BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1751
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Date of Hearing: May 2, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1751 (Pan) - As Introduced: February 17, 2012
Policy Committee: JudiciaryVote:10
- 0
Human Services 5 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires that county child welfare departments and
county probation departments be given access to any public data
in the state that would allow the agencies to locate
noncustodial parents in the event their children are subject to
juvenile court proceedings. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes the release of a parent's name, social security
number, most recent address, telephone number, place of
employment or other contact information to county child
welfare agencies and probation departments established or
maintained by any public entity pursuant to the administration
and implementation of the child and spousal support
enforcement program.
2)Requires the disclosure by all state departments, boards,
agencies, bureaus, or other agencies of the state or local
government of a parent's name, social security number, most
recent address, telephone number, place of employment, or
other contact information to a county child welfare agency or
county probation department to identify, locate, and notify
parents of children who are the subject of juvenile court
proceedings, to establish parent and child relationships, and
to assess the appropriateness of placements of a child with a
noncustodial parent.
3)Requires the state Department of Social Services (DSS), no
later than January 30, 2013, to amend the foster care state
plan required by federal law to implement access to
information provided to the California Parent Locator Service
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by the federal Parent Locator Services (FPLS) to ensure
compliance with and facilitation of provisions related to the
location of parents of children who are the subject of
juvenile court proceedings.
4)Requires DSS, on or before July 1, 2013, to issue an
all-county letter or similar instruction explaining the
entitlement of county child welfare and probation agencies to
specified information in child and spousal support records.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Costs associated with DSS updating the foster care state plan
and issuing an all-county letter should be minor and
absorbable within existing resources.
2)To the extent this allows county child welfare departments to
more easily locate noncustodial parents, it should provide
some administrative workload relief for the counties.
COMMENTS
Purpose . The intent of this legislation is to increase access to
public data for child welfare workers who are trying to locate
the noncustodial parents whose children have ended up in the
probation system or child welfare system. The author notes that
this bill would allow local child welfare agencies and probation
officers to access the child support information that already
exists in the state child support database and to obtain
critical contact information such as the parent's name, social
security number, most recent address, phone number, and place of
employment. This, in turn, will allow the case worker to contact
the parent to see if they want to and can provide a caring
alternative to foster care for the abused or neglected child.
In support of the bill, the County Welfare Directors Association
(CWDA) notes that federal authorization exists for county
welfare agencies to access and use child support information.
However, the authorization has never been operationalized in
California, leaving counties without access to the data that
could help them locate noncustodial parents.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 1751
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