Existing law states the findings and declarations of the Legislature that a caregiver of a foster child should have certain basic information in order to provide for the needs of children placed in his or her care, including the name, mailing address, telephone number, and facsimile number of the childs social worker, the social workers supervisor, the childs attorney, and the court-appointed special advocate, if applicable.

This bill would additionally provide that caregivers should also be provided with the email address of the childs social worker, the social workers supervisor, the childs attorney, and the court-appointed special advocate, if applicable.

Existing law states the findings and declarations of the Legislature that a caregiver of a foster child should have certain basic information in order to provide for the needs of children placed in his or her care, including the name, mailing address, telephone number, and facsimile number of the childs social worker, the social workers supervisor, the childs attorney, and the court-appointed special advocate, if applicable.

This bill would additionally provide that caregivers should also be provided with the email address of the childs social worker, the social workers supervisor, the childs attorney, and the court-appointed special advocate, if applicable.

Existing law states the findings and declarations of the Legislature that a caregiver of a foster child should have certain basic information in order to provide for the needs of children placed in his or her care, including the name, mailing address, telephone number, and facsimile number of the childs social worker, the social workers supervisor, the childs attorney, and the court-appointed special advocate, if applicable.

This bill would additionally provide that caregivers should also be provided with the email address of the childs social worker, the social workers supervisor, the childs attorney, and the court-appointed special advocate, if applicable.

Existing law provides states the findings and declarations of the Legislature that a caregiver of a foster child should have certain basic information in order to provide for the needs of children placed in his or her care, including the name, mailing address, telephone number, and facsimile number of the childs social worker, the social workers supervisor, the childs attorney, and the court-appointed special advocate, if applicable.

This bill would additionally provide that caregivers should also be provided with the email address of the childs social worker, the social workers supervisor, the childs attorney, and the court-appointed special advocate, if applicable.

Existing law declares the intent of the Legislature to preserve and strengthen a childs family ties whenever possible, removing the child from the custody of his or her parents only when necessary for his or her welfare or for the safety and protection of the public. Existing law includes various provisions relating to appropriate placement and other services for children in foster care.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to meet the immediate child care needs of families who accept the foster care placement of children in their homes.

CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS

CSA1 Bill Id:AB 2767

Author:(Lopez)

As Amended Ver:June 16, 2016

Majority vote

Original Committee Reference: HUM. S.

SUMMARY: States that foster parents should be provided with the email address, alongside other already-required contact information, of a child's social worker, the social worker's supervisor, the child's attorney, and court-appointed special advocate, and makes technical changes.

The Senate amendments remove Legislative findings and declarations that provide statistics regarding children in foster care in California.

EXISTING LAW:

1. States that the purpose of foster care law is to provide maximum safety and protection for children who are currently being physically, sexually, emotionally abused, neglected, or exploited, and to ensure the safety, protection, and physical and emotional well-being of children who are at risk of harm. (Welfare and Institutions Code Section (WIC) 300.2)
2. Finds that it is in the best interest of a child that their caregivers are privy to important information about them in order to obtain social and health services for children, enroll children in school and extracurricular activities, and update social workers and court personnel about important developments affecting foster children. (WIC 16010.4)
3. Requires foster parents receive basic information in order to provide the needs of children placed in their home, as specified. (WIC 16010.4)
4. Assigns a court-appointed special advocate duties, as specified, including representing the best interests of the child involved, and consider the best interests of the family, in the cases to which he or she is appointed. (WIC 102)

FISCAL EFFECT: None.

COMMENTS:

Child Welfare Services: The purpose of California's Child Welfare Services (CWS) system is to protect children from abuse and neglect and provide for their health and safety. When children are identified as being at risk of abuse, neglect or abandonment, county juvenile courts hold legal dependency jurisdiction; these children are served by the CWS system through the appointment of a social worker. Through this juvenile dependency system, there are multiple opportunities for the custody of the child, or his or her placement outside of the home, to be evaluated, reviewed and determined by the judicial system, in consultation with the child's social worker, to help provide the best possible services to the child. The CWS system seeks to help children who have been removed from their homes reunify with their parents or guardians, whenever appropriate. However, the court may determine that an alternate permanent placement is more fitting; the court must give preference to potential placements in this order: relatives, nonrelative extended family members, or family foster homes. Placement in group homes or other intensive treatment placement settings are considered only in more challenging situations where a child may need stabilization services in order to transition to a less restrictive placement, such as with a relative or foster caregiver. There are currently close to 63,000 children and youth in California's CWS system.

