BILL NUMBER: AB 1758 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ammiano
FEBRUARY 8, 2010
An act to amend Sections 18250, 18251, 18253, 18253.5, 18254,
18255, and 18256.5 of, to amend the heading of Chapter 4 (commencing
with Section 18250) of Part 6 of Division 9 of, to add Section 18258
to, and to repeal and add Section 18256 of, the Welfare and
Institutions Code, relating to public social services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1758, as introduced, Ammiano. County wraparound services
program.
Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services
administers a pilot project that authorizes a county to develop and
implement a plan for providing wraparound services designed to enable
children who would otherwise be placed in a group home setting to
remain in the least restrictive, most family-like setting possible.
The pilot project also imposes specified evaluation and reporting
requirements for participating counties, and training requirements
for staff in participating counties.
This bill would remove the designation of this program as a pilot
project and make conforming changes.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, administered by
the State Department of Health Care Services, under which eligible
low-income persons are provided with health care services.
Existing law provides for the Adoption Assistance Program,
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under
which adoption assistance payments are provided to eligible adoptive
parents.
This bill would also provide that children otherwise categorically
eligible for Medi-Cal benefits without a share of cost due to
receipt of benefits under the AFDC-FC program or the Adoption
Assistance Program shall remain eligible for Medi-Cal benefits during
participation in the wraparound services program.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The heading of Chapter 4 (commencing with Section
18250) of Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code
is amended to read:
CHAPTER 4. COUNTY WRAP-AROUND
WRAPAROUND SERVICES PILOT PROJECT
PROGRAM
SEC. 2. Section 18250 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
18250. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that all counties
be authorized to provide children with service alternatives to group
home care through the development of expanded family-based services
programs. These programs shall include individualized or
"wrap-around" "wraparound" services, where
services are wrapped around a child living with his or her birth
parent, relative, nonrelative extended family member as defined
in Section 362.7, adoptive parent, licensed or certified foster
parent, or guardian. The wrap-around
wraparound services developed under this section shall build on
the strengths of each eligible child and family and be tailored to
address their unique and changing needs.
(b) It is further the intent of the Legislature that the
pilot project county wraparound services program
include the following elements:
(1) Making available to the county the state share of nonfederal
reimbursement for group home placement, minus the state share, if
any, of any concurrent out-of-home placement costs, for children
eligible under this chapter, for the purpose of allowing the county
to develop family-based service alternatives.
(2) Enabling the county to access all possible sources of federal
funds for the purpose of developing family-based service
alternatives.
(3) Encouraging collaboration among persons and entities
including, but not limited to, parents, county welfare departments,
county mental health departments, county probation departments,
county health departments, special education local planning agencies,
school districts, and private service providers for the purpose of
planning and providing individualized services for children and their
birth or substitute families.
(4) Ensuring local community participation in the development and
implementation of wrap-around wraparound
services by county placing agencies and service providers.
(5) Preserving and using the service resources and expertise of
nonprofit providers to develop family-based and community-based
service alternatives.
SEC. 3. Section 18251 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
18251. As used in this chapter:
(a) "County" means each county participating in an individualized
or "wrap-around" pilot project wraparound
services program .
(b) "County placing agency" means a county welfare or probation
department, or a county mental health department with respect to
those children placed pursuant to Section 7572.5 of the Government
Code.
(c) "Eligible child" means a child who is any of the following:
(1) A child who has been adjudicated as either a dependent or ward
of the juvenile court pursuant to Section 300, 601, or 602 and who
would be placed in a group home licensed by the department at a rate
classification level of 10 or higher.
(2) A child who would be voluntarily placed in out-of-home care
pursuant to Section 7572.5 of the Government Code.
(3) A child who is currently, or who would be, placed in a group
home licensed by the department at a rate classification level of 10
or higher.
(d) "Wrap-around "Wraparound services"
means community-based intervention services that emphasize the
strengths of the child and family and includes the delivery of
coordinated, highly individualized unconditional services to address
needs and achieve positive outcomes in their lives.
(e) "Service allocation slot" means a specified amount of funds
available to the county to pay for an individualized intensive
wraparound services package for an eligible child. A service
allocation slot may be used for more than one child on a successive
basis.
SEC. 4. Section 18253 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
18253. Each county shall ensure that an evaluation of the
pilot project wraparound services program
is conducted to determine the cost and treatment effectiveness
of outcomes such as family functioning and social performance,
preventing placement in more restrictive environments, improving
emotional and behavioral adjustments, school attendance, and
academic performance stability in the least
restrictive school placement for eligible children. Systems of
care outcomes shall be included to the extent they are applicable to
the target population.
