BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
AB 2001 (Ammiano)
As Amended June 11, 2014
Hearing Date: June 17, 2014
Fiscal: Yes
Urgency: No
NR
SUBJECT
Homeless youth: child welfare services
DESCRIPTION
This bill would require the Department of Social Services to
establish a working group to develop policy and practice
recommendations to the Legislature to ensure that homeless,
unaccompanied minors have timely, reliable access to appropriate
placements and services through the state's child welfare
system. This bill would authorize counties to establish and
participate in a pilot program, as specified, to develop and
implement child welfare services to meet the individual needs of
homeless youth. This bill would require the Department to
conduct an evaluation of the pilot program and submit to the
Legislature, no later than January 1, 2019, the results of the
evaluation, as specified.
This bill would require a social worker to interview a minor who
has requested child welfare services, as specified, and would
provide that a minor residing in a runaway and homeless youth
shelter may be found to come within the jurisdiction of the
juvenile court, despite having access to temporary shelter. In
cases where a minor has requested child welfare services, this
bill would require the social worker to commence proceedings
with the juvenile court, or to decide not to proceed further,
within five days and immediately notify the applicant if a
petition is not filed with the court. If the social worker
fails to file a petition with the court within five days, and
the minor applicant applies to the court to have that decision
reviewed, this bill would require the court to issue its
decision within five days. This bill would also include
(more)
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legislative intent language and make other conforming changes.
BACKGROUND
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals
represent between five and ten percent of the general youth
population, yet they make up 15 to 25 percent of the homeless
youth population. (Milburn, (2006) Cross-National Variations in
Behavioral Profiles Among Homeless Youth, American Journal of
Community Psychology 37, no. 1-2: 63-77.) Percentages are even
higher in certain communities known to offer support and
services to the LGBT community, such as Los Angeles and San
Francisco, where LGBT youth represent up to 40 percent of the
homeless youth population.
Minors experience homelessness for a variety of reasons, many of
which relate to conflict within the family. Domestic violence,
substance abuse, criminal justice involvement, and relationship
conflict often compel youth to leave their homes or are factors
in why they have been forced to leave. One reason for the
overrepresentation of LGBT youth in the overall homeless youth
community is the rate at which they are pushed out of their
homes due to their family's response to their sexual orientation
or gender identity. An estimated 25 to 40 percent of LGBT
homeless youth report leaving home because of conflicts with
family members regarding their sexual orientation or gender
expression. (Whitbeck, (2004) Mental Disorder, Subsistence
Strategies, and Victimization among Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual
Homeless and Runaway Adolescents, Journal of Sex Research,
41(4), 329-342.)
LGBT youth are significantly overrepresented in the juvenile
justice system, where they compose nearly 15 percent of those
currently under the court's jurisdiction. (Jerome Hunt and Aisha
C. Moodie-Mills, The Unfair Criminalization of Gay and
Transgender Youth, June 29, 2012.) Yet, despite the
disproportionally high rates of LGBT youth entering the child
welfare system, it is not clear that schools, law enforcement
officers, or the courts are equipped to deal with the unique
experiences and challenges this particular population faces.
This bill seeks to better provide services and protection to
LGBT and homeless minors through the child welfare system and
would create a pilot program and a work group within the
Department of Social Services to develop recommendations and
policies to better support healthy youth development.
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This bill has been double referred to the Senate Human Services
Committee. If approved by this Committee, this bill will be
referred to the Senate Human Services Committee for evaluation
of the bill's provisions within their jurisdiction.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
1.Existing law provides that unless certain exceptions apply, as
specified, the primary objective of the juvenile dependency
system is reunification of the minor with his or her family,
and the court must order the social worker to provide services
to reunify children legally removed from a parent. (Welf. &
Inst. Code Secs. 202, 300.2, 361.5.)
Existing law states the intent of the Legislature to preserve
and strengthen a child's family ties whenever possible and to
reunify a foster youth with his or her biological family
whenever possible, or to provide a permanent placement
alternative, such as adoption or guardianship. (Welf. & Inst.
Code Sec. 16000.)
Existing law provides that a child is within the jurisdiction
of the juvenile court when he or she has suffered, or is at a
substantial risk of suffering, serious abuse, or neglect
including:
the failure or inability of his or her parent or
guardian to adequately supervise or protect the child;
the willful or negligent failure of the parent or
guardian to provide the child with adequate food, clothing,
shelter, or medical treatment; or
by the inability of the parent or guardian to provide
regular care for the child due to the parent's or
guardian's mental illness, developmental disability, or
substance abuse. (Welf. & Inst. Code Sec. 300.)