Court-appointed special advocates (CASAs): Court appointed special advocates (CASAs) are volunteer advocates appointed by the courts to help advocate on behalf of abused and neglected children in the juvenile dependency court, in order to ensure their health and safety. In their capacity as a court-appointed special advocate, volunteers meet with the child often, review court records, and gather information about caregivers, social workers, and other adults in the child's life in order to ensure the child receives the best placement possible.

Need for this bill: According to the author, "With the increase of accessibility to other means of communication, email has proven to be more functional. Current law already includes the telephone and fax number of the child's social worker, social worker supervisor, and attorney or CASA worker. The basic information provided to the caregivers should be updated to fit the times and needs of our society. The ways in which we communicate or relay information has increasingly changed over time."

According to the National Association of Social Workers, in support of this bill, "It is in the children's best interest that their caregivers are privy to important information about them. This information is necessary to obtain social and health services for children, enroll children in school and extracurricular activities, and update social workers and court personnel about important developments affecting foster children."

Analysis Prepared by: Kelsy Castillo / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN: 0003618

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: AB 2767

Author:

: Senate

Vote:

SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE: 4-0, 6/14/16

AYES: McGuire, Hancock, Liu, Nguyen

NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 5/5/16 (Consent) - See last page for vote

SUBJECT:

SOURCE: Author

DIGEST: This bill adds to existing information that must be provided to a foster caregiver the email address of the child’s social worker, the social worker’s supervisor, the child’s attorney, and the court-appointed special advocate, if applicable.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Establishes a system of juvenile dependency for children who are or are at risk of being physically, sexually or emotionally abused, being neglected or being exploited to ensure their safety, protection and physical and emotional well-being. (WIC 300, et seq.)
2. Requires the status of every dependent child in foster care to be reviewed no less often than once every six months, and for the court to consider the continuing necessity for placement, whether the placement is appropriate and other factors. (WIC 366)
3. Makes legislative findings and declarations about the disproportionately high number of children in California in foster care and the percent of those children living with relatives, based on data from 2002. (WIC 16010.4)
4. Makes legislative findings and declarations that foster children’s caregivers should have certain basic information to provide for the children placed in their care, including:
   1. The name, mailing address, telephone number, and facsimile number of the child’s social worker and the social worker’s supervisor.
   2. The name, mailing address, telephone number, and facsimile number of the child’s attorney and court-appointed special advocate (CASA), if any.
   3. The name, address, and department number of the juvenile court in which the child’s juvenile court case is pending.
   4. The case number assigned to the child’s juvenile court case.
   5. A copy of the child’s birth certificate, passport, or other identifying documentation of age as may be required for enrollment in school and extracurricular activities.
   6. The child’s state Department of Social Services identification number.
   7. The child’s Medi-Cal identification number or group health insurance plan number.
   8. Medications or treatments in effect for the child at the time of placement, and instructions for their use.
   9. A plan outlining the child’s needs and services, including information on family and sibling visitation. (WIC 16010.4 (e))

This bill:

1. Replaces statistics from 2002 with statistic from 2014, stating legislative findings that California is home to roughly 60,000 children in foster care and that while the state has 12 percent of the nation’s population, it guards over 15 percent of the nation’s children in the foster care system.
2. Updates data in legislative findings to indicate that 33 percent of foster children live with relatives, as of 2014.
3. Adds that caregivers should have the email address of the child’s social worker and social worker’s supervisor to the declaration about other contact information that should be provided to caregivers.
4. Adds that caregivers should have the email address of the child’s attorney and court-appointed special advocate (CASA), if any, to the declaration about other contact information that should be provided.

Background

California’s county-based child welfare system is intended to protect children at risk of child abuse and neglect or exploitation by providing intensive services to families to allow children to remain in their homes, or by arranging temporary or permanent placement of the child in the safest and least restrictive environment possible. Approximately 62,000 children and youth in California are in foster care or roughly 1 in 7 foster children nationwide.

