SB 426: Community-based home visitation pilot program.

Existing law authorizes the juvenile court to limit the control exercised by a parent or guardian over a child who has been adjudged to be a dependent child of the juvenile court on the grounds that the child has been subject to, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect, as specified. Existing law authorizes the juvenile court to remove the child from his or her home under certain conditions, and generally requires the county welfare department to provide or arrange for reunification services in order to reunite a child separated from his or her parent because of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

This bill would, only until January 1, 2022, 2025, establish the Community-Based Home Visitation Program as a pilot program in no more than 3 counties representing a cross section of in the state to provide child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention services to families through one family resource center located in each county. The bill would make the implementation of the pilot program subject to appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would require the Office of Child Abuse Prevention of the State Department of Social Services to administer the program, as specified, and would establish various criteria for the selection of the family resource centers through an application process. The bill would require the office to secure an independent evaluator to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of each pilot program, as specified, and would require the office to report interim results of the evaluation to the Legislature by December 31, 2021, and to report final results by December 31, 2024.