BILL NUMBER: AB 2216 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 384
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 22, 2006
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 22, 2006
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 2006
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 28, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 22, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 7, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 29, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 19, 2006
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 26, 2006
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 19, 2006
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Bass and Maze
(Coauthor: Senator Alquist)
FEBRUARY 22, 2006
An act to add Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 16540) to Part
4 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to
foster care.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2216, Bass Child Welfare Leadership and Performance
Accountability Act of 2006.
Existing law provides for oversight by various state and local
entities of certain populations of children, including those who are
wards of the juvenile court, and those who are in foster care, or are
otherwise under the supervision of county welfare departments.
Existing law provides for a system of child welfare services
administered by each county, with oversight by the State Department
of Social Services.
Existing law also provides for the California Child and Family
Service Review System, established by the Child Welfare System
Improvement and Accountability Act of 2001, in order to review all
county child welfare systems, covering child protective services,
foster care, adoption, family preservation, family support, and
independent living. Under the act, the California Health and Human
Services Agency established a workgroup, comprised of representatives
of specified entities and organizations, to establish a work plan by
which to conduct these reviews.
This bill, the Child Welfare Leadership and Performance
Accountability Act of 2006, would establish within the California
Health and Human Services Agency the California Child Welfare
Council, an advisory body that would be responsible for improving the
collaboration and processes of the multiple agencies and courts that
serve children and youth in the child welfare and foster care
systems. The bill would provide for the composition of the council,
including as cochairs the Chief Justice of the California Supreme
Court or his or her designee, and the Secretary of California Health
and Human Services. The bill would require the secretary to ensure
that current federal and state level outcome measures, among other
information, are posted on the State Department of Social Services'
Internet Web site.
The bill would state the Legislature's intent to inspect other
state child welfare and foster care systems over the course of the
2007-08 Legislative Session, for the purpose of examining effective
administrative structures of leadership, and to conduct hearings and
review recommendations of other commissions and bodies to determine
if a reconfigured administrative structure would provide the
statewide leadership and coordination between departments and
agencies essential to improving outcomes for current and former
foster children and youth throughout the state.
This bill would require the Judicial Council to adopt outcome
measures consistent with the outcome indicators specified above, by
April 1, 2008.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The State of California undertakes the responsibility of
providing a safe environment and developmental opportunities for over
85,000 children and youth who have been removed from their homes and
placed in foster care because of instances of abuse and neglect.
(b) According to the California Performance Review report,
although the state is responsible for ensuring that foster children
and youth receive mandated services through several different
departments, California's services to support its foster children's
basic needs is not nearly sufficient to meet all of their needs. Even
though the incidence of emotional, behavioral, and developmental
problems among foster children and youth is three to six times
greater than among nonfoster children, 25 percent of foster children
and youth are not receiving timely medical care, one-half are not
receiving needed mental health services and one-half are not
receiving dental care. Similarly, 75 percent of foster youth are
working below grade level, nearly one-half do not complete high
school, and as few as 15 percent attend college. Statewide leadership
and coordination between departments and agencies is essential to
addressing these dismal outcomes and providing foster children and
youth with critically needed support and services at the local level.
(c) Even if the state successfully decreases the number of foster
children and youth entering the system, the state must ensure that
current foster youth are self-sufficient at the time they emancipate
from the system. The state is currently failing in this measure.
Unemployment rates for emancipated youth are estimated at 50 percent,
nearly one-third of foster children and youth will become homeless
within one year of emancipating, fewer than 15 percent of foster
youth enroll in college, and approximately one-third of foster youth
will be on public assistance shortly after emancipating.
(d) A recent report from the State Department of Social Services
found the indirect costs of child mistreatment and foster care, such
as juvenile delinquency, adult criminality, and lost productivity to
society, total $95 billion annually. Fiscally sound, long-term
investment in the state's children now should reap future savings for
the state that can be reinvested to keep at-risk children and
families self-sufficient and out of the child welfare system.
Moreover, advocating for more flexible federal funding of our state's
child welfare system will enable resources to be used to better
support families in need and keep more families intact.
(e) In 2001, the Legislature passed the Child Welfare System
Improvement and Accountability Act of 2001 (Chapter 678 of the
Statutes of 2001), which was an important first step toward improving
outcomes for California's foster children and youth. The legislation
provided the legal framework for monitoring the county-run child
welfare service programs through data collection and review of that
data, the ultimate goal being to use the data to improve outcomes for
the children and youth in foster care. The first county reviews and
improvement plans were implemented in 2004.
