BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1064|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1064
Author: De León (D), et al.
Amended: 8/24/12
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 4-0, 3/27/12
AYES: Liu, Hancock, Wright, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Emmerson, Berryhill, Strickland
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 4/24/12
AYES: Evans, Harman, Blakeslee, Corbett, Leno
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 5/24/12
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Dutton
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not available
SUBJECT : Child custody: immigration
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill provides family and custodial
protections for children of immigrant families.
Assembly Amendments (1) delete language that states if a
court finds that the parent has made reasonable efforts to
regain custody of the child or that termination of parental
rights would be detrimental to the child. The bill would
prohibit this extension under specified circumstances,
CONTINUED
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including if the child was an abandoned infant, the parent
was accused of murder or voluntary manslaughter of another
of his/her children or of felony assault against this child
or another of the parent's children from the bill; (2)
instead include language that states if a court finds there
is a substantial probability, as defined, that the child
will be returned to the physical custody of his/her parent
and safely maintained in the home within the extended time
period or that reasonable services have not been provided
to the parent or guardian; (3) extend the date for the
Department of Social Services (DSS) to provide guidance on
best practices and to facilitate an exchange of
information, from July 1, 2013 to January 1, 2014, on
establishing a memoranda of understanding with foreign
consulates; (4) contains chaptering out language for AB
1712 (Beall), AB 2060 (Bonilla), AB 2209 (Hueso) and AB
2292 (Nielsen) and SB 1476 (Leno) and SB 1521 (Liu); and
(5) make other clarifying and technical changes.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Requires a social worker to attempt to maintain the
child with the child's family. Absent specified
circumstances, requires the social worker to immediately
release the child to the custody of the child's parent,
guardian, or relative.
2. Requires a social worker to use due diligence in
investigating the names and locations of relatives who
are able and willing to care for a dependent child.
Requires social workers to conduct an assessment of a
relative or non-relative's suitability, including an
in-home inspection and a criminal records check.
3. Provides that, in pursuing family reunification, the
court shall order reasonable services for incarcerated
or institutionalized parents, and must consider the
parent's access to the court-mandated services and his
or her ability to maintain contact with his/her child.
Allows for court ordered services in pursuit of family
reunification to be extended from 6 or 12 months to 18
or 24 months, as specified, for parents who are
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incarcerated, institutionalized, or ordered into a
resident substance abuse program if the court makes
particular findings.
This bill:
1. States that a relative's immigration status does not
disqualify the relative from receiving custody of a
child in a family law proceeding.
2. Allows a relative to file for guardianship of a minor
dependent regardless of immigration status and provides
that immigration status of the relative alone shall not
constitute unsuitability.
3. Directs that if a social worker, upon investigation of
the circumstances of a child being taken into temporary
custody, decides that it is appropriate to release the
child to his/her parent, guardian or a responsible
relative that release shall occur regardless of the
adult's immigration status.
4. Provides that a relative's identification card from a
foreign consulate or a foreign passport shall be
considered valid forms of identification for the
purposes of conducting criminal record and fingerprint
clearance checks when a social worker is deciding
whether to place a child in the temporary custody of a
relative or into the home of a relative as a foster care
placement.
5. Specifies that when a social worker is placing a child
in a foster care setting, the home of a noncustodial
parent or approved home of a relative may be considered
regardless of the parent's or relative's immigration
status.
6. Specifies that when a relative has requested placement
of a child who is removed from parental custody,
preferential consideration be given to the family member
regardless of that relative's immigration status.
7. Specifies that a relative caregiver shall be given
information regarding the permanency options of
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guardianship and adoption regardless of his/her
immigration status.
8. Authorizes an extension of reunification services from
6 or 12 months to 18 or 24 months, as specified, for
parents who have been arrested and issued an immigration
hold, detained by the United States Department of
Homeland Security (DHS), or deported to their country of
origin.
9. Adds detention by DHS and deportation to a parent's
country of origin to the list of circumstances that must
be considered by the dependency court in determining
appropriate reunification services for a child.
10.Directs the court to provide reasonable efforts to
assist parents who have been deported to contact child
welfare authorities in their country of origin, identify
any available services that would substantially comply
with case plan requirements, document parents'
participation in those services, and accept reports from
local child welfare authorities as to the parents'
living situation, progress and participation in
services.
