BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 1460 (Committee on Human Services) - Child welfare.
Amended: As Introduced Policy Vote: Human Services 4-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: May 23, 2014 Consultant: Jolie Onodera
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: SB 1460 would amend state law to address specified
federal law and regulatory provisions of the Multi-Ethnic
Placement Act, use of the Federal Parent Locator Service, the
Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of
2008, and the Adam Walsh Act.
Fiscal Impact:
Potentially significant ongoing costs (Local*/General Fund)
for increased duties involving county agency recruitment
efforts and probation officer efforts to document sibling
placement and provide attorney notifications. To the extent
the provisions of this bill are considered necessary for
state compliance with changes in federal statutes or
regulations that alter the conditions under which federal
matching funds are described in the 2011 Realignment, the
state may be required to provide at least 50 percent of the
nonfederal share (General Fund) of the increase in costs.
Potentially significant ongoing increase in workload to the
Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) to accept and
process requests from probation and county welfare
departments for personal information on relatives, as
specified. To the extent the additional workload cannot be
absorbed, additional resources (General Fund) would be
required. Staff notes that providing local agencies with the
specified information is not required under federal law, but
rather federal law provides that state child support
agencies may share information with child welfare agencies
for child welfare purposes.
*Local Revenue Fund 2011
Background: The Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA) of 1994 (Public
Law 103-382), as amended by the interethnic adoption provisions
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in 1996, sought to decrease the length of time that children
wait for foster or adoptive placement by eliminating
race-related barriers to placement in permanent homes and
compelling child welfare agencies to adhere to existing civil
rights principles banning racial discrimination when making
foster care or adoption placement decisions.
Federal law establishes the Federal Parent Locator Service
(FPLS), a national automated service provided by the Office of
Child Support Enforcement to help states locate custodial and
non-custodial parents for child support and to establish,
modify, and enforce child support obligations. Federal law also
permits the service to be utilized for the purpose of finding
non-custodial parents and relatives of children who are in
juvenile dependency proceedings. State law establishes the
California Parent Locator Service and Central Registry (CPLS) to
collect and disseminate specified information for the purpose of
administering child and spousal support enforcement.
The federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-351), among other things,
requires that states make diligent efforts to place siblings in
out-of-home care together unless doing so would be detrimental
to the health and safety of one of the siblings. State law
requires an agency to explain why siblings are not placed
together what efforts the he or she is making to place the
siblings together or why making those efforts would be contrary
to the well being of any of the siblings. State law additionally
provides that a dependent child's attorney and attorney for the
siblings be notified by the placement agency if there is a need
for a change in placement that will result in the separation of
siblings currently placed together.
Federal law establishes the Adam Walsh Act (P.L. 109-248)
requiring a fingerprint check of a national criminal records
database as well as a check from the state child abuse and
neglect registries before a prospective foster or adoptive
parent may be approved for placement of a child. Existing state
law establishes the Resource Family Approval (RFA) process to
replace the multiple processes that currently exist for
licensing foster family homes (FFHs), approving relatives and
nonrelative extended family members (NREFMs) as foster care
providers and approving adoptive families.
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This bill seeks to make changes to state law, some changes of
which address compliance with specified federal provisions of
law, to ensure California's continued receipt of federal Title
IV-E funding.
Proposed Law: This bill amends various provisions of state law
to address federal law and regulatory provisions of the MEPA,
FPLS, Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions
Act of 2008, and the Adam Walsh Act, as follows:
Provides that the agency responsible for recruitment of
potential adoptive parents shall make diligent efforts to
recruit individuals who reflect the ethnic, racial, and
cultural diversity of children for whom adoptive homes are
needed.
Provides that for counties that have opted to undertake
comprehensive recruitment programs, the recruitment of
potential foster parents shall include diligent efforts to
recruit individuals who reflect the ethnic, racial, and
cultural diversity of foster children.
Authorizes county welfare departments and probation
departments to request and receive from the Department of
Child Support Services, a relative's personal information,
including name, social security number, address, telephone
number, and place of employment, to identify, locate and
notify relatives of children who are the subject of
juvenile court proceedings, including all grandparents,
adult siblings, and other adult relatives of the child.
Requires a probation officer to explain why siblings are
not placed together and what efforts he or she is making to
place the siblings together or why making those efforts
would be contrary to the safety and well-being of any of
the siblings.
