BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 671
Page A
Date of Hearing: January 10, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Jim Beall Jr., Chair
AB 671 (Portantino) - As Amended: January 4, 2012
SUBJECT : Child welfare services: education and training
requirements
SUMMARY : Establishes education and experience requirements for
all county child welfare social work supervisors hired on or
after January 1, 2013. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the following for county child welfare services
social work supervisors:
a) A master's degree in social work from an accredited or
state approved graduate school in social work or social
welfare; or,
b) A master's degree from an accredited or state-approved
graduate school in any of the following areas, or<1> at
least 3 years experience in child welfare as determined by
the Department of Social Services (DSS):
i) Marriage, family, and child counseling;
ii) Child psychology;
iii) Child development;
iv) Counseling psychology;
v) Social psychology;
vi) Clinical psychology;
vii) Educational psychology, consistent with the scope of
practice described in Section 4989.14 of the Business and
Professions Code; or,
viii) Education, with an emphasis on counseling.
-------------------------
<1> Technical drafting error: As confirmed by the sponsor, the
"or" in this alternative should be "and."
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2)Provides that the above requirements apply only to supervisors
hired on or after January 1, 2013.
EXISTING LAW
1)State regulations require that 100% of the social work
supervisors possess a master's degree in social work, or its
equivalent in education and/or experience as certified by the
State Personnel Board or a county civil service board. Title
22 California Code of Regulations (CCR), 31-070.
2)Requires social work personnel for a foster family agency
(FFA) to possess a master's degree from an accredited or state
approved graduate school in social work or social welfare.
3)Permits a person with a master's degree from an accredited or
state approved graduate school with a degree in any of the
following areas to be considered qualified to perform social
work activities in an FFA:
a) Marriage, family, and child counseling;
b) Child psychology;
c) Child development;
d) Counseling psychology;
e) Social psychology;
f) Clinical psychology;
g) Educational psychology, consistent with the scope of
practice described in the Business and Professions Code;
or,
h) Education with an emphasis on counseling.
4)Provides that DSS may determine equivalent education and
experience requirements as an alternative to the master's
level education requirements to allow a person to be
considered qualified to perform social work activities in an
FFA.
5)In addition to the degree specification set forth for FFA
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social workers, requires the following coursework and field
practice or experience, as defined in DSS regulations, as a
requirement for all new hires in the position of social work
personnel after January 1, 1995:
a) At least three semester units of field practice at the
master's level or six months' full-time equivalent
experience in a public or private social service agency
setting;
b) At least nine semester units of coursework related to
human development or human behavior, or, within the first
year of employment, experience working with children and
families as a major responsibility under the supervision of
a supervising social worker;
c) At least three semester units in working with minority
populations or six months of experience in working with
minority populations or training in cultural competency and
working with minority populations within the first six
months of employment as a condition of employment; and,
d) At least three semester units in child welfare or at
least six months of experience in a public or private child
welfare social services setting for a nonsupervisory social
worker. A supervising social worker shall have two years'
experience in a public or private child welfare social
services setting.
6)Provides that individuals who do not meet the education and
coursework and field experience required for FFA social work
personnel may apply to DSS for an exception.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : As amended, this bill sets education and experience
requirements for child welfare social work supervisors. The
requirements apply only to supervisors hired on or after January
1, 2013.
In addressing the need for this bill as originally introduced,
the author stated:
Currently there is no educational requirement for
supervisors in child welfare services. While counties
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provide supervisor training, it is no substitute for a
master's level education in social work or in a
behavioral science.
Only with a combination of educational standards and
training, can supervisors effectively help child
welfare staff do their job in protecting children.
This measure will enhance consumer protection within
child welfare services by ensuring that supervisors
have the appropriate training, experience, and
education. Outcomes in child welfare cases should
improve with better trained supervisors and lead to
fewer cases of children left in abusive situations.
Under current law, standards for county child welfare social
workers and social work supervisors are set forth in the Title
22, Division 31 regulations. These regulations require all
social work supervisors to possess a master's degree in social
work or an equivalent education and experience as certified by
the State Personnel Board or a county civil service board.
According to the 2008 California Social Work Education Center
(CalSWEC) Public Child Welfare Workforce Study Report, close to
80% of county child welfare social work supervisors had a
master's degree in either social work or a related field. Among
those, between 44 and 55% possess a master's degree in social
work (MSW). Although CalSWEC has tracked the educational
attainment of the child welfare workforce since 1998, because of
a change in methodology during that time, it is difficult to do
an exact comparison of the change over that time. Despite the
limitations of these data, CalSWEC estimates a growth in the
percentage of case-carrying social workers with an MSW from
1998-2008.
