New Law Presentation

1. New Law Presentation New laws/ January 1, 2019

2. CCR and FFPSA • The Why of CCR • Every child should be in a family like setting and receive the quality parenting every day. • CCR –legal • CFTs • Family Finding • Permanent plans • STRTPS • No more LTFC! • Transition to adulthood – 14+ • FFPSA

3. How we got here – Changing landscape • 2008: Fostering Connections to Success Act • 2014: Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families • 2017: Families First Prevention Services Act

4. Families First Act – Abbreviated (103 pgs) Part I: Prevention (12 mos of IV-E money at front end; evidence based services.) Part II: Elimination of time limited for reunification services while child is in foster care and permits 15 months of services when child returns home (IV-B); NEICE by 2026 Part III: Model licensing standards for relative foster family homes; additional requirements for deaths and prevention of fatalities Part IV: QRTP reform; Training for Judges, Attorneys, and other legal personnel about new restrictions; within 60 days, court needs to determine if placement is appropriate Part V: Extends recruitment of foster families and improves Chafee and allows services to youth who aged out before 21 until 23 and expands use of education and training vouchers until youth are 26. Part VI: Reauthorizes Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Programs Part VII: Documentation of steps taken to address developmental needs of children under 5; data exchange Part VIII: Delay of Adoption Assistance De-LInk

6. Part I – Opt In: Preventative Services Prevention Services States can spend money on: • Services to address mental health • Substance abuse treatment • In-home parent skill based parenting Who is eligible: • Parents or relatives caring for children who are candidates for foster care (would have to enter FC but doesn’t because of preventative services) • Parenting or pregnant youth in foster care

7. Families First Act- Preventative Services Elements: • Formal prevention plan required • a strategy to keep kids at home or live temporarily with kin AND • a list of services (trauma informed); CA evidence based clearing house; October 2018 Timeline: • State can spend IV-E on prevention services for 12 months. Time starts the day the child is identified in the prevention plan as a candidate for foster care

8. Families First Act – Preventative Services Funding: Available for residential substance abuse treatment for parents and children. Must be a formal recommendation made for the placement (presumably by a judge) and the facility must provide parenting and counseling. New funding starts in October 2019 (Only if Part IV is implemented)

9. Part IV- Mandatory: Congregate Care Child care institution: Means any private child-serving institution and any public-child serving institution that holds 25 or fewer children. Act says that if a child is placed in one of these institutions, no IV-E foster care funding can be made beginning with the 3rd week of placement. (no reimbursement of placement dollars, admin expenditures can still be reimbursed.) Carveout- exempts juvenile facilities involved in pre or post adjudication services, but cannot arrest youth for purposes of being able to house them in group settings.

10. Families First Act – Congregate Care Exceptions: IV-E placement dollars can be reimbursed beyond the 2 weeks in: • A setting for prenatal, postpartum, or parenting supports for teen moms • Supervised setting for a child 18 or older (continue to receive extended foster care funding) • High Quality Residential Services- for youth who have been victims of trafficking or who are risk • Quality residential treatment program (QRTP)

11. Families First Act- QRTP • Licensed • Trauma informed treatment model • Registered or licensed nursing staff and a nurse is on call at all times • Inclusive of family members in treatment plans and programs • Plans for at least a six-month window of support after discharge • For long stays – 12 or 18 months – the actual “head of state” agency must sign off • Could take until 2021 for these limits in some states.

12. Families First Act - QRTP • Within 30 days of a child being placed in a QRTP, a “qualified individual” must • assess strengths and needs of child, • determine whether the needs of the child may be met with family members or through a foster family placement, and • develop a list of child specific short- and long- term mental and behavioral health goals • There must be a family and permanency team (Akin to our CFTs) to help with the case plan • Qualified individual means: “trained professional or licensed clinician who is not an employee of the State agency and who is not connected to, or affiliated with, any placement setting in which children are placed by the State”

13. Families First Act- QRTP • Within 60 days of a placement of a child in a QRTP, the court MUST: • Consider the assessment, determination, and documentation by the qualified expert • Determine whether the child’s needs can be met in a foster family, and if not, determine whether this QRTP “provides the most effective and appropriate level of care for the child in the least restrictive environment and whether that placement is consistent with the short- and long-term goals for the child.” • Approve or Disapprove of the placement • As long as child remains in QRTP, at every status review hearing, evidence must be in the case plan about whether the child the placement is appropriate and meeting the needs in the least restrictive placement • Implementation in October 2019 (revise 387?)

