BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1214
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1214 (Wolk)
As Amended August 17, 2010
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :33-0
HUMAN SERVICES 6-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Beall, Tom Berryhill, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Conway, |
| |Ammiano, Hall, Logue, | |Bradford, Huffman, Coto, |
| |Portantino | |Davis, De Leon, Gatto, |
| | | |Hall, Harkey, Miller, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Skinner, |
| | | |Solorio, Torlakson, |
| | | |Torrico |
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| | |
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SUMMARY : Extends the sunset of the California Department of
Social Services (DSS) licensing provisions for crisis nurseries
for voluntary placements until January 1, 2014, and allows
county child welfare services (CWS) departments to continue to
use crisis nurseries as an emergency placement for children in
the foster care system until July 1, 2012. After 2012, this
bill would prohibit the use of crisis nurseries as an emergency
placement for foster children. Specifically, this bill :
1)Clarifies that the definition of "voluntary placement," for
the purposes of crisis nursery licensing, does not apply to
children placed in foster care.
2)Sunsets provisions allowing for CWS direct placement of foster
children in crisis nurseries as of July 1, 2012.
3)Effective July 1, 2012:
a) Defines a "crisis nursery" as a DSS-licensed facility
that provides short-term, 24-hour non-medical residential
care and supervision for children under the age of six
voluntarily placed by a parent or legal guardian during a
family crisis or stressful situation for a maximum of 30
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days;
b) Defines a "voluntary placement" as the voluntary
placement of a child in temporary emergency care by a
parent or legal guardian who retains physical custody of
and remains responsible for the care of his or her child;
c) Specifies that a voluntary placement does not apply to
children placed in foster care;
d) Limits the capacity for a crisis nursery at 14 licensed
beds with specified exceptions;
e) Requires crisis nurseries to collect and maintain
information on the total number and ages of children placed
in the program, reasons for placement in a crisis nursery
and the length of stay, to be made available to DSS upon
request;
f) Provides that a crisis nursery may provide child day
care services to children under the age of six at the same
site for up to 30 calendar days in a six-month period,
unless granted an exception by DSS; and,
g) Sunsets provisions allowing for parents and legal
guardians to voluntarily place a child in a crisis nursery
effective January 1, 2014.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines a "crisis nursery" as a nonprofit facility licensed by
DSS to provide short-term, 24-hour non-medical residential
care and supervision for children under six years of age who
are either placed:
a) Voluntarily by a parent or legal guardian for temporary
relief in a family crisis or stressful situation for no
more than 30 days; or,
b) By a county welfare service agency for 14 days or less,
unless granted an exception by DSS, provided county child
welfare placements account for no more than one-third of
the a crisis nursery's licensed capacity. Health and
Safety Code (HSC) Section 1516.
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2)Allows a crisis nursery to provide temporary emergency care to
children under six years of age either in the protective
custody of child welfare services, or as a child welfare
services direct placement. Id.
3)Allows crisis nurseries to provide child day care services to
children under six years of age for no more than 30 calendar
days in a six-month period, unless issued an exception by DSS,
and provides that children in the day care program shall count
toward the facility's licensed capacity. Id.
4)Permits the use of volunteers subject to specified training
requirements to be included in the staff-to child ratios for
the purposes of licensing. HSC 1526.8.
5)Prohibits a child receiving Aid to Families with Dependent
Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) from falling under the
definition of a voluntary placement. HSC 1516.
6)Allows for AFDC-FC funding of children placed by child welfare
services in licensed crisis nurseries. Welfare & Institutions
Code (WIC) Section 11402.
7)Sunsets the above provisions on July 1, 2011.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)The average monthly caseload for the Emergency Assistance
program is 3,200 children. If 100 of those children spend an
average of seven days in a crisis nursery each year, extending
the use of crisis nurseries as an emergency placement for
foster children could cost approximately $175,000 ($150,000
TANF) for the additional year.
2)Absent the use of crisis nurseries for emergency placement,
counties would most likely place these children in temporary
foster homes with foster parents who are reimbursed at a
significantly lower rate.
COMMENTS : Crisis nurseries provide short-term emergency
respite care for the infants, toddlers, or young children of
families in crisis without other options, such as trusted
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friends or relatives to care for their children. Reports show
that families turn to crisis nurseries when they are struggling
to deal with illness, hospitalization, domestic violence,
homelessness, or substance abuse recovery. Placements are
restricted to voluntary placements by parents or legal
guardians, and, at shorter, more restricted intervals, child
welfare services placements. In California, many crisis nursery
programs have developed robust crisis day care services, and the
numbers of children in day care apply toward the licensed
capacity of the facilities.
Prior to 2004, crisis nurseries had been licensed as group
homes. Group homes are residential facilities used by the
courts and child welfare agencies for foster children whose
needs cannot be met in less restrictive, more family-like
settings such as relative placements, foster family homes, or
foster family agencies. Crisis nurseries that served children
under the age of six had been held to the group home regulations
for this cohort, commonly referred to as the "under six"
regulations, which require educational standards for staff,
defined staff to child ratios, and supportive services.
In 2004, a separate, less stringent, licensing category was
created with the passage of SB 855 (Machado), Chapter 664,
Statutes of 2004. Changes brought about by the new licensure
category include a provision allowing crisis nurseries to use
trained volunteers instead of staff and allowing specified
volunteers to apply to staffing ratios. Currently, five
nonprofit agencies operate six crisis nursery facilities with a
total of 66 licensed beds in the counties of: Contra Costa,
Sacramento, Yolo, Stanislaus, and Nevada. The crisis nurseries
operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and rely mostly on
private funds, although some do receive funding through their
local First Five Commissions. In the past year, Yolo County has
been the only county to use a crisis nursery for CWS emergency
shelter placements. However, current law allows any county to
use a crisis nursery for CWS placements.
Analysis Prepared by : Michelle Doty Cabrera / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089
FN: 0006185
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