The rate of first entries into foster care has increased slightly, from 2.6 per 1,000 children and youth in 2011 to 2.8 in 2014 (“Foster Care in California,” Kidsdata.org, February 2016). In California, 84 percent of children who entered foster care for the first time in 2012 to 2014 were removed from their families due to neglect, 8 percent due to physical abuse, and 2 percent due to sexual abuse, according to data released by Kidscount.org. For children who entered care in the first half of 2013, 35 percent were reunified with their families and 62 percent were in foster care one year later. The median length of time California children spent in foster care declined between 2001 and 2009 from 17 to 13 months, but then rose to 15 months in 2012.

Caseloads

Social worker caseloads have been an issue of concern for more than a decade. Heavy caseloads and workloads were cited as key reasons nationwide that workers leave the child welfare workforce in a General Accounting Office report in 2003, and by other researchers in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2009. (“Caseload and Workload Management,” US Department of Health and Human Services, Child Welfare Information Gateway, Issue brief April 2010, p. 2)

Additionally heavy caseloads were identified as having a negative impact on the timeliness, continuity and quality of services provided by an agency in separate studies conducted in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Among the recommended strategies to ease caseworker workload were mobile devices to allow caseworkers in the field access to email and other workplace tools.

Email

Since the original legislation requiring contact information be given to caregivers was passed in 2003, email has become an increasingly common method of communication. According to a 2013 research article in Knowledge and Process magazine (Franssila, Helja, “Mobile Email as a Business and Personal Performance Driver in Everyday Knowledge Work – A Multi-method Case Study,” Knowledge and Process Management, Volume 20, Number 4, pp 185-198, 2013.) users of mobile email express strong dependence on that form of communication. “Despite the rise of instant messaging, video conferencing, micro-blogging and variety digital collaboration platforms, email is still the major digital communication and collaboration tool in work settings,” the authors found.

Related/Prior Legislation

SB 591 (Scott, Chapter 812, Statutes of 2003) declared legislative intent to provide caregivers with information about a child’s social worker and other information, among enacting other foster care reforms.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:

SUPPORT: (Verified 6/15/16)

None received

OPPOSITION: (Verified 6/15/16)

None received

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Legislative declarations codified in Welfare and Institutions Code state that caregivers be provided with the name mailing address, telephone number and fax number of the child’s social worker, social worker supervisor, the child’s attorney and CASA, if the child has one. However, the author states, “given that much of today’s business is conducted with the assistance of email, it is only fitting that email addresses be added to the list of contact information. … Not only is email a more functional form of communication, but it has become more accessible through many modes, such as cellphones.”

The author also states that it is important for caregivers to be able to effectively and immediately contact those professionals who have access to the child’s case information, copies of important documents and other critical information.

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 5/5/16

AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon

NO VOTE RECORDED: Beth Gaines

Prepared by:

6/30/16 9:16:16

**** END ****

SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES

Senator McGuire, Chair

2015 - 2016 Regular

Bill No: AB 2767

Subject: Foster care: caregivers: information

SUMMARY

This bill adds to existing information that must be provided to a foster caregiver the email address of the child’s social worker, the social worker’s supervisor, the child’s attorney, and the court-appointed special advocate, if applicable.

ABSTRACT

Existing law:

1. Establishes a system of juvenile dependency for children who are or are at risk of being physically, sexually or emotionally abused, being neglected or being exploited to ensure their safety, protection and physical and emotional well-being. (WIC 300, et seq.)
2. Requires the status of every dependent child in foster care to be reviewed no less often than once every six months, and for the court to consider the continuing necessity for placement, whether the placement is appropriate and other factors. (WIC 366)
3. Makes Legislative findings and declarations about the disproportionately high number of children in California in foster care and the percent of those children living with relatives, based on data from 2002. (WIC 16010.4)
4. Makes Legislative findings and declarations that foster children’s caregivers should have certain basic information to provide for the children placed in their care, including:
   1. The name, mailing address, telephone number, and facsimile number of the child’s social worker and the social worker’s supervisor.
   2. The name, mailing address, telephone number, and facsimile number of the child’s attorney and court-appointed special advocate (CASA), if any.
   3. The name, address, and department number of the juvenile court in which the child’s juvenile court case is pending.
   4.  The case number assigned to the child’s juvenile court case.
   5. A copy of the child’s birth certificate, passport, or other identifying documentation of age as may be required for enrollment in school and extracurricular activities.
   6. The child’s state Department of Social Services identification number.
   7. The child’s Medi-Cal identification number or group health insurance plan number.
   8. Medications or treatments in effect for the child at the time of placement, and instructions for their use.
   9. A plan outlining the child’s needs and services, including information on family and sibling visitation. (WIC 16010.4 (e))

