Bill Text: CA AB1611 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Child welfare: racial and ethnic disparities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-05-25 - In committee: Set, second hearing. Held under submission. [AB1611 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB1611-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1611 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 18, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Beall
(Principal coauthor: Senator Alquist)
( Coauthors: Assembly Members
Fong and Lara )
( Coauthor: Senator Padilla
)
FEBRUARY 7, 2012
An act to amend Section 10601.2 of, and to add Section 10605.1
to to, the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to public social services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1611, as amended, Beall. Child welfare: racial and ethnic
disparities.
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 for the protection of children. Existing law requires the
department to establish the California Child and Family Service
Review System to review all county child welfare systems. Existing
law requires the California Health and Human Services Agency to
convene a workgroup, as specified, to establish a workplan by which
child and family service reviews shall be conducted. Existing law
requires the workgroup to consider, among other things, measurable
outcome indicators. Existing law requires the department to identify
and promote the replication of best practices in child welfare
service delivery to achieve these outcomes. Existing law requires the
department to provide prescribed information to legislative
committees relating to child welfare system improvements, as
specified.
This bill would require the workgroup described above to examine
outcome indicators for each racial and ethnic population served
within a county. This bill would require a county to address in its
self-assessment and system improvement plan, among other things, its
efforts to eliminate disparities in services and outcomes for
children of color in, and to provide adequate and culturally
appropriate services within, its child welfare system. This bill
would require the department to identify and promote best practices
for increasing cultural competency in the provision of services and
eliminating inequities in service delivery to racial and ethnic
communities. This bill would authorize the director of the department
to take various actions if he or she determines a county
substantially failed to comply with the requirements of its system
improvement plan, as specified. This bill would require the
department to report prescribed information to the Legislature by
January 1, 2015.
By requiring counties to address additional matters in its
self-assessment and system improvement plan, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
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, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to eliminate racial and
ethnic disproportionality in the child welfare system that is a
result of the unnecessary and avoidable removal of children from
their families and the failure to equitably serve all communities of
color, particularly the Latino community.
(b) Latinos make up nearly 38 percent of the population of the
state, but comprise over one-half of the overall child welfare
caseload. Specifically, disproportionality exists in certain counties
with a large Latino population. For example, in Santa Clara County,
nearly 64 percent of the foster care population is Latino, while the
Latino population in the county is around 25 percent. Furthermore,
despite the fact that more than one-half of the children served in
the state are Latino, Latinos have been omitted from recent state
projects and initiatives on disproportionality and improving foster
care outcomes, including from the California Disproportionality
Project and California Partners for Permanency, a five-year pilot
project to reduce long-term foster care.
(c) Black children represent almost 6 percent of the state's
population of children and youth, but represent roughly 25
22 percent of the population in care in the
child welfare system. When controlling for poverty, Black children
enter the system at approximately the same rate as White children,
but remain in the system at a rate that is almost one and a
one-half times the rate of White children.
(d) Although there are variations by geographic area and across
communities of color, children and youth from non-white
non-White racial and ethnic communities,
overall, enter the child welfare system at a higher rate, are
represented in the system at a higher percentage, and remain in the
system longer than their White counterparts.
(e) Statistical disparities of children and youth of color in the
child welfare system may be a result of numerous complex and
interdependent factors, including poverty, classism, racism, limited
cultural competence and diversity among staff and service providers,
agency policies, and systemic practices, and limited access to
services and resources, including prevention, family support, and
mental health services.
(f) Many of the societal factors resulting in these disparities
are not readily amenable to change by reforms in the child welfare
system alone. Nonetheless, more can be done, for example, to
eliminate disparities in services and supports provided and enhance
the cultural competence of county staff and service providers.
According to information gathered by the California Research Bureau
in March , 2012, at least 21 states are taking
action to eliminate disproportionality in their child welfare
systems. At least 12 states are taking action through legislation.
(g) Child welfare agencies must conduct thorough self-assessments,
develop action plans, and monitor their progress if they are to
eliminate inequities in the child welfare system.
