BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1015
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1015 (Charles Calderon)
As Amended April 28, 2011
Majority vote
HUMAN SERVICES 4-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-4
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|Ayes:|Beall, Ammiano, Hall, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Portantino | |Bradford, Charles |
| | | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Jones, Grove |Nays:|Harkey, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Wagner |
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SUMMARY : Requires every county to include in their California
Child and Family Services Review (C-CFSR) a discussion of
operational improvements that can be made by the county that
will either be cost neutral or result in a savings.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes a system of child welfare services for abused and
neglected children which is overseen by the California
Department of Social Services (DSS), the single state agency,
and administered by individual counties.
2)Requires DSS to review all county child welfare systems
through the C-CFSR, to establish and monitor outcome
indicators and best practices. �Welfare and Institutions Code
(WIC) 10601.2.]
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, counties are required to submit C-CFSR reviews every
three years. Working with stakeholders and developing cost
neutral operational improvements would be minor and absorbable
within existing county resources.
COMMENTS :
Need for this bill : The author of this bill hopes to create a
AB 1015
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uniform process in counties whereby the concerns of line social
workers can be amplified and ideas for systemic improvements are
brought before the county Board of Supervisors of each county at
the time of each county's C-CFSR review and update.
The author points to recent child deaths involving children
known to the child welfare systems in Sacramento and Los Angeles
counties as evidence of needed improvements. In both counties,
according to the author, social workers argue that too much of
an emphasis has been placed on paperwork instead of client
interactions, policies and procedures were unclear or too
cumbersome to implement, and that basic training and equipment
fell short of preparing and enabling social workers to
adequately manage their caseloads. By requiring operational
reviews and recommendations in the C-CFSR process, the author
hopes to begin providing social workers in the child welfare
system with the basic tools they need to do their jobs.
C-CFSR : The C-CFSR was established by AB 636 (Steinberg),
Chapter 678, Statutes of 2001 and implemented in January of
2004. The C-CFSR marked a shift from the previous oversight
system which focused exclusively on regulatory compliance, to a
system aligned with the federal standards and a focus on
measuring outcomes in safety, permanence and child and family
well-being. The C-CFSR seeks to integrate continuous quality
improvement, interagency partnerships, community involvement and
public reporting of program outcomes into the oversight of child
welfare programs. This is done at the state-level through
Quarterly Outcome and Accountability Reports published by DSS
and a program of State Technical Assistance and Monitoring.
Counties are responsible for three areas of the C-CFSR: County
Self-Assessments, County Peer Quality Case Reviews, and County
System Improvement Plans.
The County Self-Assessment process assesses current levels of
performance and identifies procedural, systemic, practice or
resource barriers to improved performance. Counties are
encouraged by the state to use existing planning processes and
community-based groups to facilitate public input into the
self-assessment process, and are required to provide a public
comment process. Counties are also required by the state to
work with a group of core representatives in the development of
self-assessments. These core representatives include, but are
not limited to representatives of the California Youth
Connection, an organization representing current and former
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foster youth, the county health and mental health departments,
child welfare services administrators, managers, social workers,
parents, local Tribes, the Local Education Agency, probation,
and adoptions. The same core representatives, including child
welfare services social workers, are involved in creating the
County System Improvement Plan.
Analysis Prepared by : Michelle Doty Cabrera / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089
FN: 0000626