Currently, there are 21 MSW accredited schools in California,
mostly concentrated within the California State University
system, with a few University of California and private
universities offering MSWs as well.
Aside from the requirements existing in state regulation that
half of all line social workers and all social work supervisors
have an MSW, the state has contracted with CalSWEC to create the
Regional Training Academy (RTA) Coordination Project which is a
statewide collaborative that delivers in-service training and
continuing professional education for public child welfare staff
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through four regional training academies. The RTA Coordination
Project has coordinated the development and implementation of
statewide common core training for line workers and supervisors
as mandated by the federal Child and Federal Services Review.
In addition, they've worked to integrate best practices and
research into curricula and to integrate the BSW/MSW education
for county social workers with their in-service training.
CalSWEC Title IV-E MSW and BASW Programs: The state currently
provides incentives for existing county social workers and
social work supervisors to obtain bachelor's and master's
degrees in social work through the Title IV-E MSW and BASW
Programs. California has 20 Title IV-E MSW programs and six
Title IV-E BASW programs throughout the state. Paid for with a
combination of federal Title IV-E administrative funds and a
county matching funds, this program gives priority to existing
county social workers to facilitate their BASW or MSW education
by providing them with a stipend for their education in exchange
for the participant agreeing to spend two years working in a
county child welfare services agency upon graduation. BASW
students receive a $15,000 stipend for their final year of study
in the program, and current employees of a county or DSS are
eligible for part-time study with full tuition, fees and book
costs covered through the program. MSW students are eligible
for an $18,500 annual stipend for their two-year graduate
program, and current employees of a county or DSS are eligible
for part-time study with full tuition, fees and book costs
covered through the program.
This program, administered by CalSWEC, has been tracked for
graduate outcomes and employment. According to data collected
by CalSWEC on the participation in the Title IV-E MSW Programs,
a total of 4,773 students were accepted into the program from
1993 through 2009. Of those students, 4,033 graduated and 3,345
are working or have completed their work requirements and 254
graduates from 2009 are unemployed and looking for work.
Impact of the Child Welfare Services (CWS) Veto on County Social
Workers: In both the 2009-10 and 2010-11 budgets former
Governor Schwarzenegger line-item vetoed $80 million General
Fund in the Child Welfare Services program, over the bipartisan
agreement in the Legislature to restore these funds in the
2010-11 budget. Because the cut resulted in a loss of $53
million in federal matching dollars, counties were hit with a
total $133 million cut to child welfare services in each year
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the last two years
A survey of counties by the County Welfare Directors Association
of California (CWDA) found that more than 600 social workers
were cut statewide as a result of the 2009-10 child welfare
services veto. The result of these staffing cuts is that fewer
abused and neglected children and their families receive
services, and children are not receiving the attention they need
from social workers due to high workload and fewer staff. In
fact Sacramento County has cut 30% of its child welfare services
staff since May 2009, according to CWDA. Further, CWDA
estimates that California is in need of 1,817 additional social
workers to meet minimum recommended standards to serve abused
and neglected children, and 4,270 more social workers to ensure
positive outcomes for children.
Writing about concerns with earlier versions of this bill, CWDA
stated:
As originally conceived, �this bill] would have
prohibited county child welfare agencies from
promoting to supervisor any staff who did not possess
either (1) a master's degree in social work (MSW) or
(2) another behavioral health master's degree plus
several layers of experience and training and a
recommendation with someone possessing an MSW.
Individuals without a master's degree in a behavioral
health field could not be promoted to supervisor.
The April 25, 2011 amendments to this bill addressed CWDA's
concerns, in part, by allowing for alternatives to a
master's degree to qualify as a child welfare supervisor,
based on a combination of education, training and
experience. Nonetheless, CWDA had concerns with other
aspects of the April 25th amendments:
Specifically, the language is drawn almost verbatim
from statute that governs Foster Family Agencies
(FFAs). This language sets forth a number of
requirements related to education, training and
experience for FFA staff. Exceptions could be made to
these requirements, which would be administered by the
California Department of Social Services. We are
concerned that the requirements for FFA staff are not
fully transferable to the child welfare supervisor
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arena and hope to work through the details on these
requirements with the author and NASW (as well as
committee staff) as the bill moves forward.
Additionally, relying on CDSS to administer and
approve exceptions could be a cumbersome and time
consuming process that would delay our ability to fill
vacant supervisor positions; it would be better to
provide for exceptions and allow the counties to apply
those exceptions.
