BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 1432 (Steinberg) - Child and family welfare.
Amended: April 26, 2012 Policy Vote: Human Services 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 14, 2012 Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 1432 would require the California Child and
Family Services Review (CFSR) System workgroup to reconvene by
January 15, 2013. Additionally, this bill:
By April 1, 2013, requires the CFSR workgroup to
determine whether additional outcome indicators and/or
further analysis of existing indicators are necessary to
determine the impact of the realignment of child welfare
programs and services on child safety and well being, as
specified.
Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to
provide information annually to the Legislative budget and
policy committees regarding the impact of the realignment
of child welfare programs and services on child safety and
well being, including outcome indicators determined by the
CFSR workgroup.
Requires DSS to initiate one or more of the compliance
actions authorized by Section 10605, as specified, if any
county child welfare system, after receiving technical
assistance, as specified for a period of at least six
months, but not more than one year, does not meet the
established compliance threshold for one or more outcome
measures.
Fiscal Impact:
Minor costs to the Health and Human Services Agency
(CHHS) to reconvene the CFSR workgroup.
Minor to significant costs (General Fund) to specific
state agencies participating in the workgroup to redirect
existing resources to meet the timelines specified under
the provisions of this bill.
Minor to significant costs (General Fund) to DSS to
report information on the impact of child welfare
realignment to Legislative committees. The extent of the
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workload impact would be dependent on the breadth and scope
of outcome indicators developed by the CFSR workgroup.
Potentially significant costs (General Fund) for DSS to
initiate specified compliance actions. The degree of
workload and associated costs would be dependent upon the
number of counties requiring action and the specific
actions taken.
Background: Existing federal law pursuant to Title IV-B of the
Social Security Act and state law pursuant to Chapter 678/2001
require the DSS to enact the CFSR System which establishes an
outcomes-based review process in order to review all county
child welfare systems and maximize compliance with federal
regulations and state plan requirements.
Under existing law, the California Health and Human Services
Agency was required to convene a workgroup by October 2002
comprised of representatives of various state agencies, county
organizations, and stakeholders to create a framework for
accountability in the child welfare system and to develop a
workplan by which CFSRs would be conducted, including a process
for qualitative peer reviews of case information.
The 2011-12 Budget Act and accompanying budget trailer bills
(Chapter 15/2011 and Chapter 35/2011) transferred various state
fiscal and programmatic responsibilities to the counties in the
areas of public safety and health and human services which
included the child welfare functions of child welfare services,
foster care, adoptions, and child abuse prevention. It also
shifted $1.6 billion in tax revenues to counties in lieu of
General Fund support.
Proposed Law: This bill seeks to ensure that the state can
adequately review and assess the impact of the realignment of
child welfare services programs to the counties, as follows:
Requires the CFSR System workgroup be reconvened by January
15, 2013.
By April 1, 2013, requires the workgroup to determine whether
additional outcome indicators or additional analysis of
existing indicators is necessary.
Requires the workgroup to develop and analyze those indicators
for inclusion in the CFSR System workplan, if necessary, and
to specifically consider outcome indicators related to the
incidence of child abuse and neglect, the effectiveness of
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community based child abuse prevention, early intervention
efforts, and any changes to outcomes that may be the result of
realignment of child welfare programs and services.
Removes representatives from the Department of Mental Health
and the Department of Child Support Services from
participation on the workgroup.
Requires DSS to provide information annually to the
Legislative budget and policy committees regarding the impact
of the realignment of child welfare programs and services on
child safety and well being, including outcome indicators
determined by the CFSR workgroup.
Requires DSS to initiate one or more of the compliance actions
authorized by Section 10605 if any county child welfare
system, after receiving technical assistance, as specified for
a period of at least six months, but not more than one year,
does not meet the established compliance threshold for one or
more outcome measures.
Related Legislation: AB 1611 (Beall) 2012 would require the CFSR
workgroup to examine outcome indicators for each racial and
ethnic population served within a county and additionally
requires counties to include specified information in a system
improvement plan regarding efforts to eliminate disparities in
services and outcomes for children of color in its child welfare
system. This bill has been referred to the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations.
AB 118 (Committee on Budget) Chapter 15/2011 implemented the
2011 Public Safety Realignment, transferring the equivalent of
$5.6 billion of annual state fiscal responsibilities for public
safety programs to counties. This bill also created the account
structure and allocations for some of this funding, and
dedicates 1.0625 percent of state sales tax revenue to fund
these local costs in 2011-12.
AB 636 (Steinberg) Chapter 678/2001 required the DSS to enact
the Children and Family Services Review System which established
an outcomes-based review process administered by the Outcomes
and Accountability Bureau.
Staff Comments: This bill will result in additional costs in the
form of redirected staff time to reconvene the CFSR workgroup.
The workgroup consists of representatives of the Judicial
Council, DSS, the Department of Health Care Services, the
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Department of Education, the Department of Justice, any other
departments or agencies the CHHS deems necessary, the County
Welfare Directors Association, the California State Association
of Counties, the Chief Probation Officers of California, the
California Youth Connection, representatives of California
tribes, child advocacy organizations, researchers and foster
parent organizations.
The CHHS has indicated minor costs to reconvene the workgroup.
For individual state agencies participating in the workgroup,
there could be potentially minor to significant costs in
redirected staff time incurred to meet the requirements of the
bill. Given the relatively short timeframe (2 months) in which
the workgroup will be required to develop additional outcome
indicators in the context of the recent realignment of child
welfare services, staff dedicated to this project could
potentially incur overtime costs as well.
The DSS would incur minor to significant workload to report
information on the impact of child welfare realignment to the
Legislative committees. The extent of the workload impact would
be dependent on the breadth and scope of outcome indicators
developed by the CFSR workgroup.
The potential workload to DSS to initiate compliance actions
would be dependent on various factors, but could be significant
to the extent several counties do not meet the established
compliance threshold for one or more outcome measures. Existing
law authorizes DSS to bring an action for injunctive relief or
order the county to appear at a hearing before the director with
the DSS Advisory Board Committee on Welfare and Social Services
if a county does not comply or provide reasonable assurances in
writing that it will comply within a certain time period. If
administrative sanctions are necessary to secure compliance, the
director may withhold all or part of state and federal funds
from a county or assume, temporarily, the direct responsibility
for the administration of all or part of any or all programs
administered by the department in the county until the time as
the county provides reasonable assurances to the director of its
intention and ability to comply.
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