, 2009, foster
children in California are placed together with all their
siblings in only approximately half of all cases. In
approximately 73 percent of cases, foster youth are placed
with all or some of their siblings, leaving about 27
percent of cases, where foster youth are separated from all
of their siblings. (Needell, B., Webster, D., Armijo, M.,
Lee, S., Dawson, W., Magruder, J., Exel, M.,
Cuccaro-Alamin, S., Williams, D., Zimmerman, K., Simon, V.,
Hamilton, D., Putnam-Hornstein, E., Frerer, K., Lou, C.,
Peng, C. & Moore, M. (2010). Child Welfare Services
Reports for California. Retrieved from University of
California at Berkeley Center for Social Services
Research.)
Fostering Connections Act . In October 2008, Congress
passed and President Bush signed the Fostering Connections
to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, which promotes
permanent families for children and youth in foster care by
providing greater assistance to relative caregivers and
improving incentives for adoption. The Act also extends
assistance to foster children to age 21 and improves
education and health care for children and youth in foster
care. Relative to this bill, the federal act requires
states to use "reasonable efforts" to place siblings
together, unless such placement is contrary to their safety
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or well-being. If siblings are not placed together,
visitation between the siblings must occur frequently,
unless contrary to their safety or well-being. (42 USC
Section 671(a).)
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Codifies federal compliance Costs not attributable to
this bill General
Mandated notifications $160* $320**
$320**General
$86 $172 $172 Federal
* If the Commission on State Mandates determines that the
notification mandate is not reimbursable, the state cost
would be reduced to $112,000 General Fund, with a county
cost of $48,000.
**If the Commission on State Mandates determines that the
notification mandate is not reimbursable, the state cost
would be reduced to $224,000 General Fund, with a county
cost of $96,000.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/13/10)
Children's Law Center of Los Angeles (source)
All Saints Church Foster Care Project
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
Aspiranet
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Youth Connection
Child Abuse Prevention Council of Contra Costa County
Children's Advocacy Institute
County Welfare Directors Association of California
Judicial Council of California
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Junior Leagues of California
Juvenile Court Judges of California (if amended)
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
Public Counsel Law Center
State Bar of California, Family Law Section
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/13/10)
Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The bill's sponsor, the Children's
Law Center of Los Angeles (CLC), reports that, often, a
sibling group is initially placed together, but one of the
children has difficulties or demonstrates behavioral issues
with which the caregiver struggles to handle. Many times
the remedy sought by the social worker is to remove that
child from that foster home, thus separating the siblings.
CLC believes that with the intervention of the child's
attorney, who may have a different relationship with the
caregiver and/or different ideas for resources to address
the underlying issue, many of these anticipated separations
can be avoided.
Judicial Council of California writes that this bill will
enhance the ability of the juvenile court to carry out its
responsibility to keep siblings placed together whenever
such placement is appropriate. Judicial Council states
that by adopting the enhanced federal standard for sibling
placement, which will clarify that placement of siblings
together is appropriate in any case in which the placement
is not contrary to the safety or well-being of any sibling.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees writes that the bill extends a helping hand to
the children of California who have lost the most, and
provides an opportunity for recovery through protecting the
remaining bonds between siblings.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance is
opposed to this bill unless it is amended to remove the
attorney notification
requirement that county social workers notify sibling
attorneys regarding a change in the placement that would
result in the separation of the siblings. Although the
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attorney notification requirement may have merit, the
state's current fiscal condition requires extreme fiscal
prudence.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, De La Torre,
Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore,
Hagman, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen,
John A. Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torres, Torrico,
Tran, Villines, Yamada
NO VOTE RECORDED: Carter, Davis, De Leon, DeVore, Hall,
Miller, V. Manuel Perez, Salas, Saldana, Torlakson, Bass
CTW:mw 8/16/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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