SEC. 2. Section 10601.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
10601.2. (a) The State Department of Social Services shall
establish, by April 1, 2003, the California Child and Family Service
Review System, in order to review all county child welfare systems.
These reviews shall cover child protective services, foster care,
adoption, family preservation, family support, and independent
living.
(b) Child and family service reviews shall maximize compliance
with the federal regulations for the receipt of money from Subtitle E
(commencing with Section 470) of Title IV of the federal Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 670 et seq.) and ensure compliance with
state plan requirements set forth in Subtitle B (commencing with
Section 421) of Title IV of the federal Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. Sec. 621 et seq.).
(c) (1) By October 1, 2002, the California Health and Human
Services Agency shall convene a workgroup comprised of
representatives of the Judicial Council, the State Department of
Social Services, the State Department of Health Care
Services, the State Department of Mental Health, the State Department
of Education, the Department of Child Support Services, the
State Department of Justice, any other state departments
or agencies the California Health and Human Services Agency deems
necessary, the County Welfare Directors Association, the California
State Association of Counties, the Chief Probation Officers of
California, the California Youth Connection, and representatives of
California tribes, interested child advocacy organizations,
researchers, and foster parent organizations. The workgroup shall
establish a workplan by which child and family service reviews shall
be conducted pursuant to this section, including a process for
qualitative peer reviews of case information.
(2) At a minimum, in establishing the workplan, the workgroup
shall consider any existing federal program improvement plans entered
into by the state pursuant to federal regulations, the outcome
indicators to be measured, compliance thresholds for each indicator,
timelines for implementation, county review cycles, uniform
processes, procedures and review instruments to be used, a corrective
action process, and any funding or staffing increases needed to
implement the requirements of this section. The agency shall broadly
consider collaboration with all entities to allow the adequate
exchange of information and coordination of efforts to improve
outcomes for foster youth and families.
(d) (1) The California Child and Family Service Review System
outcome indicators shall be consistent with the federal child and
family service review measures and standards for child and family
outcomes and system factors authorized by Subtitle B (commencing with
Section 421) and Subtitle E (commencing with Section 470) of Title
IV of the federal Social Security Act and the regulations adopted
pursuant to those provisions (Parts 1355 to 1357, inclusive, of Title
45 of the Code of Federal Regulations).
(2) During the first review cycle pursuant to this section, each
county shall be reviewed according to the outcome indicators
established for the California Child and Family Service Review
System.
(3) For subsequent reviews, the workgroup shall consider whether
to establish additional outcome indicators that support the federal
outcomes and any program improvement plan, and promote good health,
mental health, behavioral, educational, and other relevant outcomes
for children and families in California's child welfare services
system. Outcome indicators shall be examined separately for each
racial and ethnic population served within the county to assist in
identifying and developing strategies to eliminate inequities in the
services provided and disparities in outcomes among the populations
served.
(e) (1) (A) Based on its review cycle, each county shall address
in detail in the county self-assessment and county system improvement
plan, the county's strategies, ongoing efforts, and planned
activities, including time frames timeframes
for implementation, to eliminate any disparities identified in
services and outcomes for children of color in the county's child
welfare system and to provide adequate and culturally appropriate
services for overrepresented and majority populations, particularly
the Latino, Black Black, and Native
American populations. These may include, but are not limited to,
prevention services and supports for families of children at risk of
placement in the county child welfare system and the use of
culturally competent staffing, resources, and practices.
(B) A county's self-assessment and system improvement plan shall
also address strategies for improving and expediting permanent
outcomes for children and youth from communities of color that are
overrepresented in the county's child welfare system, including, but
not limited to, developing collaborative partnerships with families
and community-based organizations and strategies to identify and
recruit kin and nonkin adoptive families.
(2) Unless a county's review cycle pursuant to this section has a
system improvement plan due on or after January 1, 2013, and before
January 1, 2014, the county shall amend its most recent system
improvement plan by December 31, 2013, to address the issues
identified in paragraph (1).
