BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1697
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 24, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Jim Beall Jr., Chair
AB 1697 (Perea) - As Amended: March 29, 2012
SUBJECT : Foster youth: placement
SUMMARY : Requires the State Department of Social Services (DSS)
to designate a separate data entry field in the Child Welfare
Services Case Management System (CWS/CMS) for a county welfare
agency to record information on the reasons for placement of a
child with a foster family agency or group home, and requires
county welfare agencies to file this information with the system
when the placement is made.
EXISTING LAW
1)Through DSS and county welfare departments, establishes a
system of child welfare services, including foster care, for
children who have been or are at risk of being abused or
neglected.
2)Provides for the licensure and regulation of foster family
homes, small family homes, group homes, and foster family
agencies by DSS.
3)Defines "foster family agency" (FFA) as any organization
engaged in the recruiting, certifying, and training of, and
providing professional support to, foster parents, or in
finding homes or other places for placement of children for
temporary or permanent care who require that level of care as
an alternative to a group home.
4)Establishes the Child Welfare Services/Case Management System
(CWS/CMS) to automate the case management, services planning,
and information gathering functions of child welfare services.
Welfare & Institutions Code � 16501.5.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Foster Family Agencies
AB 1697
Page 2
Established in 1985 as an alternative to group home placements,
FFAs are for the placement of children who require more
intensive care as an alternative to group homes. By statute,
FFAs are organized and operated on a non-profit basis and are
engaged in the following activities: Recruiting, certifying,
and training foster parents, providing professional support to
foster parents, and finding homes or other temporary or
permanent placements for children who require more intensive
care. There are two types of FFA programs, "treatment foster
care or therapeutic foster care," and "nontreatment foster
care." An agency providing treatment service to a child has
determined that the child has services needs which: cannot be
provided in an available family home, would require group home
placement if the child was not referred to an FFA, and can be
met by the program offered by the FFA to which the child is
being referred. In contrast, a FFA providing nontreatment
services certifies a home for placement of a child pending the
adoption of the child by that family. Statewide, there are an
estimated 264 FFAs providing care and treatment to approximately
18,500 foster children.
State Auditor Report
Initially intended as an alternative to group home placement for
children with higher service needs, FFAs now provide placements
to almost half of all foster children in nonrelative placements
in California. A recent report from the California State
Auditor on the state's child welfare system notes that, while
the number of children in placement has dramatically decreased
in the last 10 years, the percentage of children placed with
FFAs-whose monthly compensation is significantly higher than
state- or county-licensed foster homes-has continued to
increase. Child Welfare Services: California Can and Must
Provide Better Protection and Support for Abused and Neglected
Children, California State Auditor, Bureau of State Audits,
Report 2011-101.1 (October 2011) (BSA Report), p. 2. "A
potential explanation for this trend is that, in contrast to
requirements related to group home placements, �DSS] does not
require county CWS agencies to document the treatment needs of
children placed with �FFAs]." Id.
As noted in the BSA Report, CWS agencies report that, although
placement in licensed foster homes is prioritized over FFAs,
factors such as the lack of licensed foster homes and
convenience result in increased FFA placements. Id.at 37-39.
AB 1697
Page 3
The BSA says that:
We estimate that the growth in the percentage of
placements with foster family agencies, which have
dramatically higher rates than licensed foster homes,
has resulted in spending an additional $327 million in
foster care payments between 2001 and 2010-costing an
additional $61 million in 2010 alone. The payment
rates of �FFAs] ? assume that children placed with
these agencies will have elevated treatment needs that
would otherwise land the children in even more
expensive group homes.
Id. at 35. For placements in group homes and specialized
treatment facilities, DSS requires a written justification
in the child's case plan. Id. at 36. However, "�a]lthough
the payment rate of �FFAs] is more than double that of
state- or county-licensed foster homes," the BSA Report
notes, "�DSS] regulations do not require county CWS
agencies to document their justification for placing
children with the more expensive agencies." Id. at 35.
In its recommendations, the BSA Report says that DSS should
create and monitor compliance with clear requirements
specifying that children placed with FFAs must have
elevated treatment needs that would require a group home
placement if not for the existence of these agencies'
programs. At a minimum, the BSA Report recommends, DSS
should:
Revise its regulations so licensed foster homes have
higher priority than foster family agencies for children
that do not have identified treatment needs.
Require county CWS agencies to file in the CWS/CMS a
detailed justification for any child placed with a foster
family agency.
Create a mechanism by which it can efficiently check for
compliance with the needs-justification requirement.
Id. at 42-43.
AB 1697
Page 4
Child Welfare Services/Case Management System
CWS/CMS is the automated system used by DSS and the 58
California county child welfare services (CWS) agencies. The
CWS program is a federally required program operated by each of
the 50 states. In 1989, SB 370, Chapter 1294, Statutes of 1989,
authorized the development and implementation of a statewide
computer system to automate the case management, services
planning, and information gathering functions of child welfare
services. CWS/CMS is California's version of the federal
Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS).
CWS/CMS is designed to: Provide CWS workers with immediate
access to child, family and case-specific information in order
to make appropriate and timely case decisions; provide CWS
workers with current and accurate information to effectively and
efficiently manage their caseloads and take appropriate and
timely case management actions; provide state and county
administrators with the information needed to administer
programs and monitor and evaluate the achievement of program
goals and objectives; provide state and county CWS agencies with
a common database and definition of information from which to
evaluate CWS; and, consolidate the collection and reporting of
information for CWS programs pursuant to state and federal
requirements.
This bill
This bill is intended to implement the recommendations of the
BSA Report with respect to FFAs and the CWS/CMS. It would
require that a separate data field be established in the CWS/CMS
for CWS agencies to record information regarding the reasons for
a child's placement with an FFA or group home. It would also
require a county welfare agency to file this information with
the system when this placement is made.
The presumption is that, if DSS begins requiring a written
justification for placement with FFAs, these types of relatively
costly placements would decline over time. While there would be
expected substantial savings, the BSA Report does note that some
of the resulting savings would have to be redirected to, for
example, foster parent recruitment and training.
In support of this bill, the Children's Law Center of California
(CLC) notes that "too many foster children move in and out of
foster placements or group homes with alarming frequency. This
lack of consistency creates serious issues of stability for
AB 1697
Page 5
children who have already endured great trauma before even
entering our system." This bill, CLC says, "would lead to
greater accountability within the system regarding placement
changes as well as a better systemic understanding of how to
reduce the number of potentially traumatic and expensive moves
for foster children."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Children's Law Center of California (CLC)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Gelber / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089