This bill would provide that a child residing in a runaway and
homeless youth shelter, as defined, may come within the
jurisdiction of the court, despite having access to temporary
shelter.
1.Existing law requires a county to file a petition to the court
requesting a detention hearing within 48 hours of placing a
child under temporary custody to determine whether the child
should be further detained, the court shall make a
determination as to whether reasonable efforts were made to
prevent the removal of the child and whether there are
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available services that would prevent the need for further
detention. (Welf. & Inst. Code Sec. 319.)
Existing law requires a social worker, within 30 days of
taking a child into temporary custody or whenever appropriate
to identify and locate all adults who are related to the child
by blood, adoption, or affinity within the fifth degree of
kinship and provide for the purposes of informing them of
their right to participate in the care and placement of the
child, as specified. (Welf. & Inst. Code Sec. 309(e).)
Existing law provides that whenever a social worker has cause
to believe that there was or is a person that falls within the
court's jurisdiction as described above, the social worker
shall immediately investigate and determine whether child
welfare services should be offered and whether proceedings in
the juvenile court should be commenced. If a petition is not
filed with the court within three weeks, the social worker
shall note his or her reasons in an affidavit and immediately
notify the applicant regarding the action taken. (Welf. &
Inst. Code Secs. 328, 329.)
Existing law authorizes an applicant, when the social worker
has failed to file a petition with the court, to apply to the
juvenile court for review of that decision. The court may
either affirm the decision of the social worker, or order him
or her to commence juvenile court proceedings. (Welf. & Inst.
Code Sec. 331.)
This bill would require, in a situation where the application
has been filed by the child who is alleged to come within the
jurisdiction of the court, the social worker to file a
petition with the court or provide the applicant with his or
her affidavit documenting the reasons not to proceed, within
five days.
This bill would require, when the application has been made by
a child who is alleged to come within the jurisdiction of the
court, the court to affirm the decision of the social worker
or order him or her to commence juvenile court proceedings
within five judicial days.
2.Existing law provides that the court shall order the county to
provide child welfare services, except as specified, to the
minor and the minor's parents or guardians, and permits the
court to order the parent or guardian to participate in
counseling or other treatment services. (Welf. & Inst. Code
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Sec. 361.5.)
Existing law provides that the above services are not required
to be provided if the court finds that the parent or guardian
has a history of extensive abusive and chronic use of drugs or
alcohol and has resisted prior treatment during the previous
three years or has failed to comply with a program of drug or
alcohol treatment described in the case plan, as specified.
(Welf. & Inst. Code Sec. 361.5.)
This bill would require the Department of Social Services and
various stakeholders to create a working group to develop
policy and practice recommendations to ensure that homeless,
unaccompanied minors have timely, reliable access to
appropriate placements and services through California's child
welfare system. The working group would be required to report
to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2016.
This bill would also authorize the establishment of a pilot
program to develop and implement alternative child welfare
series to meet the individual needs of homeless youth in order
to reduce homelessness among children. The Department of
Social Services would be required to reevaluate the program
and submit, no later than January 1, 2019, to the Legislature
the results of the evaluation.
COMMENT
1. Stated need for the bill
According to the author:
AB 2001 would allow counties, through the Child Welfare Waiver
Demonstration Project, to establish a pilot program to develop
and implement alternative child welfare services that are
directed towards the individual needs of homeless youth in
order to reduce homelessness among homeless children age 14
and older. Programs may include methods for the identification
of homeless youth for temporary placement into a licensed
homeless youth shelter or other licensed placement determined
by the county's child welfare agency, especially when homeless
youth are brought to the intention of law enforcement. If
approved through the Title IV-E waiver, county child welfare
agencies may use Title IV-E funding to provide long-term
intensive support services to meet the needs of the youth.
County child welfare agencies remain responsible for all case
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management of youth in the pilot programs, including
identifying appropriate long-term housing placement
opportunities and wraparound services for the youths,
including placement in a certified transitional housing plus
program, placement with identified parents or relatives,
foster family homes, or group homes with expertise in serving
homeless or runaway youth.
AB 2001 also creates a specific pathway for a small group of
unaccompanied homeless minors to self-initiate a report of
abuse or neglect to child welfare services. The minor would be
allowed to designate a trusted person to accompany her or him
to any team decision making meeting resulting in a juvenile
court proceeding. AB 2001 speeds up the deadline for filing
for investigation as well as directly with the court to five
days (from three weeks), thus expediting services for this
high-risk population.