14. Families First Act – Adoption/Reunification Adoption and Guardianship incentives • started in 2014 with preventing sex trafficking and strengthening families act • Rewards states for finalizing adoptions and guardianships • This bill extends incentives to 2021 Reunification • 15-month limit on funds once a child enters foster care is gone and funds can also be used to continue supports for 15 months after the child returns home

15. New California Laws

16. AB 1930- CCR technical changes and clarifications

17. AB 1930- Continued Adds WIC section 16521.6 to: • Require each county to develop and implement a memorandum of understanding (MOU), setting forth the roles and responsibilities of agencies and other entities that serve children and youth in foster care who have experienced severe trauma. • Require each county, through its MOU, to establish an interagency leadership team, whose members may, to the extent permitted by federal law, share confidential information with one another for the purpose of placing and providing services to foster youth.

18. AB 1930- Continued • No later than June 1, 2019, require the Secretary of California Health and Human Services (CHHS) and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a joint interagency resolution team (state resolution team), consisting of representatives from CDSS, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), the Department of Developmental Services, and the Department of Education. The primary role of the state resolution team will be to:

19. Develop guidance for counties, county offices of education, and regional centers regarding the county MOUs and support the implementation of the county MOUs. • Provide technical assistance to counties to identify and secure the appropriate level of services to meet the needs of children and youth in foster care who have experience severe trauma. • Create a process through which county and partner agencies that are parties to a county MOU may request interdepartmental technical assistance from the interagency team. • Authorize the state resolution team members to exchange confidential information, to the extent permitted by federal law and as specified, with one another for the purpose of improving foster care placements and the provision of services. • No later than January 1, 2020, require the state resolution team, in consultation with specified entities and persons, to review the placement and service options available to foster youth and to submit a report to the Legislature of recommendations to address identified gaps. • No later than June 1, 2020, require the state resolution team to develop a multiyear plan for increasing the capacity and delivery of trauma-informed care to foster children and youth served by short-term residential therapeutic programs and other foster care and behavioral health providers.

20. AB 2119: Gender Affirming Health Care • Clarifies that all minors and nonminors in foster care have the right to be involved in the development of their case plans, including placement and gender-affirming health care, with consideration of their gender identity. (WIC section 16001.9) • Clarifies that the right of minors and nonminors in foster care to health care and mental health care includes covered gender-affirming health care and gender-affirming mental health care, as defined. (WIC section 16010.2) • Requires the Department, in consultation with DHCS and other stakeholders, to develop guidance and best practices to identify, coordinate, and support foster youth seeking access to gender-affirming health care and gender-affirming mental health care and requires CDSS to issue this written guidance by January 1, 2020 (WIC section 16010.2).

21. Other legal changes Adds WIC section 16010.7 to require: • Prior to making a change in the placement of a dependent child, a social worker or placing agency, in consultation with the dependent's child and family team, to develop and implement strategies which may include conflict resolution practices and facilitated meetings, as defined, to preserve the dependent child's current placement. • If a placement change is still determined to be necessary, requires the social worker or placing agency to provide 14 days’ prior notice of the change to: • The child’s parent or guardian. • The child’s caregiver. • The child’s attorney. • The child, if he or she is 10 years of age or older. • Prohibits placement changes from occurring between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. except by mutual agreement of: • The child, if he or she is 10 years of age or older, or the representative of the child, if the child is under 10 years of age. • The child’s current caregiver. • The child’s prospective caregiver. • The child’s social worker. • Requires the Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson to provide complaint investigation findings to the county child welfare director, or his or her designee, for the purposes of training, technical assistance, and quality improvement in any circumstance where the Office found a placement change occurred in violation of these requirements. • Clarifies the circumstances under which the placement preservation strategies and 14-day notification would not have to occur prior to a placement change. (WIC section 16010.7 subdivisions (h)-(k))

22. Other legal challenges • Authorizes the juvenile court to assume dependency jurisdiction over an otherwise eligible nonminor former dependent who exited foster care to guardianship but received Supplemental Security Income or other federal Social Security aid in lieu of Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment benefits or Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care. (WIC sections 388.1 and 11403)

23. Other legal changes • Clarifies that these age-appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, and social activities include access to computer technology and the Internet for all dependents (WIC section 362.05), and for wards (WIC section 727) placed in one of the following settings: • The approved home of a relative or nonrelative extended family member, foster home, resource family home, or tribally approved home or facility. • A certified family home or resource family of a Foster Family Agency. • A licensed group home or short-term residential therapeutic program. • A suitable licensed community care facility.

