BILL NUMBER: SB 969 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 19, 1995
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 22, 1995
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 17, 1995
INTRODUCED BY Senator Watson
FEBRUARY 23, 1995
An act to amend Section 18358, 18358.05, 18358.10, 18358.23,
18358.30 of, to add Section 18358.20 Sections
18358.20 and 18358.36 to, and to repeal Sections 18358.40,
18358.45, and 18358.50 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to public social services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 969, as amended, Watson. Intensive foster care.
Existing law establishes, until January 1, 1999, authorization for
the placement into an intensive foster care pilot program those
children who are emotionally disabled or who, because of their
emotional distress, have been subject to placement in a group home,
or have been adjudicated a dependent child of the court, and provides
for payment of foster care providers. Existing law prohibits the
acceptance of children for that program after June 30, 1996.
This bill would make the program generally applicable in any
participating county, revise eligibility requirements for the
program, revise the payment procedures and funding for the intensive
foster care program, and delete the provision repealing the authority
for the intensive foster care program on January 1, 1999, and the
prohibition against accepting children for that program after June
30, 1996.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 18358 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
18358. The definitions contained in this section shall govern the
construction of this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:
(a) "Department" means the State Department of Social Services.
(b) "Eligible children" means children who meet all of the
following conditions:
(1) Children who are emotionally disturbed, as evidenced by a
history which may include, but is not limited to, all of the specific
behavior management problems:
(A) Lying.
(B) Stealing.
(C) Verbal or physical aggression.
(D) Unacceptable sexual behavior.
(E) Attempts at self-mutilation or suicide.
(F) Defiant and oppositional behavior.
(2) Children who, as a result of their emotional disturbance
, have been either:
(A) Placed in a group home with a rate classification level of 12
or higher pursuant to Section 11462.
(B) Assessed by the child's county interagency review team as at
imminent risk of psychiatric hospitalization or placement in a group
home with a rate classification level of 12 or higher pursuant to
Section 11462.
(3) Children to whom one of the following applies:
(A) Any child who has been adjudicated as either a dependent or
ward of the juvenile court pursuant to Section 300, 601, or 602
who have successfully completed the group home program
, except children on probation or otherwise in the custody of
the juvenile court for any violent felony, as defined in subdivision
(c) of Section 667.5 of the Penal Code.
(B) Any child who is voluntarily placed in , or who is at
risk of placement in, a group home with a rate
classification level of 12 or higher pursuant to Section 7572.5 of
the Government Code.
SEC. 2. Section 18358.05 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
18358.05. (a) The department shall implement intensive treatment
foster care programs for eligible children.
(b) (1) The department shall implement the programs in
any participating county pursuant to the concurrence of each
participating county and subject to the availability of at least one
foster family agency within the county which can provide the services
required by this chapter.
(2) Each participating foster family agency may accept eligible
children under this program, of whom no more than 20 percent are at
imminent risk of psychiatric hospitalization or placement in a group
home with a rate classification level of 12 or higher pursuant to
Section 11462, based on an assessment by a county interagency review
team. program in any participating county that applies
for and receives the department's approval for an intensive
treatment foster care program rate.
(2) Upon application to the department, the county shall do all of
the following:
(A) Identify the population of children to be served, of whom not
more than 20 percent shall be children described in paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b) of Section 18358.
(B) Certify that participating foster family agencies have the
required personnel, administrative support, financial services, and
resources to successfully participate in the program.
(C) Project savings or cost neutrality to the state General Fund.
(D) Provide a plan for monitoring the participating foster family
agencies for compliance with this chapter.
(3) Each participating foster family agency may, with the approval
of the host county, accept placements from counties other than the
host county.
SEC. 3. Section 18358.10 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
18358.10. Each foster family agency participating in this program
shall enter into a contract or memorandum of
understanding with the county and provide all of the following
personnel and administrative and support services:
(a) (1) Special attention to the selection and training of foster
parents.
(2) All participating foster parents shall be provided with at
least 60 hours of training in the care of emotionally disturbed
children and 12 hours of ongoing in-service training per year.
Training shall include, but not be limited to, working with abused
and neglected children, progressive crisis intervention, and
cardiopulmonary resuscitation. All training shall be completed prior
to the child's placement in the home. In two-parent homes,
placement may be made after one parent has completed 60 hours of
training, provided that the second parent has completed 40 hours of
training and completes an additional 20 hours of training within the
first six months of placement.
(3) Foster parents shall be provided with all necessary support
services.
(b) Caseloads for participating social work case managers that
do not exceed eight children average eight
children, except as provided in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of
Section 18358.30 .
(c) Therapists for the provision of therapy to the child, the
biological parents of the child, and the foster parents of the child.
(d) The specific assignment to each certified family home of a
trained support counselor with experience in residential treatment.
(1) The support counselor shall have one of the following:
(A) A bachelor's degree in a social science related field and at
least six months of experience in working with emotionally disturbed
children in institutional settings.