This bill was not heard in this committee in 2011 to enable the
author and sponsors to work with organizations either opposing
or having concerns to attempt to work through the outstanding
issues. Those discussions reportedly did not occur prior to the
most recent amendments. The January 4, 2012 amendments delete
the extensive coursework and experience requirements for all
newly hired county social work personnel. As amended, this bill
now requires, for county child welfare supervisors, either 1) a
master's degree in social work from an accredited state-approved
graduate school in social work or social welfare, or 2) a
master's degree in a related field plus at least 3 years'
experience in child welfare as determined by DSS. (See footnote
1 regarding technical drafting error.) The January 4th version
of this bill is, thus, both a step forward and a step backwards
in addressing CWDA's concerns. It is a step forward insofar as
it eliminates the extensive prescribed education, training, and
experience requirements modeled on requirements for FFAs. It is
a step backwards, however, because it again limits promotions
only to individuals with a master's degree, without allowing for
exceptions based on education, training and experience.
CWDA, therefore, opposes this bill unless it is amended to again
allow for the alternative path to promotion of education and
experience for someone who does not possess one of the specified
master's degrees. In its letter, CWDA notes that:
While education is important, it is not the only
indicator of potential success in the position of
child welfare supervisor. Someone with a combination
of education, experience and training can do an
excellent job of supervising others in these
positions, even if they do not possess one of the
listed degrees. Further, in many counties, a
sufficient number of master's-level degreed
professionals simply are not available to promote into
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these positions, making it even more important for
this alternative path to be maintained to ensure
continuity of services and the safety of children.
Counties have recently suffered child welfare services funding
reductions, in addition to other local fiscal pressures which
have impacted county child welfare social worker caseload.
Given that county child welfare social workers and supervisors
are already under-staffed and under-resourced, does it make
sense to impose new advanced degree mandates at this time?
A related question for consideration is whether the proposed
education requirements may impact county workforce diversity.
According to the 2008 CalSWEC workforce study report, 35 out of
58 counties need more bilingual workers, with the primary need
for Spanish-speaking, but other counties citing a need for
Punjabi speakers, Russian, Hmong, Vietnamese and Laoatian.
In addition, while the Title IV-E BASW and MSW programs provide
a pipeline to education for county social workers, inflexible
degree requirements might impact rural counties that are not
close to existing social work schools. Line social workers may
wish to advance in their career, but may not have the resources
or ability, due, for example, to their own parenting
responsibilities, to pursue a graduate-level education. The
existing RTAs and Title IV-E Programs have shown to be extremely
effective in providing county child welfare social workers with
opportunities to access higher level social work education, as
well as standard training and continuing professional
development.
It is unclear from the background materials provided by the
author why or how these criteria would improve outcomes for
children in the child welfare system, and whether they would be
implementable by California's diverse 58 counties. While
ensuring an adequately educated, trained and prepared social
work supervisor workforce is a worthy goal, not providing
counties with the option to make exceptions for staff with
equivalent education and experience may be unduly restrictive
and impractical.
In recognition of the practical difficulties with instituting a
master's degree requirement for all child welfare worker
supervisors, the proposed amendments below would delay
implementation of the mandatory master's degree requirement and
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allow for alternative, education and experience criteria for
child welfare social work supervisors hired prior to January 1,
2016.
Prior and Related Legislation:
AB 159 (Beall), Chapter 94, Statutes of 2011, extended the
adjusted social worker/supervisor ratio for FFAs until FFA rates
are restored to at least the level they were at before the 10%
rate reduction.
AB 2474 (Beall), Chapter 43, Statutes of 2010, extended the
change in the social worker/supervisor ratio for FFAs from 1:6
to 1:8 for one additional year.
AB 445 (Vargas) of 2003 would have limited the use of the term
"social worker" to an individual with a degree in social work.
(Died in Senate Committee on Business & Professions.)
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
After line 30 on page 2, insert the following:
(3) A person hired before January 1, 2016 without a
master's degree but with equivalent education and
experience, as determined by the department, shall also be
qualified to perform supervisory social work activities in
a county child welfare services agency.
On page 4, lines 1-3, amend subdivision (b) of Section 16501.4
as follows:
(b) The degree requirements and experience requirements
described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a)
shall only apply to supervisors hired on or after January
1, 2013 2016 .
TECHNICAL AMENDMENT
On page 2, line 16, delete "or" and add "and".
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
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National Association of Social Workers - California Chapter
(sponsor)
Opposition
County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA)
(unless amended)
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Gelber / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089