BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1521
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1521 (Liu)
As Amended August 20, 2012
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :39-0
HUMAN SERVICES 6-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Beall, Jones, Ammiano, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, |
| |Grove, Hall, Portantino | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| | | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Davis, Donnelly, Fuentes, |
| | | |Hall, Hill, Cedillo, |
| | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Solorio, Wagner |
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SUMMARY : Makes a number of amendments and federal conformity
changes to Welfare and Institutions Code relating to the
provision of services for foster youth. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Prohibits reunifications services to a parent or guardian who
has been required to register as a sex offender by a court of
law under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of
2006 (42 United States Code (U.S.C.) Section 16913(a)).
2)Requires County Welfare Agencies (CWA) to annually request a
free consumer credit report for a foster youth when she/he
turns 16 and for each year thereafter and requires the CWA to
refer a foster youth to credit counseling and assistance
services, as specified.
3)Deletes and adds reporting elements to the Child Welfare
Training Program's (CWTP) annual evaluation report, as
specified.
4)Clarifies that a foster youth's case plan include an
educational placement assessment to take into account the
educational stability of the child, in accordance with the
federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Access
to Adoptions Act of 2008 and the Child and Family Services
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Improvement and Innovation Act of 2011.
5)Implements the caseworker visit requirements under the Child
and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act in state
law, which:
a) Requires as a part of a foster youth's case plan the
inclusion of whether the child received a consumer credit
report at age 16 and each year thereafter and what credit
counseling services were provided if an inaccuracy was
found.
b) Requires the total number of monthly caseworker visits
to youth in foster care to not be less than 90% of the
total number of monthly caseworker visits that would occur
if each child were visited once per month.
c) Requires no less than 50% of the total monthly
caseworker visits conducted by the caseworker shall occur
in the child's residence.
d) Requires effective October 1, 2014, the total number of
monthly caseworker visits to children in foster care to not
be less than 95% of the total number of monthly caseworker
visits that would occur if each child is visited once per
month.
e) Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) and
county welfare and probation departments to collect and
provide any data necessary to comply with the federal Child
and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act.
6)Allows peer-to-peer mentoring and support groups for parents
and primary caregivers, including familial visitation services
and activities, in accordance with the Child and Family
Services Improvement and Innovation Act.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Ongoing costs of approximately $225,000 ($56,250 General Fund
(GF)) to DSS to have county agencies provide annual credit
reports to foster youth age 16 and older, as specified, and
require county welfare departments and probation departments
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to provide assistance in interpreting the consumer credit
disclosure to youth on an annual basis.
However, those costs will be greatly reduced if DSS is able to
work with the three major credit reporting agencies to develop
an automated process.
2)Ongoing costs of approximately $195,000 ($48,750 GF) for the
workload associated with requiring that the educational
stability portion of a foster child's educational placement
assessment be updated with every change in placement.
3)The remaining portions of the bill are minor and absorbable
within existing DSS resources.
COMMENTS : This measure predominantly serves as a federal
compliance measure to bring state statute into alignment with
several measures adopted by Congress. As required by federal
law, in order to be eligible for federal grant funding, states
are required to align their statutes, or provide other
assurances, as specified, into compliance with federal law.
Should states be unable to demonstrate or bring their statutes
into compliance, the federal government can reduce or eliminate
federal funding or place sanctions on the state, depending on
the grant requirements and conditions.
According to the author, this measure would address a number of
sections in the Welfare and Institutions Code to bring state
statute into compliance with the federal Child Abuse Prevention
and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 2010, the Fostering Connections to
Success and Increasing Access to Adoptions Act of 2008 and the
Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act of
2011.
Reunification services . Under CAPTA, states are now required to
prohibit the reunification foster youth with their biological
parent if they have been convicted of a sex offense and are
required to register as a sex offender, as required by the
federal Adam Walsh law. Under current state law, reunification
of the child with their biological process is made under the
determination of the court, however, although state law
prohibits the placement of a foster youth with an individual who
has been convicted as a sex offender, explicitly forbidding
reunifications services for a parent who is a sex offender would
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help to ensure greater compliance with CAPTA.
Credit reports for foster youth . Under current law, which was
established by AB 106 (Human Services Committee), Chapter 32,
Statutes of 2011, CWAs would be required to begin requesting a
consumer credit report for each foster youth under their care
who is 16 years of age or older on July 1, 2013. However, the
federal Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act
of 2011, which was signed into federal law one day after the AB
106 was signed into state law, requires CWAs to currently
request a consumer credits report for foster youth 16 years of
age and older. This measure would eliminate the implementation
date established by AB 106 and add additional requirements as
established by the Child and Family Services Improvement and
Innovation Act.
CWTP . To ensure the CWTP's effectiveness, DSS is required to
conduct an annual assessment and evaluation report of the
program and to submit it to the Legislative Analyst. This
measure would delete the requirement for the DSS to forward its
annual evaluation report to the Legislative Analyst and delete
the requirement that the report include the opportunity for
feedback from program participants. It would also add to the
list of required elements of the report workforce, education,
qualification and demographic information.
Foster care case plan - educational stability . Under current
state law, a foster care child's case plan is required to ensure
the educational stability of the child, which must include the
following:
1)An assessment of the appropriateness of the current
educational setting.
2)The proximity of the school to the child's placement.
3)An assurance that the CWA has coordinated with the child's
educational rights holder and appropriate local educational
agencies to ensure that the child is placed in the appropriate
educational setting.
4)The transfer of the child's educational records, if she/he is
placed in a new school.
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However, current law is unclear as to whether the educational
stability of the child is taken into account each time she/he is
placed in a new school. As required by the federal Child and
Family Services Improvement Act of 2008, the educational
stability must be considered each time the child's educational
placement is considered. This measure would simply clarify that
an educational stability assessment is undertaken each time the
child's educational placement is determined, thus bringing state
statute into compliance with federal law.
Caseworker visits . In accordance with the federal Child and
Family Services Improvement Act of 2008, this measure would make
correlating changes to the Welfare and Institutions Code to
establish minimum monthly visits child welfare caseworkers must
make to youth under their jurisdictional care. Specifically, it
would:
1)Requires caseworkers to visit no less than 90% of the children
under their jurisdictional care per month.
2)Requires caseworkers to visit no less than 50% of the above
noted children in the child's residence.
3)Increases the monthly visit requirement noted in 1) to 95% on
October 1, 2014.
It would also require DSS, in coordination with CWAs, to collect
and provide any data necessary to comply with the Child and
Family Service Improvement Act.
Mentoring Services . The federal Child and Family Services
Improvement Act of 2008 added mentoring services as eligible
services under the definition of "family support services" and
"time-limited family reunification services." By simply adding
mentoring services to the state statutory definitions of the
same services, it brings state statute into further compliance
with federal law.
Analysis Prepared by : Chris Reefe / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
FN: 0005092
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