Bill Text: CA SB625 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Child welfare: racial and ethnic disparities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-03 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB625 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB625-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 625 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 4, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Beall
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to amend Section 10601.2 of of, and
to add Section 16521.6 to, the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to child welfare.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 625, as amended, Beall. Child welfare: racial and ethnic
disparities.
Under existing law, the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act,
every state agency that makes contact with, and every local agency
that serves, a substantial number of non-English-speaking people is
required to employ a sufficient number of qualified bilingual persons
in public contact positions to ensure provision of information and
services in the language of the non-English-speaking person, as
specified.
Under existing law, the state, through the State Department of
Social Services and county welfare departments, is required to
establish and support a public system of statewide child welfare
services for the protection of children. Existing
This bill would prohibit the department and each county welfare
department, and its vendors, from denying services to parents or
children on the basis of the client's language, or discriminating
against clients on the basis of race, color, or national origin in
providing services to which clients are entitled. The bill would
require the department, to the extent applicable, and each county
welfare department to, among other things, determine and document the
communication needs of each Hispanic parent and child, provide
Spanish-speaking clients with information regarding child welfare
services in Spanish, and have adequate bilingual staff capacity to
assign bilingual workers to Spanish-speaking families.
Existing law provides that when a child is removed from his or her
family by the juvenile court, placement of the child in foster care
should secure, as nearly as possible, the custody, care, and
discipline equivalent to that which should have been given to the
child by his or her parents.
This bill would require that care for children who are in the
county welfare department's custody shall be linguistically and
culturally equivalent to, as nearly as possible, the care provided by
the children's parents. The bill would require that children of
Spanish-speaking parents be placed with Spanish-speaking foster
parents, and require that placement occur within 60 days from the
date the children are removed from their homes.
Existing law requires the department to establish the
California Child and Family Service Review System to review all
county child welfare systems. Existing law requires the California
Health and Human Services Agency to convene a workgroup, as
prescribed, to establish a workplan work plan
by which child and family service reviews shall be conducted.
Existing law requires the workgroup to consider, among other things,
measurable outcome indicators. Existing law requires the department
to identify and promote the replication of best practices in child
welfare service delivery to achieve these outcomes. Existing law
requires the department to provide prescribed information to
legislative committees relating to child welfare system improvements,
as specified.
This bill would require the workgroup described above to examine
outcome indicators for each racial and ethnic population served
within a county. This bill would require a county to address in its
self-assessment and system improvement plan, among other things, its
efforts to eliminate disparities in services and outcomes for
children of color in, and to provide adequate and culturally
appropriate services within, its child welfare system, as specified.
This bill would require the department to identify and promote best
practices for increasing cultural competency in the provision of
services and eliminating inequities in service delivery to racial and
ethnic communities. This bill would authorize the director of the
department to take specified actions if he or she determines a county
substantially failed to comply with the requirements of its system
improvement plan, as specified. This bill would require the
department to report prescribed information relating to disparities
for Latinos in the child welfare system to the Legislature by January
1, 2016.
By imposing additional duties on counties relating to their
self-assessments and system improvement plans and other child
welfare services , this bill would create 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, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to eliminate racial and
ethnic disproportionality in the child welfare system that is a
result of the unnecessary and avoidable removal of children from
their families and the failure to equitably serve all communities of
color, particularly the Latino community.
(b) Latinos make up nearly 38 percent of the population of the
state, but comprise over one-half of the overall child welfare
caseload. Specifically, disproportionality exists in certain counties
with a large Latino population. For example, in Santa Clara County,
nearly 64 percent of the foster care population is Latino, while the
Latino population in the county is around 25 percent. Furthermore,
despite the fact that more than one-half of the children served in
the state are Latino, Latinos have been omitted from recent state
projects and initiatives on disproportionality and improving foster
care outcomes, including the California Disproportionality Project
and California Partners for Permanency, a five-year pilot project to
reduce long-term foster care.
