LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 597, as amended, Liu. Child welfare services, foster care
services, and adoption assistance.
(1) Existing law requires the State Department of Mental Health to
establish, by regulations, no later than December 31, 1994, program
standards for any facility licensed as a community treatment
facility. Under existing law, until January 1, 2010, the department
shall not require a community treatment facility that meets certain
requirements to have 24-hour onsite licensed nursing staff.
This bill would extend applicability of the above provisions
relating to onsite licensed nursing staff , to
January 1 , 2013.
(2) Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act,
provides for the licensure and regulation of foster family agencies,
as defined, by the State Department of Social Services, including
applicable personnel requirements. Violation of these provisions is a
misdemeanor.
This bill would require a foster family agency that provides
treatment of children in foster families to employ one full-time
social work supervisor for every eight social workers, or fraction
thereof, in the agency. The bill would require the implementation of
this provision to cease on and after January 1, 2011, without the
enactment of subsequent statutory authorization.
By changing the definition of an existing crime, this bill would
impose a state-mandated local program.
(3) Existing law requires the juvenile court to conduct a hearing
for the initial disposition of a dependent child of the court, and
subsequent hearings to review the status of the child, as specified.
Existing law specifies the circumstances under which the court may
schedule a hearing to terminate parental rights or take other
specified actions with respect to placement of a child who was under
3 years of age on the date of initial removal or is a member of a
sibling group, as specified.
This bill would require the court, in determining whether to
schedule the hearing described above for such a
child under these circumstances , to take into account
barriers to a parent's ability to remain in contact with his or her
child due to the parent's incarceration or institutionalization.
(4) Existing law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent
Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide
payments to foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in
foster care. The program is funded by a combination of federal,
state, and county funds. Under existing law, AFDC-FC benefits are
available, with specified exceptions, on behalf of qualified children
under 18 years of age. Moneys from the General Fund are continuously
appropriated to pay for the state's share of AFDC-FC costs.
Under existing law, foster care providers licensed as group homes
have rates established by classifying each group home program and
applying a standardized schedule of rates.
An adjusted schedule of rates is applicable to group home programs
that receive AFDC-FC payments for services performed during the
2002-03 to 2009-10, inclusive, fiscal years.
This bill would revise RCL point ranges for group home programs
that receive AFDC-FC payments for services performed during the
2009-10 fiscal year and subsequent fiscal years ,
as specified. The bill would require the implementation of
the revised point ranges to cease on and after January 1, 2011,
without the enactment of subsequent statutory authorization.
This bill would provide that no appropriation is made
pursuant to the bill for the purpose of these provisions.

Existing law reduces by 10% the standardized schedule of rates for
foster family agencies, as defined, effective October 1, 2009.

This bill would give the foster family flexibility in applying the
rate reduction, but would prohibit more than 10% from being deducted
from the child base and increment, as defined in departmental
regulations. The bill, effective October 1, 2009, would apply similar
rate reductions for foster family agency rates that are not
determined by the schedule of rates set forth in the department's
regulations.
(5) Under existing law, the case plan is the foundation and
central unifying tool in child welfare services. The components of
the case plan include, when appropriate, a written description of the
programs and services that will help a child, consistent with the
child's best interests, prepare for the transition from foster care
to independent living, for a child who is 16 years of age or older.
Existing law requires, when a child is placed in foster care, that
the child's case plan include a summary of the health and education
information or records, including mental health information or
records, of the child.
This bill would require the State Department of Social Services,
in consultation with pediatricians, health care experts, and experts
in and recipients of child welfare services, to develop a plan for
the ongoing oversight and coordination of health care services for a
child in a foster care placement, consistent with the
federal act specified federal law .
(6) Existing law provides for the Adoption Assistance Program
(AAP), to be established and administered by the State Department of
Social Services or the county, for the purpose of benefiting children
residing in foster homes by providing the stability and security of
permanent homes. The AAP provides for the payment by the department
and counties, of cash assistance to eligible families that adopt
eligible children, and bases the amount of the payment on the needs
of the child and the resources of the family to meet those needs.
Under existing law, at the time application for adoption of a
child who is potentially eligible for AAP benefits is made, and at
the time immediately prior to the finalization of the adoption
decree, the department or the licensed adoption agency, whichever is
appropriate, is required to provide the prospective adoptive family
with designated information.
This bill would additionally require the department or licensed
adoption agency to provide information regarding the federal adoption
tax credit for any individual who is adopting or considering
adopting a child in foster care, in accordance with the federal act.
Existing law relating to adoption defines a special needs child as
a child whose adoption without financial assistance would be
unlikely because of specified characteristics or circumstances of the
child.
This bill would recast and revise the definition of a special
needs child, and further would require the need for adoption subsidy
to be evidenced by an unsuccessful search for an adoptive home to
take the child without financial assistance, except under specified
circumstances. The bill would make related changes to existing
adoption assistance provisions.
(7) Under existing law, the state, through the State Department of
Social Services and county welfare departments, is required to
establish and support a public system of statewide child welfare
services.
Existing law requires the case plan for a child 16 years of age or
older to include a written description of the programs and services
that will help the child prepare for the transition from foster care
to independent living, as specified.
This bill would require additional information pertaining to the
child's transition to independent living to be provided in the 90-day
period before the child attains 18 years of age, relating to, among
other topics, housing, education, and employment services. By
imposing additional duties upon each county, the bill would create a
state-mandated local program.
(8) (A) This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section
16119 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, proposed by AB 154, to be
operative only if AB 154 and this bill are both chaptered and become
effective on or before January 1, 2010, and this bill is chaptered
last.
(B) This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section
16501.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, proposed by SB 118, to
be operative only if SB 118 and this bill are both chaptered and
become effective on or before January 1, 2010, and this bill is
chaptered last.
(9) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that,
if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains
costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall
be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

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Comments/questions on SB 597 (Liu): Child welfare services, foster care services, and adoption assistance.