BILL ANALYSIS
AB 770
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Date of Hearing: April 14, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Jim Beall, Jr., Chair
AB 770 (Torres) - As Introduced: February 26, 2009
(As Proposed to be Amended)
SUBJECT : Indian tribes: foster care and adoption programs.
SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Social Services
(department) to negotiate in good faith with any Indian tribe,
tribal organization or consortium in the state that requests to
develop an agreement with the state to administer all or part of
the program under Title IV-E on behalf of Indian children who
are under the authority of the tribe, organization or
consortium. Establishes the policy of the state to maximize
opportunities for Indian tribes to operate foster care programs
for Indian children pursuant to the federal Fostering
Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008.
EXISTING FEDERAL LAW:
1)Under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), establishes minimum
standards for child welfare cases involving Indian children,
including requirements related to jurisdiction, notice of and
intervention in proceedings by a tribe, and providing that the
acts, records, and judicial proceedings of tribal courts are
entitled to full faith and credit to the same extent that the
acts, records, or judicial proceedings of another state would
be.
2)Allows Indian tribes, organizations or consortia to receive
Title IV-E foster care funds and take on corresponding
responsibilities (placement, administration, eligibility
determination, training, and adoption assistance) directly, as
a state would. Alternatively, tribes can receive funds via an
agreement with a state. 42 USC 670 et seq.
3)Requires state plans under Title IV-E to include a commitment
that the state will negotiate in good faith with any Indian
tribe, organization or consortium that requests to develop an
agreement with the state to administer all or part of the
program on behalf of Indian children under authority of the
tribe. 42 USC 671(a)(32). Requires the state to also
negotiate in good faith with respect to Independent Living
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Program and Education and Training Voucher funds. 42 USC
677(b)(3)(G).
4)Requires the Secretary of Health & Human Services to
promulgate regulations regarding tribal foster care programs
by set deadlines, but specifies that this requirement does not
delay implementation of the above and other provisions.
EXISTING STATE LAW:
1)Establishes a system of child welfare services, including
foster care, for children who have been or are at risk of
being abused or neglected. Establishes foster care placement
options for dependents and wards placed in foster care,
including foster homes, relative and nonrelative extended
family members' homes, Foster Family Agency-supervised homes,
and group homes.
2)Authorizes the State to enter into agreements with tribes to
pass through IV-E funds if tribes take on child welfare
responsibilities like those of the counties in the other
cases. WIC 10553.1; 10553.2.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : In October, 2008, Congress enacted and President Bush
signed one of the most significant pieces of child welfare
legislation in some time. Among its provisions, the Fostering
Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions (Fostering
Connections) Act (P.L. 110-351) authorized Indian tribes, under
specified circumstances, to receive federal funds to support the
operation of child welfare programs directly. The Fostering
Connections Act also requires states to commit to negotiating in
good faith with any Indian tribe, organization or consortium
that requests to develop an agreement with the state to
administer all or part of the child welfare program on behalf of
Indian children under authority of the tribe. 42 USC 671(a).
This bill would conform state law to those requirements.
Background on Indian Child Welfare Laws : In response to reports
that a large percentage of Indian children had been removed from
their families by courts and child welfare agencies and placed
in foster or adoptive homes and institutions, Congress enacted
ICWA in 1978. With this landmark legislation, Congress
recognized that states "often failed to recognize the essential
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tribal relations of Indian people and the cultural and social
standards prevailing in Indian communities and families," and
that the removal of Indian children was "often unwarranted." 25
U.S.C 1901. The goal of ICWA is thus to "protect the best
interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and
security of Indian tribes and families." 25 U.S.C 1902. ICWA
continues to provide an overall framework that governs child
welfare proceedings involving Indian children who are subject to
the jurisdiction of states' dependency courts because of abuse
or neglect or the risk of such harm.
Related Legislation : Other bills introduced this session
include provisions to implement various sections of the federal
Fostering Connections Act, including AB 12 (Beall, Bass), AB 938
(Committee on Judiciary), AB 1067 (Brownley), AB 500 (Conway),
and AB 1402 (Bass). AB 1325 (Cook, Beall) was also introduced
this session and would establish procedures to allow for the use
of tribal customary adoption as a permanency option for Indian
children in out-of-home care. Several prior bills addressed
other procedures and issues related to Indian children in foster
care, including SB 678 (Ducheny), Chapter 838, Statutes of 2006,
which codified various provisions of ICWA in state law.
Amendments : The author wishes to amend the bill as follows:
Delete lines 16 through 23 and add at line 16: (c) The State
Department of Social Services shall negotiate in good faith with
any Indian tribe, tribal organization or tribal consortium in
the state that requests to develop an agreement with the state
to administer all or part of the programs under Title IV-E on
behalf of Indian children who are under the authority of the
tribe, organization or consortium.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, county and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME)
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Communities United Institute (CalComUI)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Troia / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089