(c) Black children represent almost 6 percent of the state's
population of children and youth, but represent roughly 22 percent of
the population in care in the child welfare system. When controlling
for poverty, Black children enter the system at approximately the
same rate as White children, but remain in the system at a rate that
is almost one and one-half times the rate of White children.
(d) Although there are variations by geographic area and across
communities of color, children and youth from non-White racial and
ethnic communities, overall, enter the child welfare system at a
higher rate, are represented in the system at a higher percentage,
and remain in the system longer than their White counterparts.
(e) Statistical disparities of children and youth of color in the
child welfare system may be a result of numerous complex and
interdependent factors, including poverty, classism, racism, limited
cultural competence and diversity among staff and service providers,
agency policies, and systemic practices, and limited access to
services and resources, including prevention, family support, and
mental health services.
(f) Many of the societal factors resulting in these disparities
are not readily amenable to change by reforms in the child welfare
system alone. Nonetheless, more can be done, for example, to
eliminate disparities in services and supports provided and enhance
the cultural competence of county staff and service providers.
According to information gathered by the California Research Bureau
in March 2012, at least 21 states are taking action to eliminate
disproportionality in their child welfare systems. At least 12 states
are taking action through legislation.
(g) Child welfare agencies must conduct thorough self-assessments,
develop action plans, and monitor their progress if they are to
eliminate inequities in the child welfare system.
SEC. 2. Section 10601.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
10601.2. (a) The State Department of Social Services shall
establish, by April 1, 2003, the California Child and Family Service
Review System, in order to review all county child welfare systems.
These reviews shall cover child protective services, foster care,
adoption, family preservation, family support, and independent
living.
(b) Child and family service reviews shall maximize compliance
with the federal regulations for the receipt of money from Subtitle E
(commencing with Section 470) of Title IV of the federal Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 670 et seq.) and ensure compliance with
state plan requirements set forth in Subtitle B (commencing with
Section 421) of Title IV of the federal Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. Sec. 621 et seq.).
(c) (1) The California Health and Human Services Agency shall
convene a workgroup comprised of representatives of the Judicial
Council, the State Department of Social Services, the State
Department of Health Care Services, the State Department of
Education, the Department of Justice, any other state departments or
agencies the California Health and Human Services Agency deems
necessary, the County Welfare Directors Association, the California
State Association of Counties, the Chief Probation Officers of
California, the California Youth Connection, and representatives of
California tribes, interested child advocacy organizations,
researchers, and foster parent organizations. The workgroup shall
establish a work plan by which child and family service reviews shall
be conducted pursuant to this section, including a process for
qualitative peer reviews of case information.
(2) At a minimum, in establishing the work plan, the workgroup
shall consider any existing federal program improvement plans entered
into by the state pursuant to federal regulations, the outcome
indicators to be measured, compliance thresholds for each indicator,
timelines for implementation, county review cycles, uniform
processes, procedures and review instruments to be used, a corrective
action process, and any funding or staffing increases needed to
implement the requirements of this section. The agency shall broadly
consider collaboration with all entities to allow the adequate
exchange of information and coordination of efforts to improve
outcomes for foster youth and families.
(d) (1) The California Child and Family Service Review System
outcome indicators shall be consistent with the federal child and
family service review measures and standards for child and family
outcomes and system factors authorized by Subtitle B (commencing with
Section 421) and Subtitle E (commencing with Section 470) of Title
IV of the federal Social Security Act and the regulations adopted
pursuant to those provisions (Parts 1355 to 1357, inclusive, of Title
45 of the Code of Federal Regulations).
(2) During the first review cycle pursuant to this section, each
county shall be reviewed according to the outcome indicators
established for the California Child and Family Service Review
System.
(3) For subsequent reviews, the workgroup shall consider whether
to establish additional outcome indicators that support the federal
outcomes and any program improvement plan, and promote good health,
mental health, behavioral, educational, and other relevant outcomes
for children and families in California's child welfare services
system.
(4) Outcome indicators shall be examined separately for each
racial and ethnic population served within the county to assist in
identifying and developing strategies to eliminate inequities in the
services provided and disparities in outcomes among the populations
served.
