BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1015
A
AUTHOR: C. Calderon
B
VERSION: April 28, 2011
HEARING DATE: June 14, 2011
1
FISCAL: Appropriations
0
1
CONSULTANT:
5
Hailey
SUBJECT
Child welfare services: California child and family service
review system
SUMMARY
Requires every county, when preparing its child welfare
self-assessment improvement plan, to consult with a set of
stakeholders that includes a child welfare worker named by
the bargaining unit representing social workers, and
requires that counties include in their child and family
services review a discussion of operational improvements
that can be made by the county that will either be cost
neutral or result in a savings.
ABSTRACT
Current law
1. Establishes a system of child welfare services for
abused and neglected children which is overseen by the
State Department of Social Services (DSS) and administered
by individual counties.
Continued---
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2. Requires DSS to establish a system to review all county
child welfare services, including child protective
services, foster care, adoption, family preservation,
family support, and independent living. (Welfare and
Institutions Code 10601.2.)
3. Requires DSS to review each county's child welfare
services according to outcome indicators and to identify
and promote the replication of best practices in child
welfare service delivery. (WIC 10601.2)
4. Requires DSS to provide information annually to the
budget committees of both houses of the Legislature
including findings and recommendations for child welfare
system improvements identified in county self-assessments
and county system improvement plans. (WIC 10601.2)
This bill
1. Requires counties, when doing self-assessments and
improvement plans in child welfare, to consult with
stakeholders, including county child welfare agencies and
probation agency staff at all levels, current and former
foster children, children's attorneys, and foster care
providers.
2. Requires counties, when doing self-assessments and
improvement plans in child welfare, to consult with at
least one county child welfare worker named by the
bargaining unit representing children's social workers.
3. Requires that each county's child welfare improvement
plan, approved by the county board of supervisors, include
a separately titled provision that lists and provides the
rationale for proposed operational improvements identified
during the stakeholder process that can be implemented at a
cost savings to the county or within existing county
resources.
FISCAL IMPACT
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, there
are minor and absorbable costs.
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BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Author's statement
The author hopes to change each county's review of child
and family services in order to create a uniform process
whereby the concerns of line social workers can be
amplified and ideas for systemic improvements be brought to
each county board of supervisors at the time the county is
completing its child and family service review.
According to the author, recent child deaths involving
children known to the child welfare systems in Sacramento
and Los Angeles counties are evidence that improvements are
needed. Moreover, reports the author, social workers in
both counties argue that too much emphasis is placed on
paperwork instead of client interactions, that policies and
procedures are unclear or too cumbersome to implement, and
that basic training and equipment falls short of preparing
and enabling social workers to manage their caseloads. By
requiring operational reviews and recommendations in the
state's child and family review process, the author hopes
to ensure that social workers in the child welfare system
have the basic tools they need to do their jobs.
What is the child and family service review?
AB 636 (Steinberg), Chapter 678, Statutes of 2001,
established the child and family service review, marking a
shift from the previous oversight system focusing on
regulatory compliance to a system focusing on measuring
outcomes in safety, permanence and child and family
well-being. By aligning with federal standards, the review
seeks to integrate continuous quality improvement,
interagency partnerships, community involvement, and public
reporting of program outcomes into the oversight of child
welfare programs. To accomplish it all, the state
publishes a quarterly outcome and accountability report,
and counties are responsible for self-assessments, peer
quality case reviews, and local system improvement plans.
Counties' self-assessments examine performance and identify
barriers to improvements. The state encourages counties to
use existing planning processes and community groups to
increase public participation. Most counties work with a
group of core representatives in the development of
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self-assessments; these include representatives of the
county health and mental health departments, child welfare
services administrators, managers, social workers, parents,
local tribes, the local education agency, probation,
adoptions, and the California Youth Connection, an
organization representing current and former foster youth.
The same core representatives, including child welfare
services social workers, also participate in counties'
improvement plans.
Assembly votes
Human Services: 4 - 2
Appropriations:12 - 4
Floor: 49 - 25
COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS
Suggested clarifying amendment to avoid a new mandate on
counties
On page 3, line 32, in the phrase "as required pursuant to
this section," the author should consider striking the word
"required" and replacing it with "referenced." At the
present time, the statute does not require that counties
prepare a self-assessment or a county improvement plan,
although many counties do both and forward their findings
to DSS. In turn, DSS synthesizes these county reports into
a set of findings and recommendations for improvements in
the child welfare system; the department provides those to
the Legislature annually. This amendment would maintain
the current flexibility between state and counties
regarding self-assessments and county improvement plans.
Passing the bill without this change might result in claims
to the Commission on State Mandates.
POSITIONS
Support: Children's Advocacy Institute (sponsor)
Service Employees International Union
(sponsor)
American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO (AFSCME)
Laborers' Locals 777 &792
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Oppose: None received
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