BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           118 (Liu)
          
          Hearing Date:  05/18/2009           Amended: 04/20/2009
          Consultant:  Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Human  
          Services 5-0
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY: SB 118 requires county social workers to include  
          in the case plan of a minor receiving child welfare services  
          information about a parent's incarceration. This bill requires  
          that the data be recorded in a consistent data entry field in  
          the state child welfare database, and that a mandatory field be  
          created in the database for recording this information.  
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2009-10      2010-11       2011-12     Fund
           
          IT costs                                      $100                
                                                           General

          State Mandated Local Program   Unknown, potentially significant   
                            General
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File.

          This bill requires county social workers to record information  
          about a parent's incarceration in a minor's case plan. A case  
          plan is the primary document used by social services agencies  
          and the court to determine appropriate placement and services.  
          The minor is involved in the creation of the case plan, and is  
          interviewed by the social worker to include pertinent  
          information. It is likely that a social worker who creates a  
          case plan for a minor who has at least one incarcerated parent  
          will note that in the case plan, as it is a relevant  
          consideration in determining the child's needs. Moreover,  
          collecting this information is very minor in the creation of a  
          much more substantial document. It is not, however, mandated by  
          the state. By imposing a new mandate on counties, the state is  










          responsible for reimbursing a county's expenses if requested.  
          The degree to which these requests would be made is unclear.

          This bill requires the aforementioned information to be recorded  
          in a consistent field in the state child welfare database, and  
          that DSS create a new mandatory field in the database for the  
          information. DSS estimates that creating a new field in the  
          database will cost $100,000. There will likely be some cost to  
          familiarize social workers with this change, as well.

          Staff recommends that in order to minimize the fiscal impact,  
          the bill be amended to remove the requirement on DSS to create a  
          new field in the database. Costs could be reduced by requiring  
          the information be captured in the case plan in an existing  
          field.