Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of community care facilities, including group homes and foster family agencies, by the State Department of Social Services.
Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, subject to the availability of funding, to contract with qualified nonprofit legal services organizations to provide legal services to unaccompanied undocumented minors, as defined, who are transferred to the care and custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement and who are present in this state.
This bill would require the department to create a facilities liaison position within its immigration services unit to, among other duties, connect state-licensed group homes, short-term residential therapeutic
programs (STRTP), (STRTPs), foster family agencies, and resource families that serve undocumented immigrant youth with appropriate supports and services, including, but not limited to, legal services, mental health assessments and services, and public benefits, as specified. The bill would, when appropriate, require the facilities liaison to arrange a meeting for each identified unaccompanied undocumented minor with a qualified organization that has received a grant to provide legal services.