(f) In addition to providing services to foster youth, the state's
Child Welfare Redesign final report stressed the importance of
providing preventative supports to those families who come in contact
with child welfare services but whose children are not removed from
the home. The goal of these supports is to provide families the tools
to prevent a child's removal. This effort results in stronger
families and decreased foster care placements. However, successful
implementation of preventative services, like foster care, requires a
coordinated oversight among many agencies, programs, and services.
(g) Despite this improved oversight and vision for improvement,
the child welfare system, including the state, the counties, and the
courts, suffers from the lack of a cohesive structure, state
leadership, and communication between agencies serving foster
children and youth. In 2003, the Little Hoover Commission found that
clear leadership and oversight is lacking in California's foster care
program and recommended the designation of a new program leader that
has the authority to reform the foster care system. Most recently,
the California Performance Review report decried this lack of
cohesion and similarly concluded that state leadership is needed to
repair a foster care system in crisis. The bipartisan national Pew
Commission on Foster Care in a report issued last year recommended
states establish broad-based commissions on children in foster care
to demonstrate effective collaboration on behalf of children.
(h) Creating a comprehensive structure for statewide leadership to
address the needs of children in the child welfare system will
support and improve the important reform work enacted through the
Child Welfare System Improvement and Accountability Act of 2001 by
providing clarity about the roles and responsibilities of the state,
improving quality assurance and accountability, and facilitating
communication between the many stakeholders involved in the child
welfare system. Most importantly, these changes will help ensure that
California is able to meet the needs of the children and youth in
its care.
(i) An independent and impartial ombudsperson that is readily
available to the public is essential to protecting the well-being of
children, youth, and families.
SEC. 2. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Child
Welfare Leadership and Performance Accountability Act of 2006.
SEC. 3. Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 16540) is added to
Part 4 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
CHAPTER 5.5. Child Welfare Leadership and Performance
Accountability
16540. The California Child Welfare Council is hereby
established, which shall serve as an advisory body responsible for
improving the collaboration and processes of the multiple agencies
and the courts that serve the children and youth in the child welfare
and foster care systems. The council shall monitor and report the
extent to which child welfare and foster care programs and the courts
are responsive to the needs of children in their joint care. The
council shall issue advisory reports whenever it deems appropriate,
but in any event, no less frequently than annually, to the Governor,
the Legislature, the Judicial Council and the public. A report of the
Child Welfare Council shall, at a minimum, include recommendations
for all of the following:
(a) Ensuring that all state child welfare, foster care and
judicial funding and services for children, youth, and families is,
to the greatest extent possible, coordinated to eliminate
fragmentation and duplication of services provided to children or
families who would benefit from integrated multiagency services.
(b) Increasing the quality, appropriateness, and effectiveness of
program services and judicial processes delivered to children, youth,
and families who would benefit from integrated multiagency services
to achieve better outcomes for these children, youth, and families.
(c) Promoting consistent program and judicial excellence across
counties to the greatest extent possible while recognizing the
demographic, geographic, and financial differences among the
counties.
(d) Increasing collaboration and coordination between county
agencies, state agencies, federal agencies, and the courts.
(e) Ensuring that all state Title IV-E plans, program improvement
plans, and court improvement plans demonstrate effective
collaboration between public agencies and the courts.
(f) Assisting the Secretary of California Health and Human
Services and the chief justice in formulating policies for the
effective administration of the child welfare and foster care
programs and judicial processes.
(g) Modifying program practices and court processes, rate
structures, and other system changes needed to promote and support
relative caregivers, family foster parents, therapeutic placements,
and other placements for children who cannot remain in the family
home.
(h) Developing data and information sharing agreements and
protocols for the exchange of aggregate data across program and court
systems that are providing services to children and families in the
child welfare system. These data-sharing agreements shall allow child
welfare agencies and the courts to access data concerning the
health, mental health, special education, and educational status and
progress of children served by county child welfare systems subject
to state and federal confidentiality laws and regulations. They shall
be developed in tandem with the establishment of judicial case
management systems as well as additional or enhanced performance
measures described in subdivision (b) of Section 16544.
(i) Developing systematic methods for obtaining policy
recommendations from foster youth about the effectiveness and quality
of program services and judicial processes, and ensuring that the
interests of foster youth are adequately addressed in all policy
development.
(j) Implementing legislative enactments in the child welfare and
foster care programs and the courts, and reporting to the Legislature
on the timeliness and consistency of the implementation.