(B) An associate degree in a social science related field and have
at least one year's experience in working with emotionally disturbed
children in institutional settings.
(2) Each participating foster family agency shall provide each
support counselor with 60 hours of training to include, but not be
limited to, working with abused and neglected children, progressive
crisis intervention, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and developing
treatment plans for emotionally disturbed children. All training
shall be completed prior to placing a child in a certified family
home for which the support counselor is assigned responsibility.
(3) Each support counselor shall do all of the following:
(A) Provide support service to the child and the foster family.
This service shall include, but not be limited to, structuring a safe
environment for the child, collateral contacts, and any
administrative or training functions necessary to implement the child'
s needs and services plan. The child's needs and services plan shall
ensure that services meet the child's needs and are appropriate to
and consistent with the minimum level of service specified in Section
18358.30. The child's individual needs and services plan shall be
reviewed and approved by the certified foster parents.
(B) Arrange for coordination services with local education
agencies and the service provider's nonpublic school, where
applicable.
(e) A 24-hour on call administrator who is available to respond to
emergency situations.
SEC. 4. Section 18358.20 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
18358.20. In addition to the requirements of Sections 18358.10
and 18358.15, any foster family agency that serves children under
this program shall have a plan approved by the department
a contract or memorandum of understanding with the
county prior to accepting referrals of children. The plan
shall identify how the foster family agency will provide the
following services and activities:
(a) An effective 24 hours a day, seven days a week social work
emergency response service. The plan shall include the criteria for
an in-person response and define the time frame in which in-person
response will be made.
(b) Psychiatric coverage available as needed for psychiatric
emergencies.
(c) Development of a treatment plan approved by the placing county
for each child within one month of placement that addresses all of
the following:
(1) The child's needs for therapy.
(2) Behavior modification services.
(3) Support counselor services.
(4) Psychotropic medication and monitoring.
(5) Respite services.
(6) Family therapy and other services needed to return the child
home.
(7) Education liaison services as needed to maintain the child in
the classroom.
(d) A system for recruiting, training, and supervising qualified
in-home support counselors.
(e) A system of record keeping that documents the delivery of
treatment services to each child. This documentation shall be
summarized and submitted on an annual basis as part of the
ratesetting application submitted to the department to
the county . Each agency shall report the type and cost of
the services delivered.
(f) Written policies and procedures on how the program will be
structured to ensure the safety of the child, how suicide attempts,
runaways, sexual acting out, violent and assaultive behavior will be
handled, and what will occur to reduce or eliminate future episodes.
(g) Written procedures on frequency of treatment plan review,
modifications of treatment plans, and the role of the foster family
and the child's parents in development of the treatment plan.
(h) A process for recruitment, selection and training of foster
parents, including respite foster parents. The training curriculum
shall include the following areas, at a minimum:
(1) Alternative forms of discipline.
(2) Child growth and development.
(3) Behavior management techniques.
(4) Differential needs and treatment of children.
(5) Crisis prevention and intervention.
(i) Provision of respite care services and frequency of respite
care.
(j) Social work staffing patterns. Social workers shall have a
master's degree consistent with subdivision (e) of Section 1506 of
the Health and Safety Code, and shall have at least one year of
experience working with seriously emotionally disturbed children.
(k) Other staff or contract services to be utilized in service
delivery, the tasks and responsibilities of those individuals, and
the training they will receive.
(l) An evaluation component that includes quarterly reporting to
the department of the following data, by age group. The department
shall publish the data annually.
(1) Number of children placed under this chapter.
(2) Outcomes for children referred to the program, including:
(A) Percentage of children returned to a more intensive program.
(B) Percentage of children hospitalized.
(C) Percentage of children discharged to own home.
(D) Percentage of children continuing in placement.
(3) Services provided to children and families, including:
(A) Number of in-home support counselor hours per child.
(B) Number of psychiatrist hours per child.
(C) Number of emergency social work hours per child.
(D) Number of families receiving family therapy services and
number of families receiving this service on a weekly basis.
(m) A plan for surveying placing counties annually to ascertain
and report to the department on the following:
(1) Quality of services provided.
(2) Progress toward treatment goals.
(3) Satisfaction with services provided.
SEC. 5. Section 18358.23 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
18358.23. County In addition to the
requirements of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 18358.05,
county welfare departments in participating counties shall do
all of the following:
(a) Determine the placement of eligible children in intensive
foster care programs. All children placed in the programs shall
either have a completed level of care assessment indicating a need
for services greater than regular foster care or have their placement
reviewed by the participating county's existing interagency review
team.
(b) Enter into contracts or memoranda of understanding with
participation foster family agencies on an annual basis.
(c) Provide routine case management services.
(c)
(d) Monitor the implementation of the case plan for the
child.