This bill:

1. Replaces statistics from 2002 with statistic from 2014, stating Legislative findings that California is home to roughly 60,000 children in foster care and that while the state has 12 percent of the nation’s population, it guards over 15 percent of the nation’s children in the foster care system.
2. Additionally updates data in Legislative findings to indicate that 33 percent of foster children live with relatives, as of 2014.
3. Adds that caregivers should have the email address of the child’s social worker and social worker’s supervisor to the declaration about other contact information that should be provided to caregivers.
4. Adds that caregivers should have the email address of the child’s attorney and court-appointed special advocate (CASA), if any, to the declaration about other contact information that should be provided.

FISCAL IMPACT

This bill has been identified as non-fiscal by Legislative Counsel.

BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION

Purpose of the bill:

Legislative declarations codified in Welfare and Institutions Code state that caregivers be provided with the name mailing address, telephone number and fax number of the child’s social worker, social worker supervisor, the child’s attorney and court-appointed special advocate (CASA), if the child has one. However, the author states, “given that much of today’s business is conducted with the assistance of email, it is only fitting that email addresses be added to the list of contact information. … Not only is email a more functional form of communication, but it has become more accessible through many modes, such as cellphones.”

The author also states that it is important for caregivers to be able to effectively and immediately contact those professionals who have access to the child’s case information, copies of important documents and other critical information.

Background

California’s county-based child welfare system is intended to protect children at risk of child abuse and neglect or exploitation by providing intensive services to families to allow children to remain in their homes, or by arranging temporary or permanent placement of the child in the safest and least restrictive environment possible. Approximately 62,000 children and youth in California are in foster care or roughly 1 in 7 foster children nationwide. The rate of first entries into foster care has increased slightly, from 2.6 per 1,000 children and youth in 2011 to 2.8 in 2014.^[1] In California, 84 percent of children who entered foster care for the first time in 2012 to 2014 were removed from their families due to neglect, 8 percent due to physical abuse, and 2 percent due to sexual abuse, according to data released by Kidscount.org. For children who entered care in the first half of 2013, 35 percent were reunified with their families and 62 percent were in foster care one year later. The median length of time California children spent in foster care declined between 2001 and 2009 from 17 to 13 months, but then rose to 15 months in 2012.

Caseloads

Social worker caseloads have been an issue of concern for more than a decade. Heavy caseloads and workloads were cited as key reasons nationwide that workers leave the child welfare workforce in a General Accounting Office report in 2003, and by other researchers in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2009.^[2] Additionally heavy caseloads were identified as having a negative impact on the timeliness, continuity and quality of services provided by an agency in separate studies conducted in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Among the recommended strategies to ease caseworker workload were mobile devices to allow caseworkers in the field access to email and other workplace tools.

Email

Since the original legislation requiring contact information be given to caregivers was passed in 2003, email has become an increasingly common method of communication. According to a 2013 research article in Knowledge and Process magazine,^[3] users of mobile email express strong dependence on that form of communication. “Despite the rise of instant messaging, video conferencing, micro-blogging and variety digital collaboration platforms, email is still the major digital communication and collaboration tool in work settings,” the authors found.

Related legislation:

SB 591 (Scott, Chapter 812, Statutes of 2003) declared Legislative intent to provide caregivers with information about a child’s social worker and other information, among enacting other foster care reforms.

COMMENTS

This bill includes amendments that update statistics that were current when the original bill was passed, changing for example the number of youth in foster care from 90,000 in 2002 to 60,000 in 2014. Should this bill pass this committee and be ultimately signed into law, these data also will be out of date by the time the bill is enacted. Staff recommends deleting section (a) of the codified Legislative intent language, as follows:

16010.4. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) The State of California is guardian to roughly 60,000 children in foster care. As of 2014, California has a disproportionately high number of children in foster care. While the state is home to 12 percent of the nation’s population, it guards over 15 percent of the nation’s children in its foster care system. Thirty-three percent of foster children live with relatives.