Finally, AB 2001 establishes a work group within the
Department of Social Services to develop recommendations to
ensure that unaccompanied homeless youth are protected from
harm and provided with effective age-appropriate services that
support healthy youth development.
2. Would give priority to minors who personally report abuse or
neglect to the child welfare system over all other abused and
neglected children
This bill would distinguish children who self-report abuse from
those about whom abuse is reported, by creating new time frames
and treatment for self-reporting minors including shortening the
timeline in which a social worker must petition the court for
the youth to enter foster care, shortening the timeline in which
a court must review a social worker's decision not to file a
petition, requiring the social worker to interview the child,
and allowing a child who is 12 years of age or older to have a
support person with him or her throughout the investigation
process.
Existing law allows a social worker three weeks to investigate
abuse and potentially file a petition with the court. This bill
would shorten that time to five days for self-reporting minors.
Existing law requires a child over the age of four to be
interviewed by the social worker if he or she is in juvenile
hall, a foster home, or another custodial facility. This bill
would require an interview of any self-reporting minor.
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Practically speaking, these provisions create a priority for
self-reporting youth by extending to them special treatment and
benefits that are not available to other abused children. The
provisions of the bill are targeted at homeless youth, but are
actually much broader in that they encompass any youth who
personally contacts a social worker or child welfare services.
As a matter of policy, this bill raises the question about
whether the Legislature should provide greater protections to
these youth as compared to children who are unable, either
because of age, fear, or ignorance, to confront their abusers?
The following amendments would remove the provisions of the bill
which give priority and preferential treatment to minors who
self-initiate an investigation or claim with child welfare
services, thus putting all allegedly abused children on equal
footing. The amendments would also require the court to issue a
decision after an applicant has appealed a decision of a social
worker to not file a petition, within five days.
Suggested amendments:
a) Strike Section 3
b) Welf & Inst. Code Sec. 328 is amended to read: "?The
social worker shall interview any child four years of age
or older who is a subject of an investigation, and who is
in juvenile hall, a runaway and homeless youth shelter as
defined in Section 1052.35 of the Health and Safety Code or
any other community care facility described in Section 1502
of the Health and Safety Code, or other custodial facility,
or has been removed to a foster home, to ascertain the
child's view of the home environment. If proceedings are
commenced, the social worker shall include the substance of
the interview in any written report submitted at an
adjudicatory hearing, or if no report is then received in
evidence, the social worker shall include the substance of
the interview in the social study required by Section 358.
A referral based on allegations of child abuse from the
family court pursuant to Section 3027 of the Family Code
shall be investigated to the same extent as any other child
abuse allegation.
If the social worker employs team decisionmaking or a
similar process to determine whether to commence juvenile
court proceedings in a case for a child who is 12 years of
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age or older, the process shall include the child, as well
as individuals the child identifies as important to him or
her.
c) Strike Section 4
d) Page 10, line 36 strike "may" and insert "shall"
e) Page 10, line 38, after "proceedings" insert within five
judicial days"
f) Page 10, strike lines 39-40
g) Page 11, strike lines 1-3
4. Bill would add concepts to statute that are arguably present
under current law
This bill seeks to provide services and housing to homeless
youth by ensuring that they are capable of entering the
dependency system.
a. Minor living in runaway and homeless shelter may already
come within the jurisdiction of the dependency court
Existing law provides that a child is within the jurisdiction
of the juvenile court when he or she has suffered, or is at a
substantial risk of suffering, serious physical abuse or
neglect including the failure or inability of his or her
parent or guardian to adequately supervise or protect the
child, or the willful or negligent failure of the parent or
guardian to provide the child with adequate food, clothing,
shelter, or medical treatment.
This bill would provide that a child residing in a runaway and
homeless youth shelter may be found to fall within the above
definition, despite having access to temporary shelter. In
support of this bill, the John Burton Foundation argues that
homeless youth "often experience difficulty entering the local
child welfare system. There are a number of different
theories about why this is the case, one of which is a
misperception that homeless minors are not victims of abuse.
A second possible explanation is a misunderstanding that a
homeless minor who is sheltered does not fall within the
jurisdiction of the welfare system."