Requires a ward's attorney and the attorney for the
siblings of the ward be notified by the placement agency if
there is a need for a change in placement that will result
in the separation of siblings currently placed together.
Requires a federal criminal offender record check be
received, instead of merely submitted, for all adults
residing in a resource family home as a condition of
approval.
Staff Comments:
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MEPA compliance
In compliance with federal law, this bill mandates that the
agency responsible for recruitment of potential adoptive parents
to make diligent efforts to recruit individuals who reflect the
ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity of children for whom
adoptive homes are needed. It is unknown to what extent agencies
are already complying with the provisions of this measure, but
to the extent this mandate results in increased costs to local
and state agencies, would result in new local and state costs.
This bill also provides that the recruitment of potential foster
parents shall include diligent efforts to recruit individuals
who reflect the ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity of foster
children. However, existing law authorizes, but does not
mandate, county welfare departments to undertake recruitment
programs. As a result, it is not clear that this amendment to
current law would comply with federal provisions of law, as it
appears that only those county welfare departments choosing to
operate recruitment programs would need to comply with MEPA
requirements.
Use of FPLS/CPLS
This bill authorizes county welfare departments and probation
departments to request and receive from the DCSS a relative's
personal information, including name, social security number,
address, telephone number, and place of employment, to identify,
locate and notify relatives of children who are the subject of
juvenile court proceedings, including all grandparents, adult
siblings, and other adult relatives of the child. While the
federal Office of Child Support Enforcement of the
Administration for Children and Families has authorized state
child support agencies to share federal and state parent locator
and other case information with child welfare agencies, it is
not mandated. The DCSS has indicated the volume of increased
workload to accept and process an expected increase in
information requests as a result of this measure is unknown at
this time. To the extent the workload is significant, an
additional workload analysis will be required to determine and
justify resources.
To the extent access to this information facilitates the
notification of relatives of children who are subject to
juvenile court proceedings could result in efficiencies to the
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courts and local agencies.
Adam Walsh Act compliance
Requiring that a federal criminal offender record check be
received, instead of merely submitted, for all adults residing
in a resource family home as a condition of approval would
ensure compliance with federal law requiring that prospective
foster and adoptive parents be subject to and pass a fingerprint
check, and is not estimated to result in a significant fiscal
impact.
P.L. 110-351 compliance
This bill will increase the duties of probation officers by
mandating documentation of efforts to place siblings together
and requiring notification of attorneys, as specified. Assuming
two hours of probation officer time over one year at $72.60 per
hour for every 1,000 probation supervised cases would equate to
approximately $145,000 annually.
Prior to Fiscal Year (FY) 2011-12, the state and counties
contributed to the non-federal share of child welfare services
expenditures. AB 118 (Committee on Budget) Chapter 40/2011 and
ABX1 16 Chapter 13/2011 realigned state funding to the counties
through the 2011 Local Revenue Fund (LRF) for various programs,
including child welfare services. As a result, beginning in FY
2011-12 and for each fiscal year thereafter, non-federal funding
and expenditures for child welfare services activities are
funded through the Local Revenue Fund.
Proposition 30 was passed by the voters in November 2012, and
among other provisions, eliminated any potential mandate funding
liability for any new program or higher level of service
provided by counties related to the realigned programs. Although
the provisions of this bill create a mandate on local agencies,
any increased costs would not appear to be subject to
reimbursement by the state. Subsequent changes in federal
statutes or regulations that alter the conditions under which
federal matching funds as described in the 2011 Realignment
Legislation are obtained and have the overall effect of
increasing the costs incurred by a local agency, are potentially
subject to a state share of at least 50 percent of the
nonfederal share of those increased costs.
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To the extent the provisions of this measure adequately satisfy
required provisions of federal law would serve to avert the
potential imposition of penalties or sanctions from federal
agencies related to the conditional receipt of federal funds.
Recommended amendments: It is unclear whether the amendments to
Health and Safety Code � 1515 related to the recruitment of
potential foster parents would satisfy the requirements of
federal law. Existing law provides that counties are authorized
to undertake recruitment programs, but are not required to do
so. Further, in counties that have contracted with the state to
license foster parents, if the county undertakes a recruitment
program, it shall be done by the placement agency, and specifies
that the state shall not be required to perform any acts in
connection with a recruitment program. The author may wish to
consider an amendment to clearly indicate that recruitment
efforts, as specified, are required statewide, regardless of the
licensing agency (state or county).