11.Adds a parent's detention to the list of circumstances
eligible for alternative family reunification services.
Adds a parent's detention or deportation to the list of
circumstances that a court must consider in determining
whether the failure of the parent to participate in
services is prima facie evidence that reunification
would be detrimental to the child.
12.Permits the court to continue a child's permanency
review hearing for up to six months if the parent has
been arrested and issued an immigration hold, detained
by DHS or deported and the court determines that there
is substantial probability that the child will be
returned to his/her parent's custody, as provided, and
safely remain in the home or that reasonable services
have not been provided to the parent.
13.Requires the court to consider a parent's detention or
deportation as barriers to that parent's ability to
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participate in reunification when determining a child's
permanency plan.
14.Adds to the list of circumstances under which a
dependency court may extend a child's permanency hearing
that a parent is making progress in reunification
services after being recently discharged from the
custody of DHS.
15.Requires DSS, commencing January 1, 2014, and annually
thereafter, to provide guidance on best practices and
facilitate exchange of best practices and information
among counties on establishing memoranda of
understanding with foreign consulates in juvenile court
cases in which a parent has been arrested and issued an
immigration hold, has been detained by DHS, or has been
deported to his/her country of origin, including
specified procedures relating to family reunification.
Allows the exchange of information to be accomplished by
posting information on the DSS Web site.
16.Requires DSS, commencing January 1, 2014, and annually
thereafter, to provide guidance on best practices and
facilitate exchange of best practices and information
among counties on how to assist children in juvenile
court who are eligible for special immigrant juvenile
status. Allows the exchange of information to be
accomplished by posting information on the DSS Web site.
17.Contains chaptering out language for ABs 1712, 2060,
2209 and 2292 and SBs 1476 and 1521.
Background
Child Welfare System . Approximately 70,000 children are in
the custody of California's child welfare system because of
abuse, neglect - including abandonment - or at-risk living
situations. This figure includes those living in foster
homes, group homes and with relatives. In California, the
law requires that courts first consider whether a child is
appropriate for family reunification services, defined as
"? activities designed to provide time-limited foster
care services to prevent or remedy neglect, abuse, or
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exploitation, when the child cannot safely remain at
home, and needs temporary foster care, while services
are provided to reunite the family."
Typically, the family reunification case plan requires
parents or guardians to participate in therapy,
rehabilitation and other services with the goal of
regaining custody of the child. State law requires
adherence to a strict timeline in which to provide
services, evaluate whether reunification is in the best
interest of the child and create a permanent plan for the
child.
In cases involving parents who are incarcerated or
institutionalized, the law recognizes that there may be
barriers to receiving services and to establishing
visitation schedules between parents and children, and
provides an opportunity for the courts to extend this
timeline if it appears reunification is likely and would be
appropriate. It also provides an opportunity for
dependency courts to exempt parents from reunification
services if they are incarcerated or institutionalized and
those services are not available.
"Shattered Families" report . A November 2011 report
prepared and released by the Applied Research Center
estimated that 5,100 children nationwide whose parents were
either detained or deported are living in foster care. The
center's report, "Shattered Families: The Perilous
Intersection of Immigration Enforcement and the Child
Welfare System," predicted that number of children in
foster care with deported or detained parents could grow by
another 15,000 in the next five years. The center's
projections are based on a calculation that approximately
1.25 percent of all children in foster care have parents
who have been detained or deported. Using that rate, the
number of California children currently in the system with
detained or deported parents would be approximately 875.
The report argues that while priorities established in
child welfare policies and immigration policies underscore
the need to reunite families, current practices present
barriers to that goal.
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"Immigration policies and laws are based on the
assumption that families will, and should, be united
whether or not parents are deported. Similarly,
child welfare policy aims to reunify families
whenever possible. In practice, however, when
mothers and fathers are detained and deported and
their children are relegated to foster care, family
separation can last for extended periods. Too often,
these children lose the opportunity to ever see their
parents again when a juvenile dependency court
terminates parental rights." (Shattered Families,
executive summary, p. 3)
Current Practices . Some California counties already are
taking efforts to remove barriers to reunification for
these families. Los Angeles, San Francisco and several
other counties have memorandums of understanding with their
local Mexican consulates that define responsibilities for
each entity and ensure confidentiality of information
exchanged.