SEC. 6. Section 18358.30 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
18358.30. (a) Rates for foster family agency programs
participating under this chapter shall be exempt from the current
AFDC-FC foster family agency ratesetting system.
(b) Rates for foster family agency programs participating under
this chapter shall be set according to the appropriate service and
rate level based on the level of services provided to the eligible
child and the certified foster family. For an eligible child placed
from a group home program, the service and rate level shall not
exceed the rate paid for group home placement. For an eligible child
assessed by the county interagency review team as at imminent risk
of group home placement or psychiatric hospitalization, the
appropriate service and rate level for the child shall be determined
by the interagency review team at time of placement. In all of the
service and rate levels, the foster family agency programs shall:
(1) Provide social work services with average case loads not to
exceed eight children per worker, except that social worker average
case loads for children in Service and Rate Level E shall not exceed
12 children per worker.
(2) Pay an amount of one thousand two hundred dollars ($1,200) per
child per month to the certified foster parent or parents.
(3) Perform activities necessary for the administration of the
programs, including, but not limited to, training, recruitment,
certification, and monitoring of the certified foster parents.
(4) (A) (i) Provide a minimum average range of service per month
for children in each service and rate level in a participating foster
family agency, represented by paid employee hours incurred by the
participating foster family agency, by the in-home support counselor
to the eligible child and the certified foster parents depending on
the needs of the child and according to the following schedule:
Service In-Home Support
and Counselor Hours
Rate Level Per Month
A 98-114 hours
B 81-97 hours
C 64-80 hours
D 47-63 hours
(ii) Children placed at Service and Rate Level E shall receive
crisis intervention and other support services on a flexible, as
needed, basis from an in-home support counselor. The foster family
agency shall provide one full-time in-home support counselor for
every 20 children placed at this level.
(B) When the interagency review team and the foster family agency
agree that alternative services are in the best interests of the
child, the foster family agency may provide the following types of
services in lieu of in-home support services required by subparagraph
(A):
(i) Therapy.
(ii) Behavior modification services.
(iii) Support counselor services.
(iv) Psychotropic medication and monitoring.
(v) Respite services.
(vi) Family therapy to aid in family reunification.
(vii) Education liaison services to maintain the child in the
classroom.
(c) The department or placing county, or both, may review the
level of services provided by the foster family agency program. If
the level of services actually provided are less than those required
by subdivision (b) for the child's service and rate level, the rate
shall be adjusted to reflect the level of service actually provided,
and an overpayment may be established and recovered by the
department.
(d) (1) The standard rate schedule of service and rate levels for
the 1995-96 fiscal year shall be:
Service Fiscal Year
and 1995-96
Rate Level Standard Rate
A $3,796
B $3,480
C $3,165
D $2,849
E $2,532
Service Fiscal Year
and 1995-96
Rate Level Standard Rate
A $3,733
B $3,423
C $3,112
D $2,802
E $2,490
(2) Beginning with the 1996-97 fiscal year, the standardized
schedule of rates shall be adjusted annually by an amount equal to
the California Necessities Index computed pursuant to Section 11453,
subject to the availability of funds.
(e) Rates for foster family agency programs participating under
this chapter shall not exceed Service and Rate Level A at any time
during an eligible child's placement. An eligible child may be
initially placed in a participating intensive foster care program at
any one of the five Service and Rate Levels A to E, inclusive, and
thereafter placed at any level, either higher or lower, not to exceed
a total of six months at any level other than Service and Rate Level
E, unless it is determined to be in the best interests of the child
by the child's county interagency review team and the child's
certified foster parents. The child's interagency county interagency
placement review team may, through a formal review of the child's
placement, extend the placement of an eligible child in a service and
rate level higher than Service and Rate Level E for additional
periods of up to six months each.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that the rate paid to
participating foster family agency programs shall decrease as the
child's need for services from the foster family agency decreases.
The foster family agency shall notify the placing county and the
department of the reduced services and the pilot classification
model, and the rate shall be reduced accordingly.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature to prohibit any
duplication of public funding. Therefore, social worker services,
payments to certified foster parents, administrative activities, and
the services of in-home support counselors that are funded by another
public source shall not be counted in determining whether the foster
family agency program has met its obligations to provide the items
listed in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) of subdivision (b).
SEC. 6.5. Section 18358.36 is added to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, to read:
18358.36. In order to provide for continuity of services to
children receiving intensive foster care services, the two foster
family agencies providing services pursuant to this chapter prior to
January 1, 1996, may continue to operate their programs until June
30, 1997, without the certification required by Section 18358.05 and
without a contract or memorandum of understanding with counties that
have children in placement as of January 1, 1996. By July 1, 1997,
these foster family agencies shall meet all the requirements of this
chapter, including certification and contract or memorandum of
understanding with the placing county or counties.
SEC. 7. Section 18358.40 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
repealed.
SEC. 8. Section 18358.45 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
repealed.
SEC. 9. Section 18358.50 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
repealed.