SEC. 5. Section 18253.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
18253.5. Each county shall ensure that staff participating in the
pilot projects wraparound services program
have completed training provided or approved by the department,
on providing individualized wrap-around
wraparound services.
SEC. 6. Section 18254 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
18254. (a) Reimbursement rates for wraparound services, under
this pilot project the wraparound services
program , shall be based on the following factors:
(1) The average cost of rate classification 10 to 11 in each
county, minus the cost of any concurrent out-of-home placement, for
children who are or would be placed in a rate level 10 or 11 group
home.
(2) The average cost of rate classification 12 to 14 in each
county, minus the cost of any concurrent out-of-home placement, for
children who are or would be placed in a rate level 12 to 14 group
home.
(b) The annual maximum limit on funding available for the
pilot project wraparound services program
authorized by this chapter shall be based on the average cost,
determined pursuant to subdivision (a), for the number of service
allocation slots assigned to each county.
(c) The department shall reimburse each county, for the purpose of
providing intensive wraparound services, up to 100 percent of the
state share of nonfederal funds, to be matched by each county's share
of cost as established by law, and to the extent permitted by
federal law, up to 100 percent of the federal funds allocated for
group home placements of eligible children, at the rate authorized
pursuant to subdivision (a).
(d) State and, to the extent permitted by federal law, federal
foster care funds shall remain with the administrative authority of
the county welfare department, which may enter into an interagency
agreement to transfer those funds, and shall be used to provide
intensive wraparound services.
(e) General Fund costs for the provision of benefits to eligible
children pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 18251
, at rates authorized by subdivision (a) ,
through the pilot project wraparound
services program authorized by this chapter , shall
not exceed the costs which would otherwise have been incurred had the
eligible children been placed in a group home.
SEC. 7. Section 18255 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
18255. This pilot project may be extended to any
Any county that applies to, and is granted
approval, by the department may implement a wraparound services
program . The number of service allocation slots assigned to
each county shall be determined by each county and approved by the
department.
SEC. 8. Section 18256 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
repealed.
18256. Each county shall evaluate its pilot project, prepare
interim and final evaluations, and submit them to the appropriate
committees of the Legislature and to the department. The interim
report shall be submitted not later than six months following the
start of the third year of the pilot project. The final report shall
be submitted not later than six months following the end of the
five-year pilot project. These reports shall assess the effectiveness
of the pilot project authorized by this chapter. The reports shall
include, but need not be limited to, all of the following:
(a) The effectiveness of the project in reducing the level of
out-of-home services required, and in reducing the average length of
stay in out-of-home care.
(b) A comparison of the cost of placement and services for
children in the pilot project with the average cost of out-of-home
placement for the same number of children.
(c) The effectiveness of the pilot project in assisting children
and families in attaining their service goals.
SEC. 9. Section 18256 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
18256. The department shall work with the County Welfare
Directors Association of California to identify periodic data
elements to be collected in order to track the impact of the counties'
wraparound services programs on applicable California Child and
Family Services Review System outcome indicators, such as safety,
permanency, and the well-being of the child.
SEC. 10. Section 18256.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
18256.5. At the end of a county's pilot project, in
In order to prevent disruption to the
a child , each child remaining in the
pilot project participating in a wraparound services
program, any county that terminates its wraparound services program
shall continue to receive provide to
that participating child all planned services specified in the
child's individualized services plan until his or her case is closed.
SEC. 11. Section 18258 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
18258. A child who is otherwise categorically eligible for
Medi-Cal benefits without a share of cost due to receipt of benefits
under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care
(AFDC-FC) program or the Adoption Assistance Program shall remain
eligible for Medi-Cal benefits during participation in the wraparound
services program, provided that the child remains an eligible child
as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 18251 and is considered
temporarily absent from a foster care placement for which the child
remains eligible for AFDC-FC benefits pursuant to Section 18254. The
placement of a child who is participating in the wraparound services
program pursuant to this chapter in his or her parental home shall
not represent a change in the child's foster care status for purposes
of Medi-Cal eligibility, provided that the child remains an eligible
child as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 18251 and is
considered temporarily absent from a foster care placement for which
the child remains eligible for AFDC-FC benefits pursuant to Section
18254. Medi-Cal eligibility shall be redetermined, consistent with
applicable state law, if the child is returned to the parental home
and AFDC-FC or Adoption Assistance Program benefits terminated.