(5) The workgroup shall convene as necessary to update the outcome
indicators described in paragraph (1).
(e) (1) (A) Based on its review cycle, each county shall address
in detail in the county self-assessment and county system improvement
plan, the county's strategies, ongoing efforts, and planned
activities, including timeframes for implementation, to adequately
assess the bases for, and address, disproportionality in its child
welfare system, to eliminate any disparities identified in services
and outcomes for children of color in the county's child welfare
system, and to provide adequate and culturally appropriate services
for majority and minority populations, particularly the Latino,
Black, and Native American populations. These may include, but are
not limited to, prevention services and supports for families of
children at risk of placement in the county child welfare system and
the use of culturally competent staffing, resources, and practices.
(B) A county's self-assessment and system improvement plan shall
also address strategies for improving and expediting permanent
outcomes for children and youth from communities of color that are
overrepresented in the county's child welfare system, including, but
not limited to, developing collaborative partnerships with families
and community-based organizations and strategies to identify and
recruit kin and nonkin adoptive families.
(2) Unless a county's review cycle pursuant to this section has a
system improvement plan due on or after January 1, 2014, and before
January 1, 2015, the county shall amend its most recent system
improvement plan by December 31, 2014, to address the issues
identified in paragraph (1).
(3) If the director determines that a county is substantially
failing to comply with the requirements of its system improvement
plan pursuant to this subdivision to adequately assess the bases for,
or address, disproportionality in its child welfare system, or to
ensure the provision of adequate and culturally appropriate services
to majority and minority communities within the county, the director
may take any appropriate action, including providing enhanced
technical assistance to the county, requiring the county to conduct
additional self-assessments and adopt system improvement plan
amendments, or other remedial actions as authorized under this
chapter.
(f) The State Department of Social Services shall identify and
promote the replication of best practices in child welfare service
delivery to achieve the measurable outcomes established pursuant to
subdivision (d), including best practices for increasing cultural
competency in the provision of services and eliminating inequities in
the delivery of services that result in disparities in outcomes
among racial and ethnic populations, particularly the Latino, Black,
and Native American communities.
(g) The State Department of Social Services shall provide
information to the Assembly and Senate Budget Committees and
appropriate legislative policy committees annually, beginning with
the 2002-03 fiscal year, on all of the following:
(1) The department's progress in planning for the federal child
and family service review to be conducted by the United States
Department of Health and Human Services and, upon completion of the
federal review, the findings of that review, the state's response to
the findings, and the details of any program improvement plan entered
into by the state.
(2) The department's progress in implementing the California child
and family service reviews, including, but not limited to, the
timelines for implementation, the process to be used, and any funding
or staffing increases needed at the state or local level to
implement the requirements of this section.
(3) The findings and recommendations for child welfare system
improvements identified in county self-assessments and county system
improvement plans, including information on efforts to assess the
bases for, and address, disproportionality and disparities in
services and outcomes for children of color, common statutory,
regulatory, or fiscal barriers identified as inhibiting system
improvements, any recommendations to overcome those barriers, and, as
applicable, information regarding the allocation and use of the
moneys provided to counties pursuant to subdivision (j).
(h) Effective April 1, 2003, the existing county compliance review
system shall be suspended to provide to the State Department of
Social Services sufficient lead time to provide training and
technical assistance to counties for the preparation necessary to
transition to the new child and family service review system.
(i) Beginning January 1, 2004, the department shall commence
individual child and family service reviews of California counties.
County child welfare systems that do not meet the established
compliance thresholds for the outcome measures that are reviewed
shall receive technical assistance from teams made up of state and
peer-county administrators to assist with implementing best practices
to improve their performance and make progress toward meeting
established levels of compliance.
(j) (1) To the extent that funds are appropriated in the annual
Budget Act to enable counties to implement approaches to improving
their performance on the outcome indicators under this section, the
department, in consultation with counties, shall establish a process
for allocating the funds to counties.
