BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
BILL NO: AB 2129
A
AUTHOR: Bass
B
VERSION: June 2, 2010
HEARING DATE: June 10, 2010
2
FISCAL: Appropriations
1
2
CONSULTANT:
9
Park
SUBJECT
Foster care: residentially based services
SUMMARY
Extends to July 1, 2014, the deadline for the Department of
Social Services (DSS) to develop a plan to transform the
current statewide system of group homes into a system of
residentially based services. Requires DSS to conduct a
review of the county residentially based services program,
as specified, and allows DSS to terminate the county's
participation in the residentially based services reform
project for specified reasons. Provides that voluntary
agreements between counties and private nonprofit agencies
to test alternative program design and funding models for
transforming individual group home programs into
residentially based services programs terminate on or
before January 1, 2015.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1.Provides for the establishment and support of a statewide
child welfare system through the Department of Social
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 2129 (Bass) Page
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Services (DSS) and county welfare departments. Includes
services related to foster care placement of dependent
children.
2.Requires children removed from their parents for abuse or
neglect to be placed in one of various placements,
including a licensed group home. Provides for the
licensing and regulation of community care facilities,
including group homes, by DSS.
3.Provides for the Aid to Families with Dependent
Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, which provides
for the funding of foster care placements through a
combination of federal, state, and county funds.
Establishes rates of care for children placed in licensed
or approved family homes and group homes.
4.Requires DSS to convene a workgroup of designated public
and private stakeholders to develop a plan for
transforming the current system of group care for foster
children or youth, and for children with serious
emotional disorders into a system of residentially based
services, as defined. Requires DSS, by January 1, 2011,
to provide a copy of the plan developed by the workgroup
to the Legislature.
5.Requires DSS to encourage counties and private nonprofit
agencies to develop voluntary agreements to test
alternative program design and funding models to achieve
specified objectives. Authorizes voluntary agreements
between counties and nonprofit agencies to transfer all
or part of an existing group home program into a
residentially based services program, if specified
conditions are met, and provides that such agreements are
valid for a period not to exceed five years, from January
1, 2008.
6.Authorizes DSS to waive otherwise applicable regulatory
provisions and approve alternative funding models, in
order to facilitate implementation of these agreements.
Requires the waiver and alternative funding model to be
cost neutral to the General Fund for payments under the
AFDC-FC program, measured on an annual basis. Permits
higher AFDC-FC payments to be made when children or youth
are initially placed in a residentially based services
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program, with savings to be offset through shorter
lengths of stay in foster care or reduction of reentries
into foster care, through pre-discharge and
post-discharge support.
This bill:
1.Extends from January 1, 2011, to July 1, 2014, the
deadline for DSS to develop a plan to transform the
current statewide system of group homes into a system of
residentially based services.
2.Provides that voluntary agreements between counties and
private nonprofit agencies to test alternative program
design and funding models for transforming individual
group home programs into residentially based services
programs terminate on or before January 1, 2015.
3.Requires any upfront costs for the project to be offset
by other program savings identified by DSS to ensure that
there are no net General Fund costs in each fiscal year,
and clarifies that the authority to make higher AFDC-FC
payments for children and youth enrolled in a
residentially based services program is not affected by
changes made to payments to group homes under current
law.
4.Requires DSS to conduct a review of the county
residentially based services program no sooner than 18
months after the first child is enrolled in the program,
to determine whether children are moving from
residentially based services group residential care
facilities into lower levels of care or exiting from
foster care to permanent families in a timely manner, as
described in the county's approved residentially based
services plan.
5.Allows DSS to terminate the county's participation in the
residentially based services reform project with 60 days
advance notice to the county, if DSS determines, based on
its review, that the county is not achieving timely
movement into lower levels of care, or exits from foster
care to permanent families with associated savings.
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FISCAL IMPACT
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee
analysis, the original cost for the project was estimated
to be in excess of $250,000 for DSS to collaborate with
stakeholders to develop an alternative to the current group
home system and to report to the Legislature annually on
the progress being made toward developing an alternative
system. The analysis states that delaying the completion
date for the project should not increase costs and may
allow DSS to secure funding for the effort from private
foundations, thus saving state General Fund dollars.
Recent amendments added a requirement for DSS to conduct a
review of the county residentially based services program.
The cost of this requirement has not yet been analyzed by a
fiscal committee.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Author's statement
The author states that this measure would amend provisions
of legislation enacted in 2007 (AB 1453 (Soto), Chapter
466, Statutes of 2007), which was intended to begin the
reform of the role of group homes in California's foster
care system, beginning with the development of
demonstration projects for residentially based services
(RBS) in four counties. The author believes that it is
necessary to update the deadlines and other provisions of
the original 2007 legislation, in order to allow this
reform effort to continue to move forward and to
facilitate the implementation of the RBS demonstration
projects.
