Bill Text: CA AB734 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Enrolled

California Assembly Bill 734 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Resource families: supportive services pilot program.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)

Status: (Vetoed) 2020-01-21 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [AB734 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB734-Enrolled.html

Enrolled September 11, 2019

Passed IN Senate September 04, 2019

Passed IN Assembly September 09, 2019

Amended IN Senate August 30, 2019

Amended IN Senate July 01, 2019

Amended IN Senate June 17, 2019

Amended IN Assembly May 16, 2019

Amended IN Assembly March 18, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 734

Introduced by Assembly Member Maienschein
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Voepel)
(Coauthors: Senators Bates and Wilk)

February 19, 2019

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

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 734, Maienschein. Resource families: supportive services pilot program.

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 pilot program in up to 5 counties that voluntarily apply and are selected by the department, to increase placement stability for foster youth and facilitate greater resource family retention through the provision of strengths-based, skills-based, trauma-informed coaching. The bill would specify that the pilot program is not intended to supplant any existing obligation on counties to provide core services, or to duplicate services already available to foster children in the community.

The bill would set forth the pilot program responsibilities of the department and the participating counties, and would require the department, by June 30, 2020, to consult with relevant stakeholders and to consider the stakeholders’ recommendations to the department regarding certain parameters of the pilot program, as specified. The bill would require 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, 2022. The bill would require the department to report the information provided by the counties to the Legislature, as prescribed. The bill would require the pilot program to be implemented only if the Legislature appropriates sufficient funding. The provisions of the bill would be repealed on January 1, 2023.

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

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 up to five counties, including both rural and urban counties, that voluntarily apply and are selected by the department, to increase placement stability for foster youth and facilitate greater resource family retention through the provision of strengths-based, skills-based, trauma-informed coaching services to caregivers. The pilot program is not intended to supplant any existing obligation on counties to provide core services, or to duplicate services already available to foster children in the community, but instead to support access to those services and supports to the extent already available and to supplement the supports available to caregivers. The pilot program shall provide guidance for the future implementation of coaching for caregivers in counties across the state that elect to implement coaching for caregivers.

(2) Implementation of the pilot program shall commence after the department has received and reviewed the recommendations of the stakeholder workgroup described in subdivision (d) but no later than January 1, 2021.

(b) The pilot program shall provide coaching to resource families that volunteer to participate in the pilot program 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, annual training, and any specialized training received 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) Coaches shall inform participating resource families of 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.

(3) 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) A social worker with a current caseload shall not be eligible to serve as a coach. A coach hired under this section shall meet the criteria established by the department under subdivision (d).

(d) No later than June 30, 2020, the department shall consult with relevant stakeholders, including, but not limited to, foster youth, resource families, biological families, representatives of child and family services agencies, foster family agencies, and a statewide trade association representing county behavioral health directors. The department shall consider stakeholder recommendations 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.

(e) (1) A participating county 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, 2022.

(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.

(f) This section shall be implemented only if the Legislature appropriates sufficient funding for purposes of the pilot program.

(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2023, and as of that date is repealed.