BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2583
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Date of Hearing: May 14, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 2583 (Dababneh) - As Introduced: February 21, 2014
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:7 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires DSS, in consultation with the County Welfare
Directors Association (CWDA), foster parents, caregivers, and
current and former foster youth, to develop and implement a
foster parent evaluation process. Specifically, this bill:
1)Specifies the evaluation process shall allow a foster youth
over 12 years of age and nonminor dependents, to provide
feedback on the quality of care they receive in licensed
foster care homes or group homes every six months, and upon
exit from those homes.
2)Requires the development of an evaluation tool that allows
foster youth to provide feedback on their caregivers.
3)Specifies the evaluation shall be designed to gather
information on a series of specified subjects.
4)Requires DSS to consider how the information gathered can
improve efforts to recruit, train and retain high quality
foster parents.
5)Requires DSS to implement the foster parent evaluation process
and promulgate all necessary regulations no later than January
1, 2016.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Given the complexity of the evaluation requirements, it is
likely the evaluation will need to be administered in person
by a county social worker. On-going costs in the range of
AB 2583
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$250,000 to $500,000 (GF) per year for the workload associated
with social workers administering the evaluation once a year
to over 7,000 foster youth and processing the information
obtained through the evaluation.
2)One-time costs potentially in excess of $100,000 to develop an
evaluation tool that effectively captures the required
information.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . AB 2583 is modeled after a component of Florida's
Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) Project. QPI in Florida
has resulted in the development of innovative tools for foster
parents and children in foster care including an exit
interview for children and youth in foster care to provide
feedback on their caregivers.
Under current law, the placement and care of foster children
is overseen by a social worker. That social worker should
maintain some level of regular contact with both the child and
the caregiver. Presumably, the foster child could provide
feedback to the social worker on their experiences in a
particular placement. However, there is no formalized process
that allows foster children to provide detailed feedback on
their caregivers as part of an evaluation process. This bill
creates that process.
2)Support . Supporters, including youth advocacy groups, note
the bill would allow youth to provide feedback on issues
crucial to program success.
3)Related Legislation . This is a reintroduction of AB 196
(Mansoor) from 2013, which provided for a nearly identical
evaluation process for foster youth ages 10 and older twice a
year. That bill was held on this committee's Suspense File.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081