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Arguably, many minors who have run away from home and are
living in homeless shelters will fall within this jurisdiction
of the court as described above. However, including this
consideration in statute will further ensure that social
workers and the court look to the circumstances behind a
youth's homelessness in determining whether or not he or she
falls within the jurisdiction of the dependency court.
b. Minors may already self-report abuse or neglect
Existing law provides that whenever a social worker has cause
to believe that there was or is someone within the county that
comes within the jurisdiction of the court for abuse or
neglect, or when any person applies to the social worker to
commence proceedings, the social worker shall immediately make
any investigation that he or she deems necessary to determine
whether child welfare services should be offered to the family
and whether proceedings in the juvenile court should be
commenced. (Welf. & Inst. Code Secs. 328, 329.)
This bill would create specific provisions for self-reporting
minors. The author argues that this is necessary because,
"many older unaccompanied homeless minors who are not in
immediate danger do not have investigations by child welfare
into the abuse or neglect that led them to become an
unaccompanied homeless minor. AB 2001 creates a mechanism for
a youth to self-initiate an investigation resulting in the
minor receiving homeless youth services." Staff notes that
under existing law minors can clearly self-initiate an
investigation by a social worker, and according to the author,
many minors living in shelters do in fact report abuse to
social workers. Therefore, if social workers and courts do
not consider these youths to be within the jurisdiction of the
court, creating additional mechanisms to get homeless minors
in front of social workers or judges will not necessarily
improve their outcomes. Thus, the issue the author seeks to
resolve appears to be one of jurisdiction, which may be
addressed by clarifying that homelessness may be caused by
abuse which would bring a minor under the jurisdiction of the
court. (See Comment 4(a) above.)
5.Function of the dependency system
Overall, the dependency system strives to recognize and
accommodate the fundamental rights of parents and children.
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Children have a fundamental interest in belonging to a family
unit, as well as the right to be safe from abuse and neglect.
Parents have the essential and basic right to the care, custody,
management, and companionship of their children. In achieving
these goals, the dependency system also seeks to serve the needs
of abused or neglected children, thereby reducing the need to
remove them from the home, encouraging speedy reunification of
families when safe, and locating permanent homes for children
who cannot return to their families.
While the dependency system routinely connects abused children
with services, it is not entirely clear that it will adequately
be able to address the special needs of chronically homeless
youth. First, the dependency system functions largely to reunite
families. Arguably, reunification may not be in the best
interest of many of these youth because of the abuse or
rejection they suffered at the hands of their parents. Second,
chronically homeless youth may require unique services above and
beyond what other children in the dependency system need.
Whether or not the dependency system can adequately address the
needs of these children will be evaluated by the interagency
working group and pilot program created under this bill. The
working group will be required to report policy and practice
recommendations to the Legislature by January 1, 2016, and the
Department of Social Services will be required to provide an
evaluation of the pilot program to the Legislature by January 1,
2019. Reviewing this information will help ensure that the
Legislature makes informed decisions that will best help
homeless youth.
6.Additional Author's amendments:
Author's amendments:
Page 11, after line 34 insert " (F) How can the Child Welfare
System make it easier for unaccompanied minors to
self-initiate child welfare services or the commencement of
juvenile court proceedings on the basis that he or she is a
person described in Section 300?
(G) How do child welfare investigation timelines and juvenile
court timelines affect unaccompanied minors who self-initiate
child welfare services or the commencement of juvenile court
proceedings on the basis that he or she is a person described
in Section 300? "
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Support : American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO; California Coalition for Youth;
California State Sheriffs' Association (support in concept);
Congress of California Seniors; Fresno Economic Opportunities
Commission; Home Start, Inc.; John Burton Foundation; National
Association of Social Workers
Opposition : None Known
HISTORY
Source : Author
Related Pending Legislation : None Known
Prior Legislation :
AB 868 (Ammiano, Chapter 300, Statutes of 2013) required the
Judicial Council to establish training programs for judges on
the effects of gender identity and sexual orientation in family
law proceedings. This bill also requires the Judicial Council
to create training standards on cultural competency and
sensitivity relating to, and best practices for, providing
adequate care to LGBT youth for counsel in juvenile court and
appointed special advocates (CASAs).
AB 1856 (Ammiano, Chapter 639, Statutes of 2012), required the
training for administrators of a group home facility, licensed
foster parents, and relative or nonrelative extended family
member caregivers to also include instruction on cultural
competency and sensitivity relating to, and best practices for,
providing adequate care to LGBT youth in out-of-home care.
Prior Vote :
Assembly Floor (Aye 77, Noes 0)
Assembly Appropriations Committee (Ayes 17, Noes 0)
Assembly Human Services Committee (Ayes 5, Noes 0)
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