BILL NUMBER: AB 1928 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 18, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 20, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Cook
FEBRUARY 22, 2012
An act to amend Sections 17710, 17730, and 17732 of, and to
add Section 17732.2 to , the Welfare and
Institutions Code, relating to foster care.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1928, as amended, Cook. Foster homes: residential capacity.
The California Community Care Facilities Act provides for the
licensing and regulation of community care facilities, including,
among others, foster family homes, small family homes, and foster
family agencies, as defined. Under existing law, a violation of the
act is a misdemeanor.
Existing law limits foster family homes and small family homes to
6 or fewer foster children, but allows a licensing agency to increase
that limit to 8 foster children under specified circumstances.
Existing regulations of the State Department of Social Services
require that these licensing agencies include biological, adoptive,
and guardianship children in the number of children for whom these
homes are licensed to provide care and supervision. Existing law also
requires the licensing agency to take into consideration how many
children, in addition to the children already living in the home, the
caregiver is capable of providing care and supervision to and that
the home can accommodate.
Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services is
required to develop a program to establish specialized foster care
homes for children with special health care needs. No more than 2
foster care children are permitted to reside in a specialized foster
care home, except that an additional foster child, or children, may
be permitted if specified conditions are met.
This bill would specify that the maximum licensed
capacity for a specialized foster care home is 2 foster children,
with or without special health care needs, and that up to 4
biological or adoptive children, or children in guardianship, may
also reside on the premises. The bill would specify further that a
specialized foster care home would be approved for an additional
foster child or children only to the extent that the total number of
children in the home, including foster, biological, or adoptive
children, and children in guardianship, on the premises does not
exceed 6 , in determining the licensed
capacity of a specialized foster care home, the State Department of
Social Services shall consider all adoptive, biological, and foster
children, and children in guardianship living in the home, in order
not to exceed a total of 6 children living in the home. The bill also
would make conforming and technical changes .
The bill would authorize the department to implement its
provisions through all-county letters or similar instructions from
the Director of Social Services.
This bill would state that its provisions are declaratory of
existing law.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 17710 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code is amended to read:
17710. Unless otherwise specified in this part:
(a) "Child with special health care needs" means a child, or a
person who is 22 years of age or younger who is completing a publicly
funded education program, who has a condition that can rapidly
deteriorate resulting in permanent injury or death or who has a
medical condition that requires specialized in-home health care, and
who either has been adjudged a dependent of the court pursuant to
Section 300, has not been adjudged a dependent of the court pursuant
to Section 300 but is in the custody of the county welfare
department, or has a developmental disability and is receiving
services and case management from a regional center.
(b) "County" means the county welfare department.
(c) "Department" means the State Department of Social Services.
(d) "Individualized health care plan team" means those individuals
who develop a health care plan for a child with special health care
needs in a specialized foster care home, as defined in subdivision
(i) or group home, which shall include the child's primary care
physician or other health care professional designated by the
physician, any involved medical team, and the county social worker or
regional center worker, and any health care professional designated
to monitor the child's individualized health care plan pursuant to
paragraph (8) of subdivision (c) of Section 17731, including, if the
child is in a certified home, the registered nurse employed by or
under contract with the certifying agency to supervise and monitor
the child. The child's individualized health care plan team may also
include, but shall not be limited to, a public health nurse,
representatives from the California Children's Services Program or
the Child Health and Disability Prevention Program, regional centers,
the county mental health department and where reunification is the
goal, the parent or parents, if available. In addition,
where if the child is in a specialized foster
care home, the individualized health care plan team may include the
prospective specialized foster parents, who shall not participate in
any team decision pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (c) of
Section 17731 or pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision
(a), or subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b)
subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a),
or clause (ii) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a), of Section 17732.
(e) "Director" means the Director of Social Services.
(f) "Level of care" means a description of the specialized in-home
health care to be provided to a child with special health care needs
by the foster family.
(g) Medical conditions requiring specialized in-home health care
require dependency upon one or more of the following: enteral feeding
tube, total parenteral feeding, a cardiorespiratory monitor,
intravenous therapy, a ventilator, oxygen support, urinary
catheterization, renal dialysis, ministrations imposed by
tracheostomy, colostomy, ileostomy, or other medical or surgical
procedures or special medication regimens, including injection, and
intravenous medication.
(h) "Specialized in-home health care" includes, but is not limited
to, those services identified by the child's primary physician as
appropriately administered in the home by any one of the following:
(1) A parent trained by health care professionals where the child
is being placed in, or is currently in, a specialized foster care
home.
(2) Group home staff trained by health care professionals pursuant
to the discharge plan of the facility releasing the child where the
child was placed in the home as of November 1, 1993, and who is
currently in the home.
(3) A health care professional, where the child is placed in a
group home after November 1, 1993. The health care services provided
pursuant to this paragraph shall not be reimbursable costs for the
purpose of determining the group home rate under Section 11462.
(i) "Specialized foster care home" means any of the following
foster homes where the foster parents reside in the home and have
been trained to provide specialized in-home health care to foster
children:
(1) Licensed foster family homes, as defined in paragraph (5) of
subdivision (a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) Licensed small family homes, as defined in paragraph (6) of
subdivision (a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code.
(3) Certified family homes, as defined in subdivision (d) of
Section 1506 of the Health and Safety Code, that have accepted
placement of a child with special health care needs who is under the
supervision and monitoring of a registered nurse employed by, or on
contract with, the certifying agency, and who is either of the
following:
(A) A dependent of the court under Section 300.