PRIOR VOTES

POSITIONS

Support:

None.

Oppose:

None.

-- END --

1. “Foster Care in California,” Kidsdata.org, February 2016 ↑

2. “Caseload and Workload Management,” US Department of Health and Human Services, Whild Welfare Information Gateway, Issue brief April 2010, p. 2 ↑

3. Franssila, Helja, “Mobile Email as a Business and Personal Performance Driver in Everyday Knowledge Work – A Multi-method Case Study,” Knowledge and Process Management, Volume 20, Number 4, pp 185-198, 2013. ↑

Date of Hearing: April 26, 2016

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES

Susan Bonilla, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2767 (

Author:Lopez) – As Amended Ver:April 12, 2016

SUBJECT: Foster care: caregivers: information

SUMMARY: States that foster parents should be provided with the email address of a child’s social worker, the social worker’s supervisor, the child’s attorney, and court-appointed special advocate, and makes various technical changes.

Specifically, this bill:

1. Updates Legislative findings and declarations to:
   1. Reflect more current statistics regarding children in foster care in California;
   2. State that caregivers should be provided with the email address of a foster child’s social worker and the social worker’s supervisor, alongside other already-required contact information; and
   3. State that caregivers should be provided with the email address of a foster child’s attorney and court-appointed special advocate (CASA), alongside other already-required contact information.

EXISTING LAW:

1. States that the purpose of foster care law is to provide maximum safety and protection for children who are currently being physically, sexually, emotionally abused, neglected, or exploited, and to ensure the safety, protection, and physical and emotional well-being of children who are at risk of harm. (WIC 300.2)
2. Finds that it is in the best interest of a child that their caregivers are privy to important information about them in order to obtain social and health services for children, enroll children in school and extracurricular activities, and update social workers and court personnel about important developments affecting foster children. (WIC 16010.4)
3. Requires foster parents receive basic information in order to provide the needs of children placed in their home, as specified. (WIC 16010.4)
4. Assigns a court-appointed special advocate duties, as specified, including representing the best interests of the child involved, and consider the best interests of the family, in the cases to which he or she is appointed. (WIC 102)

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.

COMMENTS:

Child Welfare Services: The purpose of California’s Child Welfare Services (CWS) system is to protect children from abuse and neglect and provide for their health and safety. When children are identified as being at risk of abuse, neglect or abandonment, county juvenile courts hold legal dependency jurisdiction; these children are served by the CWS system through the appointment of a social worker. Through this juvenile dependency system, there are multiple opportunities for the custody of the child, or his or her placement outside of the home, to be evaluated, reviewed and determined by the judicial system, in consultation with the child’s social worker, to help provide the best possible services to the child. The CWS system seeks to help children who have been removed from their homes reunify with their parents or guardians, whenever appropriate. However, the court may determine that an alternate permanent placement is more fitting; the court must give preference to potential placements in this order: relatives, nonrelative extended family members, or family foster homes. Placement in group homes or other intensive treatment placement settings are considered only in more challenging situations where a child may need stabilization services in order to transition to a less restrictive placement, such as with a relative or foster caregiver. There are currently close to 63,000 children and youth in California’s CWS system.

Court-appointed special advocates (CASA): Court appointed special advocates (CASA) are volunteer advocates appointed by the courts to help advocate on behalf of abused and neglected children in the juvenile dependency court, in order to ensure their health and safety. In their capacity as a court-appointed, volunteers meet with the child often, review court records, and gather information about caregivers, social workers, and other adults in the child’s life in order to ensure the child receives the best placement possible.

Need for this bill: According to the author, “With the increase of accessibility to other means of communication, email has proven to be more functional. Current law already includes the telephone and fax number of the child’s social worker, social worker supervisor, and attorney or CASA worker. The basic information provided to the caregivers should be updated to fit the times and needs of our society. The ways in which we communicate or relay information has increasingly changed over time.”

According to the National Association of Social Workers, who are in support of this bill, “It is in the children’s best interest that their caregivers are privy to important information about them. This information is necessary to obtain social and health services for children, enroll children in school and extracurricular activities, and update social workers and court personnel about important developments affecting foster children.”

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

National Association of Social Workers, CA Chapter (NASW-CA)

Opposition

None on file.

Analysis Prepared by: Kelsy Castillo / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089