BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1521
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1521 (Liu)
As Amended August 24, 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 to set minimum monthly visitation requirements.
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
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
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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
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, which includes referring foster youth to credit
counseling agencies or other related services, as specified.
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
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state law, a foster care child's case plan is required to ensure
the educational stability of the child. 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. 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: 0005560