Amended  IN  Senate  July 01, 2019
Amended  IN  Senate  May 30, 2019
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 12, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill No. 163

Introduced by Assembly Members Cristina Garcia and Blanca Rubio
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Aguiar-Curry, Bonta, Chu, Eggman, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Kalra, Limón, McCarty, Medina, Reyes, and Gonzalez)
(Coauthor: Senator Wieckowski)

January 07, 2019

An act to add Section 13309 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to public social services.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 163, as amended, Cristina Garcia. Services for unaccompanied undocumented minors: facilities liaison.
Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of community care facilities, including group homes and foster family agencies, by the State Department of Social Services.
Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, subject to the availability of funding, to contract with qualified nonprofit legal services organizations to provide legal services to unaccompanied undocumented minors, as defined, who are transferred to the care and custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement and who are present in this state.
This bill would require the department to create a facilities liaison position within its immigration services unit to, among other duties, connect assist state-licensed group homes, short-term residential therapeutic programs (STRTPs), foster family agencies, and resource families that serve undocumented immigrant youth in connecting with appropriate supports and services, including, but not limited to, legal services, mental health assessments and services, and public benefits, as specified. The bill would, when appropriate, require the facilities liaison to arrange assist in arranging a meeting for each identified unaccompanied undocumented minor minors with a qualified organization that has received a grant to provide legal services. The bill would require the department to develop and issue guidance to counties, licensees, and other providers regarding the provision of services to undocumented immigrant youth and their caregivers.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 Section 13309 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

13309.
 (a) The department shall create a facilities liaison position within its immigration services unit to connect assist state-licensed group homes, short-term residential therapeutic programs (STRTPs), foster family agencies, and resource families that serve undocumented immigrant youth in connecting with appropriate supports and services, including, but not limited to, legal services, mental health assessments and services, and public benefits.
(b) When appropriate, the facilities liaison shall arrange assist in arranging a meeting for each identified unaccompanied undocumented minor minors with a qualified organization that has received a grant to provide legal services to unaccompanied undocumented minors pursuant to this chapter. minors.
(c) The facilities liaison shall work with county child welfare agencies and county human services agencies, county human services agencies, and other appropriate county agencies to identify services and supports available to group homes, STRTPs, foster family agency licensees, and approved resource families that provide care to undocumented youth and shall connect licensees to those services and supports.
(d) The facilities liaison shall work to identify other state and local resources beneficial to ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of undocumented youth, and shall connect group homes, STRTPs, foster family agencies, and approved resource families serving these youth to those resources.
(e) The facilities liaison, in order to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of undocumented youth placed in state-licensed facilities, shall regularly communicate with the department’s Community Care Licensing Division about any complaints or particular licensing concerns regarding group homes, STRTPs, foster family agencies, and resource families that house undocumented youth in order to help address any concerns through referral to appropriate services and supports.
(f) The liaison position is not intended to supplant any existing obligation on counties, or to duplicate services already being provided, but instead to support access to those services and supports.
(g) The department, in consultation with other appropriate state departments and representatives of county agencies and the entities named in subdivision (a) that serve undocumented immigrant youth, shall develop and issue guidance for counties, licensees, and other providers, as applicable, regarding the provision of services to undocumented immigrant youth and their caregivers.