In San Francisco County, for example, the county agrees
when possible to obtain a certified copy of the U.S. birth
certificate in order to prove a minor's citizenship and
provides that the consulate may assist the county whenever
possible in obtaining corresponding Mexican birth
certificates. The memorandum-of-understanding (MOU)
requires county social workers to provide verbal updates on
the progress of the child's case when requested by the
consulate and requires the county to consent for the minor
to be interviewed by the consulate. The consulate is
required to be available to social workers during business
and after hours, assist with searches in Mexico for parents
or relatives, when needed and facility the repatriation of
Mexican minors when there are no protective issues
involving the child's placement in the custody of the
county's child welfare agency. The MOU also describes the
roles of both agencies in ensuring a parent's appearance in
dependency court, in finalizing adoptions and in proceeding
when a parent has abducted their child and fled to Mexico.
Los Angeles County formalized its practice of placing
children with undocumented relatives in policy guidelines
stretching back several decades. "Immigration status of a
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relative caregiver should not hinder the placement of a
relative child in the home as long as (licensing standards)
are met," according to a 2008 memo. Los Angeles County
also was one of the initial counties to use foreign
consulate identification cards from the Consulate of Mexico
to satisfy the need to present identification to a live
scan technician. The identification cards may be obtained
from the consulate by an undocumented U.S. resident once a
criminal background check in Mexico is cleared. The cards
then may be used to access the live scan background check
used by California child welfare agencies to clear
prospective foster parents. Los Angeles County subsequently
set up similar arrangements with the consulates of the
Argentine Republic and Korea.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
One-time costs potentially in excess of $150,000 (General
Fund) for increased DSS staffing workload for research
and development of specified guidelines to counties.
Annual ongoing state-mandated costs in the range of
$200,000 (General Fund) for 6- to 12-month extension of
reunification services to impacted youth.
Increased cost pressure on social worker (SW) workload to
include information in case plans about a parent's
detention by the DHS or deportation.
Annual ongoing costs in the range of $150,000 (General
Fund) for increased workload to the Department of Justice
(DOJ) Foreign Prosecutions and Law Enforcement Unit.
Potentially significant future cost savings (Local) in
foster care, adoption assistance payments to the extent
the provisions of this bill result in an increased number
of children successfully reunified with their parents.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/28/12)
9to5 National Association of Working Women
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All Saints Church Foster Care Project
Alternative Family Services
American Civil Liberties Union of California
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
Applied Research Center
Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality
Asian Law Alliance
ASISTA Immigration Assistance
California Catholic Conference, Inc.
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Latinas for Reproductive Justice
California Partnership
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
California Youth Connection
Californians United for a Responsible Budget
Center for Community Alternatives
Children's Law Center of California
Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, Los Angeles
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross
First Focus Campaign for Children
Franciscan Action Network Guam Communications Network
Iglesia de la Comunidad, Presbyterian Church USA
Immigration Legal Resource Center
Immigration Task Force of the United Methodist Church
Justice Now
Latino Policy Coalition
Legal Services for Children
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Lutheran Office of Public Policy California
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education of Fund
MomsRising.org
Mujeres Unidas y Activas
National Association of Social Workers
Public Counsel
Restoration Project, Tucson
Safe Passages
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network
Street Level Health Project
The Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights
Tongan Community Service Center
Tucson Samaritans
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The Coalition for Humane Immigrant
Rights of Los Angeles writes that children whose parents
are detained or deported by immigration officials face
economic hardship and emotional trauma.
"Besides losing his/her parents, these children may
also lose the opportunity to stay close to their
love(d) ones that reside in the U.S. because after
the detention or deportation of their parents they
are placed into foster care. Unfortunately many of
them will never have a realistic opportunity to be
reunified with their parents and /or close relatives
because parents in immigration detainment are
frequently unable to access services ? (and)
immigrant relatives that may be willing to take
custody of a child when a parent is in this situation
are turned down by the child welfare system because
of their immigration status. This bill is an
important step in the right direction to ensure that
families stay together and that children get to grow
up in loving and stable homes."
CTW:RM:d 8/28/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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