Bill Text: CA AB1790 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Foster children: mental health services.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2014-09-29 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 766, Statutes of 2014. [AB1790 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB1790-Chaptered.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1790	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  766
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 29, 2014
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 29, 2014
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 18, 2014
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 19, 2014
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 13, 2014
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 11, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 23, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 24, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 9, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 25, 2014

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Dickinson

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2014

   An act to amend Section 16125 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to foster children.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1790, Dickinson. Foster children: mental health services.
   Existing law provides for the Adoption Assistance Program,
administered by the State Department of Social Services, which
provides for the payment by the department and counties of cash
assistance to eligible families that adopt eligible children, and
bases the amount of the payment on the needs of the child and the
circumstances of the family. Under existing law, the department,
county adoption agency, or licensed adoption agency is required,
among other duties, to provide the prospective adoptive family with
information on the availability of mental health services through the
Medi-Cal program or other programs. Existing law provides that a
foster child whose adoption has become final and who is receiving or
is eligible to receive Adoption Assistance Program assistance,
including Medi-Cal, and whose foster care court supervision has been
terminated, shall be provided medically necessary specialty mental
health services by the local mental health plan in the county of
residence of his or her adoptive parents, as specified.
   This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to
convene a stakeholder group to identify barriers to the provision of
mental health services by mental health professionals with
specialized clinical training in adoption or permanency issues to
children receiving those medically necessary specialty mental health
services. The bill would require the stakeholder group to make
specific recommendations by January 31, 2016, for voluntary measures
to address those barriers, but would provide that those
recommendations are not binding on any state or local government
agency or private entity. The bill would require the stakeholder
group to coordinate with, and endeavor not to duplicate, existing
local, state, or national initiatives.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 16125 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   16125.  A foster child whose adoption has become final, who is
receiving or is eligible to receive Adoption Assistance Program
assistance, including Medi-Cal, and whose foster care court
supervision has been terminated, shall be provided medically
necessary specialty mental health services by the local mental health
plan in the county of residence of his or her adoptive parents,
pursuant to all of the following:
   (a) The host county mental health plan shall be responsible for
submitting the treatment authorization request (TAR) to the mental
health plan in the county of origin.
   (b) The requesting public or private service provider shall
prepare the TAR.
   (c) The county of origin shall retain responsibility for
authorization and reauthorization of services utilizing an expedited
TAR process.
   (d) (1) The State Department of Social Services shall convene a
stakeholder group to identify barriers to the provision of mental
health services by mental health professionals with specialized
clinical training in adoption or permanency issues to children who
are receiving services pursuant to this section. The stakeholder
group shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following
persons:
   (A) Adoptive parents.
   (B) Former foster youth.
   (C) Representatives from the mental health and child welfare
fields, including associations representing county mental health
departments and private organizations providing specialty mental
health services.
   (D) Representatives from mental health and social work graduate
degree-granting postsecondary education institutions.
   (E) Representatives from relevant state and local agencies.
   (2) The stakeholder group shall, on or before January 31, 2016,
make specific recommendations for voluntary measures available to
state and local government agencies and private entities, as
appropriate, to address those barriers. The department shall collect
existing research and professional literature pertinent to the need
for specialized clinical training in adoption and permanency issues,
and shall distribute the information to the stakeholder group for
consideration and use in making its recommendations. The stakeholder
group shall coordinate with, and endeavor not to duplicate, existing
local, state, or national initiatives.
   (3) A recommendation made pursuant to paragraph (2) shall not be
construed to be binding on any state or local government agency or
private entity.