BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 938|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 938
Author: Assembly Judiciary Committee
Amended: 9/3/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/23/09
AYES: Liu, Maldonado, Alquist, Runner, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 6/2/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Dependent children: Relative caregivers and
foster parents
SOURCE : Judicial Council
DIGEST : This bill provides relatives of children in
foster care with information on how to assist these
children.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Provides that children may become dependent children of
the juvenile court and removed from their parents or
guardian on the basis of abuse or neglect.
2. When a child has been removed from his/her parents or
guardian because of abuse or neglect and taken into
temporary custody, requires the social worker to
CONTINUED
AB 938
Page
2
immediately investigate the circumstances of the child
and the facts surrounding the child being taken into
custody. Provides a process whereby able and willing
relatives may seek placement of the child pending the
detention hearing.
3. Requires the court to examine the parents, guardian or
other individuals with relevant knowledge of the child
at the initial petition hearing. Requires the court to
order the parent to disclose to the social worker the
names and address of any maternal or paternal relatives.
4. Requires the social worker to provide to the court, in
advance of the disposition hearing, a social study or
evaluation of the child, which shall include, among
other things, information about the child's siblings and
the appropriateness of any relative placement.
This bill requires a social worker, when a child is removed
from the home, to conduct, within 30 days, an
investigation, as specified, in order to identify and
locate all grandparents, adult siblings, and other adult
relatives of the child, in order to provide, except when
that relative's history of family or domestic violence
makes notification inappropriate, those persons with
specified information, including that the child has been
removed from the custody of his/her parents or guardians
and an explanation of various options to participate in the
care and placement of the child, as specified, and to
report to the court at the initial petition hearing
regarding that effort.
This bill requires the State Department of Social Services
to develop the written notice providing that information to
relatives .
This bill requires the Judicial Council to develop a
relative information form, as specified. The form would
provide information regarding the needs of the child, and
would include a provision whereby the relative may request
the permission of the court to address the court. The bill
would require a social worker to provide that form, on and
after January 1, 2011, to the adult relatives identified
pursuant to the provision described above.
AB 938
Page
3
Existing law authorizes a peace officer to take a minor
into temporary custody without a warrant and to deliver
that minor to a probation officer under specified
circumstances.
This bill enacts provisions that are applicable to minors
who are taken into temporary custody and delivered to a
probation officer. The bill imposes new duties on
probation officers, similar to those imposed upon social
workers', with respect to conducting an investigation to
locate adult relatives and providing those relatives with
specified information. These provisions would not,
however, require probation officers to develop the relative
information form or provide it to those relatives.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
State-mandated Unknown,
potentially significant General
local program
Social workers ****reimbursable mandate****
and counties
New form Minor and absorbable General
Judicial Council
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/9/09)
Judicial Council (source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
California State Association of Counties
Children's Advocacy Institute
Children's Law Center of Los Angeles
County Welfare Directors Association of California
AB 938
Page
4
Family Law Section of the State Bar
Legal Aid Association of California
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Public Counsel Law Center
Youth Law Center
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
when children are removed from their parents because of
abuse or neglect, they are sometimes severed from their
families and their communities, even when relatives could
step in and care for them. Recognizing this and in
response to studies showing the benefits of having foster
children cared for by relatives, last year's federal
Fostering Connections Act requires that child welfare
agencies provide notice to all adult grandparents and other
relatives within 30 days of a child's removal from the
parents and placement in foster care. The author's office
believe that California must implement this requirement by
January 1, 2010 or risk loss of significant federal foster
care funds. This bill implements this federal mandate.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Tom
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan,
Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway,
Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore,
Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore,
Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber,
Huffman, Jeffries, 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
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bill Berryhill, Block, Duvall
RJG:do 9/9/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
AB 938
Page
5