(f) The State Department of Social Services shall identify and
promote the replication of best practices in child welfare service
delivery to achieve the measurable outcomes established pursuant to
subdivision (d), including best practices for increasing cultural
competency in the provision of services and eliminating inequities in
the delivery of services that result in disparities in outcomes
among racial and ethnic populations, particularly the Latino, Black,
and Native American communities.
(g) The State Department of Social Services shall provide
information to the Assembly and Senate Budget Committees and
appropriate legislative policy committees annually, beginning with
the 2002-03 fiscal year, on all of the following:
(1) The department's progress in planning for the federal child
and family service review to be conducted by the United States
Department of Health and Human Services and, upon completion of the
federal review, the findings of that review, the state's response to
the findings, and the details of any program improvement plan entered
into by the state.
(2) The department's progress in implementing the California child
and family service reviews, including, but not limited to, the
timelines for implementation, the process to be used, and any funding
or staffing increases needed at the state or local level to
implement the requirements of this section.
(3) The findings and recommendations for child welfare system
improvements identified in county self-assessments and county system
improvement plans, including information on efforts to assess the
bases for disproportionality and disparities in services and outcomes
for children of color and to address those issues, common statutory,
regulatory, or fiscal barriers identified as inhibiting system
improvements, any recommendations to overcome those barriers, and, as
applicable, information regarding the allocation and use of the
moneys provided to counties pursuant to subdivision (i).
(h) Effective April 1, 2003, the existing county compliance review
system shall be suspended to provide to the State Department of
Social Services sufficient lead time to provide training and
technical assistance to counties for the preparation necessary to
transition to the new child and family service review system.
(i) Beginning January 1, 2004, the department shall commence
individual child and family service reviews of California counties.
County child welfare systems that do not meet the established
compliance thresholds for the outcome measures that are reviewed
shall receive technical assistance from teams made up of state and
peer-county administrators to assist with implementing best practices
to improve their performance and make progress toward meeting
established levels of compliance.
(j) (1) To the extent that funds are appropriated in the annual
Budget Act to enable counties to implement approaches to improving
their performance on the outcome indicators under this section, the
department, in consultation with counties, shall establish a process
for allocating the funds to counties.
(2) The allocation process shall take into account, at a minimum,
the extent to which the proposed funding would be used for activities
that are reasonably expected to help the county make progress toward
the outcome indicators established pursuant to this section, and the
extent to which county funding for the Child Abuse,
Abuse Prevention and Treatment program is
aligned with the outcome indicators.
(3) To the extent possible, a county shall use funds allocated
pursuant to this subdivision in a manner that enables the county to
access additional federal, state, and local funds from other
available sources. However, a county's ability to receive additional
matching funds from these sources shall not be a determining factor
in the allocation process established pursuant to this subdivision.
(4) The department shall provide information to the appropriate
committees of the Legislature on the process established pursuant to
this subdivision for allocating funds to counties.
(k) (1) The department shall contract for research evaluating the
disproportionate representation of, and inequities in services for,
Latino children and families in the child welfare system, using
existing resources or by identifying private funding, and issue a
report to the Legislature and to the Governor, including findings and
recommendations, by January 1, 2015.
(2) (A) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
paragraph (1) is inoperative on January 1, 2019, pursuant to Section
10231.5 of the Government Code.
(B) A report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
SEC. 3. Section 10605.1 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
10605.1. If the director determines that a county is
substantially failing to comply with the requirements of its system
improvement plan pursuant to Section 10601.2 to adequately assess the
bases for, or adequately address, disproportionality in its child
welfare system, or to ensure the provision of adequate and culturally
appropriate services to majority and minority communities within the
county, the director may take any action as may be appropriate,
including providing enhanced technical assistance to the county,
requiring the county to conduct additional self-assessments and adopt
system improvement plan amendments, or other remedial actions as
authorized under this chapter.
SEC. 4. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.
