Bill Text: CA AB1784 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Resource families: pilot program: supportive services.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 8-4)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-08-16 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB1784 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB1784-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  March 13, 2018

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1784

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Introduced by Assembly Member Maienschein
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Acosta, Baker, Flora, Lackey, Rodriguez, Rubio, and Voepel)
(Coauthors: Senators Bates, Gaines, Hill, and Newman)

January 08, 2018

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An act to add Section 16519.66 to Section 16519.67 to, and to add and repeal Section 16519.66 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to foster care.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1784, as amended, Maienschein. Resource family approval: pilot program. families: pilot program: supportive services.

Existing law provides for the implementation, by counties and foster family agencies, of the resource family approval process, which is a unified, family friendly, and child-centered approval process that replaces the multiple processes for licensing foster family homes, approving relatives and nonrelative extended family members as foster care providers, and approving adoptive families.

This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to establish and facilitate a 2-year pilot program pilot program, as specified, for counties that elect to participate, to increase the support resources available to resource families, as specified. placement stability for foster youth and facilitate greater resource family retention through strengths-based, skills-based, trauma-informed coaching. The bill would set forth the components of the pilot program and would require the department department, by June 30, 2019, to convene a workgroup, work group, including individual and stakeholder members, to evaluate existing supportive services and training, and to develop and implement the improved resources provided under the pilot program. provide recommendations to the department regarding certain parameters of the pilot program, as specified. The bill would require the department to measure and track the effectiveness of the supportive and training services offered to resource families in participating counties, as specified, and to report to the Legislature regarding the results of the pilot program. a county that elects to participate in the pilot program to conduct at least one evaluation of the program’s impact and effectiveness on increasing placement stability for foster youth and retaining resource families in accordance with, and upon issuance of guidance from, the department, and to submit the evaluation to the department, no later than December 31, 2021. The bill would require the department to report the information provided by the counties to the Legislature, as prescribed.

This bill would require the department to inform resource families of all available state and county supportive services, and would require that information to be posted on the Internet Web sites of the department and applicable county departments, as specified.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 Section 16519.66 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

16519.66.

 (a) (1) The department shall establish and facilitate a pilot program in any county that elects to participate to increase placement stability for foster youth and facilitate greater resource family retention through strengths-based, skills-based, trauma-informed coaching.

(2) Implementation of the pilot project shall commence after the department has received and reviewed the recommendations of the stakeholder work group described in subdivision (c), but no later than January 1, 2020.

(b) The pilot program shall provide coaching to resource families who volunteer to participate in the pilot project through a trained mentor, social worker, or mental health care provider who has received the pilot program coaching training.

(1) Coaches shall assist resource families to effectively utilize and implement skills and information covered in their preapproval training pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 16519.5 in order to promote a stable and nurturing home environment for youth placed in the resource family home.

(2) Participation in the pilot program shall not be a condition of resource family approval or a requirement for a resource family to receive or maintain the placement of a youth.

(c) No later than June 30, 2019, the department shall convene a work group composed of relevant stakeholders, including, but not limited to, foster youth, resource families, representatives of child and family services agencies, and foster family agencies. The work group shall provide recommendations to the department regarding certain parameters of the pilot program, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(1) Application and selection criteria for participating counties.

(2) A skills-based, strengths-based, trauma-informed coaching program curriculum, which may include trauma-informed principles and skills for improving attachment, empathy, and self-esteem, as well as practices from California’s core practice model.

(3) Application and selection criteria for coaches.

(4) Criteria used by counties to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in achieving the overall goals of the pilot program.

(d) (1) A county that elects to participate in the pilot program pursuant to this section shall conduct at least one evaluation of the program’s impact and effectiveness on increasing placement stability for foster youth and retaining resource families in accordance with, and upon issuance of guidance from, the department. The evaluation also may include a survey of resource families exiting the program. A participating county shall submit its evaluation to the department no later than December 31, 2021.

(2) The department shall report the information provided by counties under paragraph (1) to the Legislature. The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2022, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 2.

 Section 16519.67 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

16519.67.

 The department shall inform resource families of all available state and county supportive services, including, but not limited to, the availability of respite services for emergency and nonemergency situations, availability of and access to 24-hour resource hotlines, where available, and mental health services for foster youth, among others. This information shall be made available to resource families both orally and in writing, and shall be posted on the Internet Web sites of the department and applicable county departments in a manner consistent with all applicable state and federal privacy and confidentiality laws.

SECTION 1.Section 16519.66 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

16519.66.

(a)The department shall establish and facilitate a 2-year pilot program, for counties that elect to participate, to increase the support resources available to resource families. The pilot program shall include the following elements:

(1)Transfer of learning through coaching. Resource families shall receive formal and informal coaching through a trained mentor, social worker, or mental health care provider. Coaches shall assist resource families with transitioning children to new resource family homes, and promoting an ongoing stable family environment for children in foster care by helping families transfer knowledge from their preapproval training to implementation with the children placed in their home.

(2)Respite services. Resource families shall be informed verbally and in writing how to access respite services in emergency and nonemergency situations.

(3)A 24-hour resource family hotline telephone number. Resource families shall be informed how to access supportive services available 24 hours a day. The hotline number shall be staffed by persons with appropriate knowledge regarding these services.

(4)The support resources and support structure to be utilized for each resource family shall be in writing and made available on both state and county child welfare services Internet Web sites, in a manner procedures consistent with applicable state and federal privacy and confidentiality laws.

(b)In order to achieve the goals and objectives of pilot program described in this section, the department shall convene a work group composed of stakeholders and individuals, including, but not limited to, representatives of child and family services agencies, foster family agencies, and resource families, with demonstrated expertise in improving supportive and training services offered to resource families. The work group shall be responsible for evaluation of existing supportive services and training, as well as the development and implementation of improved resources, including, but not limited to, those described in subdivision (a). The department, in conjunction with stakeholder groups, shall measure and track the effectiveness of the supportive and training services offered to resource families in participating counties, which may include evaluating retention of resource families and the stability of the placements of children within the resource family homes.

(c)No later than six months after the conclusion of the pilot program, the department shall submit a report to the Legislature, in accordance with the requirements of Section 9795 of the Government Code, regarding the results of the pilot program. The report shall do all of the following:

(1)Document the effect of the pilot program on increasing placement stability for foster children.

(2)Identify methods to expand the pilot program to additional counties or statewide.

(3)Identify funding opportunities to support the expansion of the pilot program including, but not limited to, federal and state funding sources.