The author notes there was a delay in DSS developing the
proper mechanism for receipt of private funding, resulting
in the delay in starting the project and the need for
additional time to accomplish the project's goals.
Framework for residentially based services
In the spring of 2005, the California Alliance of Child and
Family Services, the sponsor of both AB 1453 and this
measure, convened a workgroup of youth, child and family
advocates, public and private agencies, and service
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providers to meet monthly to develop a consensus for
improving the quality and effectiveness of group home
services and clarifying the role of these services within
the foster care system. From this process, the Alliance
released the "Framework for a New System for
Residentially-Based Services in California" in March 2006.
The framework document "provides for a system of
residentially based services designed to enhance services
and expedite permanent family placement for children
receiving group home care by reforming the way group homes
are utilized, the range of services they offer and how they
are reimbursed for these services."
Under the RBS model, providers are authorized to provide
the range of behavioral and/or therapeutic interventions
necessary to overcome major obstacles preventing children
from living safely in their own homes or other stable
family setting, including two new categories of services
that providers are not authorized or funded to deliver
under the existing traditional model for group homes in
California. These are family support services while the
children are in residential care to prepare families to be
able to successfully care for their children when they are
discharged, and post-discharge services necessary to make
sure that children are able to remain with their families
after they leave residential treatment.
AB 1453 required DSS to convene a workgroup of
stakeholders, which would be responsible for developing an
operational plan for implementing RBS programs on a
statewide basis and submitting that plan to the Legislature
by January 1, 2011. In order to obtain knowledge and
experience upon which to base this operational plan for
statewide implementation of RBS programs, AB 1453
authorized DSS to select up to four counties (or consortia
of counties) to enter into voluntary agreements with
private nonprofit agencies to test alternative program
designs and funding models for transforming their existing
group homes into RBS programs. AB 1453 authorized these
voluntary agreements to be valid for a period of up to five
years, starting January 1, 2008.
Progress on AB 1453
According to the author and supporters, though the
solicitation and selection of participating counties by the
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State, the solicitation and selection of participating
providers by the counties, and the review and approval of
county-provider and State-county agreements (including
requests for waivers) have been time-consuming,
implementation is now moving ahead rapidly.
The author and sponsor state that DSS has approved four
sites for the development of RBS demonstration projects:
Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Bernardino, and San Francisco
counties. These four sites are working in partnership
with a total of ten nonprofit agencies to develop RBS
program designs and funding models. County-provider
agreements have been finalized for Los Angeles and San
Bernardino counties and submitted to DSS for final
approval, which is anticipated shortly. It is anticipated
that the first children may be placed into these RBS
demonstration programs by July 1. County-provider
agreements are now in the final stages of development in
Sacramento and San Francisco counties.
The author notes that many of the workload tasks that DSS
and the counties would otherwise have been required to
accomplish with their own limited staff resources have been
performed over the past two years by consultants paid for
by Casey Family Programs, which has made a multi-year
commitment to provide financial support for the
administrative costs associated with California's RBS
reform, including an evaluation. While costs were funded
by Casey Family Programs, the consultants were selected by
DSS and the participating counties, and included a number
of retired State and county staff.
Arguments in support
The California Alliance of Child and Family Services, the
sponsor of the measure, states that the timeframes in AB
1453, which developed the RBS demonstration project, were
overly optimistic, but the implementation is now moving
ahead rapidly. The County Welfare Directors Association of
California states that progress is being made on this
issue, and it is reasonable to provide DSS with extra time
to ensure a comprehensive plan is submitted.
The Los Angeles County Office of Education writes that the
bill would give the RBS demonstration projects adequate
time to operate and to provide knowledge and experience
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upon which to develop an operational plan for the statewide
implementation of these programs. The American Federation
of State, County and Municipal Employees states that the
measure is a step in the right direction, as the state
should begin moving away from placing children in group
homes and emphasize a new vision of care that will focus on
the therapeutic nature of a family-based living
environment.
Related/prior legislation
AB 1453 (Soto), Chapter 466, Statutes of 2007, added the
provisions directing DSS to convene a workgroup to develop
a plan to transform the current statewide system of group
homes into a system of residentially based services and, in
the interim, permit some counties to enter into voluntary
agreements with private nonprofit agencies to transform
individual group home programs.
PRIOR VOTES
Assembly Floor: 74 - 0
Assembly Appropriations:15 - 0
Assembly Human Services:6 - 0
POSITIONS
Support: California Alliance of Child and Family Services
(sponsor)
American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees
Aspiranet
County Welfare Directors Association of
California
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Oppose:None received
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