(2) The allocation process shall take into account, at a minimum,
the extent to which the proposed funding would be used for activities
that are reasonably expected to help the county make progress toward
the outcome indicators established pursuant to this section, and the
extent to which county funding for the Child Abuse
Prevention and Treatment child abuse prevention and
treatment program is aligned with the outcome indicators.
(3) To the extent possible, a county shall use funds in a manner
that enables the county to access additional federal, state, and
local funds from other available sources. However, a county's ability
to receive additional matching funds from these sources shall not be
a determining factor in the allocation process established pursuant
to this subdivision.
(4) The department shall provide information to the appropriate
committees of the Legislature on the process established pursuant to
this subdivision for allocating funds to counties.
(k) (1) Counties shall continue to be responsible for and
accountable to the department for child welfare program performance
measures, including all of the following:
(A) The outcome and systemic factor measures contained in the
federal Department of Health and Human Services Child and Family
Services Review Procedures Manual, Appendix B, Index of Outcomes and
Systemic Factors, and Associated Items and Data Indicators, issued
pursuant to Sections 1355.34(b) and 1355.34(c) of Title 45 of the
Code of Federal Regulations.
(B) Information and other requirements necessary for the
California Child and Family Service Review System, as required
pursuant to this section.
(C) Monthly caseworker visits with a child in care.
(D) Timeliness to begin an investigation of allegations of child
abuse or neglect.
(E) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the
Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code),
other performance measures resulting from new federal mandates or
court decrees as specified in an all-county letter issued by the
department.
(2) The department shall monitor, on an ongoing basis, county
performance on the measures specified in paragraph (1).
(3) At least once every five years, the department shall conduct a
comprehensive review of county performance on the measures specified
in paragraph (1).
(4) (A) The department shall periodically update the process
guides utilized by counties to prepare the self-assessments and
system improvement plans to promote implementation and evaluation of
promising practices and use of data.
(B) The process guides also shall include, but not be limited to,
both of the following:
(i) County evaluation of demographics for the children and
families served and effectiveness of the system improvement
activities for these populations.
(ii) A description of the process by which the department and
counties shall develop mutually agreed upon performance targets for
improvement.
(5) The department, in consultation with counties, shall develop a
process for resolving any disputes regarding the establishment of
appropriate targets pursuant to the process provided in paragraph
(4).
(6) A county shall submit an update to the department, no less
than annually, on its progress in achieving improvements from the
county's baseline for the applicable measure. The department may
require a county that has not met its performance targets to submit
and implement a corrective action plan, as determined by the
director.
(l) Beginning in the 2011-12 fiscal year, and for each fiscal year
thereafter, funding and expenditures for programs and activities
required under this section shall be in accordance with the
requirements provided in Sections 30025 and 30026.5 of the Government
Code.
(m) (1) The department shall contract for research evaluating the
disproportionate representation of, and inequities in services for,
Latino children and families in the child welfare system, using
existing resources or by identifying private funding, and issue a
report to the Legislature and to the Governor, including findings and
recommendations, by January 1, 2016.
(2) (A) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
paragraph (1) is inoperative on January 1, 2020, pursuant to Section
10231.5 of the Government Code.
(B) A report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares the
following:
(a) On January 14, 1977, the Burgos Consent Decree was entered by
the court to end class action litigation between Hispanic families
and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (IDCFS).
The plaintiffs in the case argued that Hispanic families were being
excluded from full participation in, and were being denied the
benefits of and being subjected to discrimination on the basis of
their national origin and race in, those child and family services
programs, and sought relief pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964.
(b) The Burgos Consent Decree sought to ensure that Hispanic
families who are Spanish speaking are provided with full and adequate
services by IDCFS. The decree ordered the IDFCS and its vendors to
provide child welfare service in Spanish to Hispanic clients whose
primary language is Spanish, required children with Spanish-speaking
parents to be placed with Spanish-speaking foster parents, and
required individual or general written communications to
Spanish-speaking clients to be in Spanish.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to adopt the policies
outlined in the Burgos Consent Decree to ensure that Spanish-speaking
Hispanic families within California are provided with full and
adequate child welfare services.
