BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 671
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   January 19, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                 AB 671 (Portantino) - As Amended:  January 13, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              Human 
          ServicesVote:4 - 2 

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires county child welfare supervisors hired on or 
          after January 1, 2016 to have a master's degree in social work 
          from an accredited or state-approved graduate school of social 
          work. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Costs associated with this legislation would be minor and 
          absorbable within existing resources. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . The intent of this legislation is to place into state 
            statute the requirement that all child welfare supervisors 
            have a master's degree in social work.  According to the 
            author, both experience and the advanced degree are necessary 
            in order to properly ensure that child welfare workers are 
            adequately protecting vulnerable children. He believes that 
            with this legislation "outcomes in child welfare cases should 
            improve with better trained supervisors and lead to fewer 
            cases of children left in abusive situations."

           2)Background  . 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. This legislation would remove the 
            alternative path that allows for equivalent education and 








                                                                  AB 671
                                                                  Page  2

            experience.  

           3)Opposition  . In opposition to the bill, the County Welfare 
            Directors Association (CWDA) expresses concern that under this 
            legislation there is no alternative path for those individuals 
            who may not have master's degrees but are nonetheless 
            qualified for supervisorial positions.  CWDA also notes that 
            this policy could cause significant problems in counties that 
            may not have a sufficient number of professionals with 
            master's degrees in social work to promote into supervisorial 
            positions. 

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 
          319-2081