(B) Developmentally disabled and receiving services and case
management from a regional center.
SEC. 2. Section 17730 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code is amended to read:
17730. The department shall develop a program to establish
specialized foster care homes for children with special health care
needs with persons specified in subdivision (h) of Section 17710. The
department shall limit the use of group homes for children with
special health care needs pursuant to subdivisions (c) and
(d) and (e) of Section 17732. The program shall
conform to the requirements set forth in this chapter, and shall be
integrated with the foster care and child welfare services programs
authorized by Article 5 (commencing with Section 11400) of Chapter 2
of Part 3 and Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 16500) of Part 4.
The department, in administering the licensing program, shall not
evaluate or have any responsibility for the evaluation of the in-home
health care provided in specialized foster care homes or group
homes.
This program shall be conducted by county welfare departments in
conformance with procedures established by the department in
accordance with this chapter.
SEC. 3. Section 17732 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code is amended to read:
17732. (a) No more than two foster
care children with specialized health care needs
shall reside in a specialized foster care home with the
following exceptions:
(a)
(1) A specialized foster care home may have a third
foster child with or without special health care needs
placed in that home provided that the licensed capacity, as
determined by the department pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision
(a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code is not exceeded
and provided that all of the following conditions have been met:
(1)
(A) The child's placement worker has determined and
documented that no other placement is available.
(2)
(B) For each child in placement and the child to be
placed, the child's placement worker has determined that his or her
psychological and social needs will be met by placement in the home
and has documented that determination. New determinations shall be
made and documented each time there is an increase or turnover in
foster care children and the two-child capacity limit is exceeded.
(3)
(C) The individualized health care plan team
responsible for the ongoing care of each child with special health
care needs involved has considered the number of adoptive,
biological, and foster children, and children in guardianship living
in the home and determined that the two-child limit may be
exceeded without jeopardizing the health and safety of that child,
and has documented that determination. New determinations shall be
made and documented each time there is an increase or turnover in
foster care children and the two-child capacity limit is exceeded.
(b)
(2) A licensed small family home, but not a certified
home, may exceed the two-child placement limit
specified in subdivision (a) and accept children with or
without special health care needs up to the licensed capacity as
determined by the department pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision
(a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code if the conditions
in subdivision (a) paragraph (1) have
been met for both the third foster child and each
foster child placed thereafter, and the following additional
conditions have been met:
(1)
(A) At least one of the children in the facility is a
regional center client monitored in accordance with Section 56001 and
following of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations.
(2)
(B) Whenever four or more foster care children are
physically present in the facility, the licensee of the small family
home has the assistance of a caregiver to provide specialized in-home
health care to the children except that:
(A)
(i) Night assistance shall not be required for those
hours that the individualized health care plan team for each child
with special health care needs has documented that the child will not
require specialized medical services during that time.
(B)
(ii) The department may determine that additional
assistance is required to provide appropriate care and supervision
for all children in placement. The determination shall only be made
after consultation with the appropriate regional center and any
appropriate individual health care teams.
(3)
(iii) On-call assistance is available at all times to
respond in case of an emergency. The on-call assistant shall meet the
requirements of paragraph (5) of subdivision (c) of Section 17731.
(4)
(iv) The home is sufficient in size to accommodate the
needs of all children in the home.
(c)
(b) Notwithstanding Section 1523 of the Health and
Safety Code, a foster family home which has more than three children
with special health care needs in its care as of January 1, 1992, and
which applies for licensure as a small family home in order to
continue to provide care for those children, shall be exempt from the
application fee.
(d)
(c) Except for children with special health care needs
placed in group homes before January 1, 1992, no child with special
health care needs may be placed in any group home or combination of
group homes for longer than a short-term placement of 120 calendar
days. The short-term placement in the group home shall be on an
emergency basis for the purpose of arranging a subsequent placement
in a less restrictive setting, such as with the child's natural
parents or relatives, with a foster parent or foster family agency,
or with another appropriate person or facility. The 120-day
limitation shall not be extended, except by the approval of the
director or his or her designee. For children placed after January 1,
1992, the 120-day limitation shall begin on the effective date of
the amendments to this section made during the 1993 portion of the
1993-94 Regular Session.
(e)
(d) A child with special health care needs shall not be
placed in a group home unless the child's placement worker has
determined and documented that the group home has a program that
meets the specific needs of the child being placed and there is a
commonalty of needs with the other children in the group home.
(e) The Legislature finds and declares that the amendments to this
section made by the act that added this subdivision are declaratory
of existing law.
SECTION 1. SEC. 4. Section 17732.2
is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
17732.2. (a) Subject to subdivision (b), the maximum
licensed capacity for a specialized foster care home shall be two
foster children, with or without special health care needs. In
addition, up to four biological or adoptive children, or children in
guardianship, may reside on the premises, for a total of six children
In determining the licensed capacity of a specialized
foster care home, the department shall consider all adoptive,
biological, and foster children, and children in guardianship living
in the home, in order not to exceed a total of six children living in
the home .
(b) A specialized foster care home shall be approved for
additional foster child or children pursuant to subdivision (a) or
(b) of Section 17332, only to the extent that the total number of
children in the home, including foster, biological or adoptive
children, and children in guardianship on the premises, does not
exceed six.
(c) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the
Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code),
the department may implement and administer the changes made by this
act through all-county letters or similar instructions from the
director.
(d)
(b) The Legislature finds and declares that this
section is declaratory of existing law.