SEC. 4. Section 16521.6 is added to the
Welfare and Institutions Code , to read:
16521.6. (a) The department and each county welfare department,
and its vendors, shall not deny services to parents or children on
the basis of the client's language, or discriminate against clients
on the basis of race, color, or national origin in providing services
to which clients are entitled.
(b) For purposes of this section, "Hispanic" includes, but is not
limited to, persons with Puerto Rican, Mexican, Central American, or
South American origins.
(c) The department, to the extent applicable, and each county
welfare department shall do all of the following:
(1) Advertise the availability of bilingual services and
interpreters to Spanish-speaking families seeking services by posting
a notice in both Spanish and English in a conspicuous place within
its office and making reasonable efforts to advertise the
availability of bilingual services and interpreters in the Spanish
media.
(2) Identify Hispanic clients and have them sign a primary
language determination form in English and Spanish that indicates
their language of preference. This determination shall be completed
by a bilingual social worker.
(3) At first contact, determine and document the communication
needs of each Hispanic parent and child.
(4) Provide Spanish-speaking clients with information regarding
child welfare services in Spanish, including Spanish translation of
any literature, correspondence, form, or document directed to them.
(5) Establish a procedure to translate to Spanish all relevant
materials as soon as those materials are developed.
(6) Ensure, if translation services were required, that any
document requiring the client's signature on an English version of a
form also include a signed affidavit from the bilingual employee who
served as translator stating that he or she provided those
translation services.
(7) Ensure that minors are not used as interpreters under any
circumstance.
(8) Have adequate bilingual staff capacity to assign bilingual
workers to Spanish-speaking families.
(9) Have a bilingual staff person to provide Spanish-speaking
clients with assistance on specific inquiries or complaints
concerning the provision of child welfare services.
(10) Ensure that bilingual workers are not overburdened with
substantially higher caseloads than their English-speaking
counterparts.
(11) Provide Spanish-speaking families with bilingual social
workers and bilingual employees to provide child welfare services.
(12) Provide, and ensure that its vendors provide, to
Spanish-speaking families essential and adjunct child welfare
services in Spanish, including any service involving direct client
contact and communication.
(13) Maintain records identifying all social workers and vendors
providing child welfare services, and whether bilingual workers and
services are available.
(14) Develop a procedure to determine the language fluency of its
vendors and foster parents, and to ensure that it does not contract
for services with a vendor that cannot provide services in the
appropriate language.
(15) Conduct an annual civil rights compliance review for each
vendor with whom it has contracted to provide services to
Spanish-speaking clients.
(16) Maintain records identifying by national origin and primary
language all Hispanic clients receiving child welfare services, and
maintain key information to adequately track compliance.
(17) Train, at least once each fiscal year, all employees with
direct client contact, supervisors, and administrative staff with
substantial client contact responsibilities on the requirements of
this section.
(d) (1) Care for children who are in the county welfare department'
s custody shall be linguistically and culturally equivalent to, as
nearly as possible, the care provided by the children's parents.
Children of Spanish-speaking parents shall be placed with
Spanish-speaking foster parents, and placement shall occur within 60
days from the date the children are removed from their homes.
(2) (A) Each county welfare department shall submit a monthly
report to the department with a list of all Spanish-speaking children
improperly placed in English-speaking homes during the prior month.
The report shall be cumulative and include a summary of all measures
the county has taken to locate child welfare services for each child
who has not been properly placed.
(B) The report shall include the following information for each
placement violation: the identification number, date of birth, sex,
language, and race and ethnicity of the child; the date and reason
for opening the case; the name of, and language spoken by, the social
worker; the current type and date of placement; the number of days
in substitute care and the name of the private agency and vendor, if
applicable, and the name and race and ethnicity of, and language
spoken by, the foster parents.
SEC. 5. If the Commission on State Mandates
determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs
shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
