Amended
IN
Assembly
April 12, 2019 |
Assembly Bill | No. 163 |
Introduced by Assembly Members Cristina Garcia and (Coauthors: Assembly Members Aguiar-Curry, Bonta, Chu, Eggman, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Kalra, Limón, McCarty, Medina, and Reyes) |
January 07, 2019 |
This bill would require a group home or foster family agency that houses unaccompanied undocumented minors, as defined, who are under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, to, among other things, report the number of unaccompanied undocumented minors under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement who are placed in the group home or placed by the foster family agency with a resource family and their length of placement, and arrange a meeting for those minors to meet with a specified organization providing certain legal services. The bill would require a county child welfare department representative to meet with each unaccompanied undocumented minor under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement who is placed in a group home or placed by the foster family agency with a resource family to assess the well-being of the minor and to offer mental health services to the minor. The bill would
require the department to inspect each group home and each foster family agency, and its resource families, with those minors at least once each quarter to ensure compliance with the act and the quality of care provided. Because the failure of a group home or foster family agency to comply with these provisions would be a misdemeanor, and the bill would impose new requirements on county officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
(a)A group home or foster family agency that houses unaccompanied undocumented minors who are under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement shall do all of the following:
(1)Report both of the following to the department on a quarterly basis:
(A)The number of unaccompanied undocumented minors under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement who are placed in the group home or placed by the foster family agency with a resource family.
(B)The length of placement for the minors specified in subparagraph (A).
(2)Arrange
a meeting for each unaccompanied undocumented minor under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement to meet with a qualified organization that has received a grant to provide legal services to unaccompanied undocumented minors pursuant to Chapter 5.6 (commencing with Section 13300) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(3)Provide access to the county child welfare department to meet with unaccompanied undocumented minors under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, so that the minors may be assessed and offered mental health services.
(b)A county child welfare department representative shall meet with each unaccompanied undocumented minor under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement who is placed in a group home or placed by the foster family agency with a resource family to assess the well-being of
the minor and to offer mental health services to the minor.
(c)For purposes of this section, “unaccompanied undocumented minor” has the same meaning as defined in Section 13300 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
At least once each quarter, the department shall inspect each group home and each foster family agency, and the resource families used by the foster family agency, that houses unaccompanied undocumented minors, as defined in Section 13300 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, who are under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement to ensure compliance with this chapter and the quality of care provided.
To the extent that this act has an overall effect of increasing the costs already borne by a local agency for programs or levels of service mandated by the 2011 Realignment Legislation within the meaning of Section 36 of Article XIII of the California Constitution, it shall apply to local agencies only to the extent that the state provides annual funding for the cost increase. Any new program or higher level of service provided by a local agency pursuant to this act above the level for which funding has been provided shall not require a subvention of funds by the state or otherwise be subject to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.
With regard to certain other costs that may be incurred
by a local agency or school district, no reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because, in that regard, this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.