(k) Monitoring the adequacy of resources necessary for the
implementation of existing programs and court processes, and the
prioritization of program and judicial responsibilities.
(l) Strengthening and increasing the independence and authority of
the foster care ombudsperson.
(m) Coordinating available services for former foster youth and
improving outreach efforts to those youth and their families.
16541. The council shall be comprised of the following members:
(a) The Secretary of California Health and Human Services, who
shall serve as cochair.
(b) The Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, or his or
her designee, who shall serve as cochair.
(c) The Superintendent of Public Instruction, or his or her
designee.
(d) The Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, or his or
her designee.
(e) The executive director of the State Board of Education.
(f) The Director of Social Services.
(g) The Director of Health Services.
(h) The Director of Mental Health.
(i) The Director of Alcohol and Drug Programs.
(j) The Director of Developmental Services.
(k) The Director of the Youth Authority.
(l) The Administrative Director of the Courts.
(m) The State Foster Care Ombudsperson.
(n) Four foster youth or former foster youth.
(o) The chairpersons of the Assembly Human Services Committee and
the Assembly Judiciary Committee, or two other Members of the
Assembly as appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
(p) The chairpersons of the Senate Human Services Committee and
the Senate Judiciary Committee, or two other members appointed by the
President pro Tempore of the Senate.
(q) Leaders and representatives of county child welfare, foster
care, health, education, probation, and mental health agencies and
departments, child advocacy organizations; labor organizations,
recognized professional associations that represent child welfare and
foster care social workers, tribal representatives, and other groups
and stakeholders that provide benefits, services, and advocacy to
families and children in the child welfare and foster care systems,
as recommended by representatives of these groups and as designated
by the cochairs.
16541.5. The council shall meet no less frequently than each
quarter of the state fiscal year and at the call of the cochairs at a
time and location convenient to the public as it may deem
appropriate. All meetings of the council shall be open to the public.
Members shall serve without compensation, with the exception of
foster youth members who shall be entitled to reimbursement for all
actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their
duties.
16542. The cochairs may appoint committees composed of council
members, experts in specialized fields, foster youth, program
stakeholders, state and county child welfare and foster care staff,
child advocacy organizations, members of the judiciary, foster care
public health nurses, or any combination thereof, to advise the
council on any functions of the council and the services provided
through the child welfare and foster care programs and the courts.
Members of these committees shall receive no compensation from the
state for their services with the exception of foster youth members,
who shall be entitled to reimbursement for all actual and necessary
expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. The committees
may assemble information and make recommendations to the council, but
shall not exercise any of the powers vested in the council. The
council may seek input from groups and individuals as it deems
appropriate including, but not limited to, advisory committees, the
judiciary and child welfare and foster care program stakeholders.
16543. Consistent with state and federal law, the council shall
have access to aggregate data and information concerning the child
welfare and foster care systems held by any state or local
department, agency, or court that serves children, youth, and
families receiving child welfare and foster care services subject to
state and federal confidentiality laws and regulations.
16543.5. It is the intent of the Legislature to inspect other
state child welfare and foster care systems over the course of the
2007-08 Legislative Session, for the purpose of examining effective
administrative structures of leadership. It is further the intent of
the Legislature to conduct legislative hearings through the Assembly
Select Committee on Foster Care, and other standing committees, and
to review reports and recommendations of other commissions and
bodies, including the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Foster
Care and the Little Hoover Commission, to determine if a reconfigured
administrative structure would provide statewide leadership and
coordination between departments and agencies, which are essential to
improving outcomes for current and former foster children and youth
throughout the state.
16544. The secretary shall ensure that all of the federal Child
and Family Services Review outcome measures and all of the California
Child and Family Service Review System outcome indicators, along
with any performance goals and federal outcome standards, are clearly
posted on the State Department of Social Service's Internet Web
site. Before any of the federal goals or any of the California Child
and Family Service Review System outcome indicators are added,
deleted, or amended, the secretary shall consult with the Child
Welfare Council and ensure that there has been a public process for
the submission of comments and recommendations.
16545. By April 1, 2008, the Judicial Council shall adopt,
through rules of court, performance measures designed to complement
and promote those measures specified in subdivision (a) of Section
16544 so that courts are able to measure their performance and track
their own progress in improving safety, permanency, timeliness, and
well-being of children and to inform decisions about the allocation
of court resources. In adopting performance measures, the Judicial
Council shall consult with the council, and the secretary. The
performance measures shall be based on data that is available from
current or planned data collection processes and to the greatest
extent possible, shall ensure uniformity of data reporting.