24. Other legal changes • Adds a child or youth's Court-Appointed Special Advocate, if one has been appointed, to the list of child and family team members, unless the foster child or youth objects. (WIC section 16501)

25. CA: Wilk introduces bill to assist foster youth • State Sen. Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) has introduced Senate Bill 219 (SB 219), legislation that will create a pilot program for foster youth to receive grants for extracurricular and enrichment activities. Senate Bill 219 seeks to make foster youth eligible to receive up to $500 dollars for enrichment and extracurricular activities. This would allow them to engage in such activities as sports, STEM programs, graduations activities, arts, music, dance, and theater. • http://ourweekly.com/news/2019/feb/22/wilk-introduces-bill-assist-foster-youth/

26. AB 1068 (Cooley D) Juveniles: dependency: child and family teams. Summary: Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge a child to be a dependent of the court under certain circumstances, including when the child suffered, or there is a substantial risk that the child will suffer, serious physical harm, or a parent fails to provide the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment. Existing law establishes the grounds for removal of a dependent child from the custody of the child’s parents or guardian and establishes procedures to determine placement of a dependent child. Existing law prescribes various hearings, including specified review hearings, and other procedures for these purposes. This bill would additionally require those social studies, evaluations, and supplemental reports to include specified information about the child and family team. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws

27. AB 861 Juveniles. Summary: Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge a child to be a dependent of the court under certain circumstances. Existing law specifies that a proceeding to declare a juvenile a dependent is commenced by the social worker filing a petition with the juvenile court and authorizes a person to apply to the social worker to commence dependency proceedings. If the social worker does not undertake a program of supervision of the child or file a petition in the juvenile court within 3 weeks after the application, the social worker is required to document that decision and the person who applied to the social worker may apply to the juvenile court to review the social worker’s decision. This bill would shorten that time period to 5 business days after the application if the child about whom an application is made is homeless, has been a dependent or ward of the juvenile court, or has received informal probation or child welfare services. The bill would also require the juvenile court to review those applications and issue a decision no more than 10 days after the application is made. By requiring a higher level of service from county social workers, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

28. AB 1005 (Arambula D) Foster children and youth: family urgent response system. Summary: Existing law, commonly known as Continuum of Care Reform (CCR), states the intent of the Legislature in adopting CCR to improve California’s child welfare system and its outcomes by using comprehensive initial child assessments, increasing the use of home-based family care and the provision of services and supports to home-based family care, reducing the use of congregate care placement settings, and creating faster paths to permanency resulting in shorter durations of involvement in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Existing law, as part of the CCR, requires the State Department of Social Services to implement a resource family approval process, which replaces the multiple processes for licensing foster family homes, certifying foster homes by foster family agencies, approving relatives and nonrelative extended family members as foster care providers, and approving guardians and adoptive families. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations, stating the intent of the Legislature in adopting this bill to build upon the current CCR implementation effort. The bill would require the department to establish a statewide hotline, operational no later than January 1, 2021, as the entry point for a Family Urgent Response System, as defined, to respond to calls from caregivers or current or former foster children or youth when a crisis arises, as specified. The bill would require the hotline to include, among other things, referrals to the county, as specified, for further support and in-person response. The bill would require the department to ensure that deidentified, aggregated data are collected regarding individuals served through the hotline and to publish a report on the department’s internet website by January 1, 2022, and annually by January 1 thereafter, including specified information.This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

29. AB 1061 Foster care. Summary: Existing law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide payments to foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in foster care. In order to be eligible for AFDC-FC, existing law requires, in pertinent part, a child to be placed in one of several specified placements. Existing law sets forth the rights of a minor in foster care, including, among other rights, the right to be involved in the development of, and to review, their own case plan and plan for permanent placement. This bill would extend the application of these provisions to probation-supervised youth in foster care placement, and require a probation officer to, among other things, develop and implement placement preservation strategies under these provisions for probation-supervised youth. If a complaint is investigated by the office under these provisions, the bill would also require the office to provide the findings of the investigation to the chief probation officer or their designee, as applicable. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.