SB 174: Crisis nurseries: study.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation by the State Department of Social Services of crisis nurseries. Crisis nurseries are nonprofit corporations that care for and supervise children under 6 years of age who are voluntarily placed in the crisis nursery by a parent or legal guardian due to a family crisis or stressful situation for no more than 30 days.

This bill, until January 1, 2018, would require the department to implement a 2-year pilot project in the Counties County of Sacramento and the County of Yolo to conduct a study of the relationship between crisis respite care and incidents of reported child abuse in those counties, and report the results of the study to the Legislature. The bill would make the implementation of this pilot project contingent upon all of the crisis nurseries in those counties voluntarily participating in the project and providing funding for ¹/₂ of the cost of the project. This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to provide state funding for crisis nurseries in the Budget Act of 2015 for community services and this pilot project.