Amended  IN  Senate  June 24, 2021
Amended  IN  Senate  June 15, 2021
Amended  IN  Assembly  May 24, 2021
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 25, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 808

Introduced by Assembly Member Stone
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Cooley, Blanca Rubio, and Villapudua)

February 16, 2021

An act to amend Section 7911 of, and to repeal and add Sections 7911.1 and 7912 of the Family Code, to amend Sections 1502 and 1562.01 of, and to add Section 1502.25 to, the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Sections 362.2, 366, 706.6, 4096, 11400, 11402, 16501.1 and 16521.6 of, to add Sections 11461.7 and 18257.5 to, to add Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 16550) to Part 4 of Division 9 of, and to repeal Section 16555 of, and to repeal and add Sections 361.21 and 727.1 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to foster youth, and making an appropriation therefor.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 808, as amended, Stone. Foster youth.
(1) Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of community care and residential facilities, including short-term residential therapeutic programs, by the State Department of Social Services. A violation of the act is a misdemeanor.
Existing law provides for the implementation of the resource family approval process, which replaces the multiple processes for licensing foster family homes, certifying foster homes by foster family agencies, approving relatives and nonrelative extended family members as foster care providers, and approving guardians and adoptive families. Existing law imposes various requirements on resource families, including training standards.
This bill would require the department to license specialized foster homes as residential facilities providing board, care, and supervision by a resource parent pursuant to standards developed in consultation with specified entities and persons. The bill would require specialized foster homes to meet prescribed standards, including training, that apply to resource families, and to complete training as a condition of obtaining and maintaining licensure. The bill would establish rates standards, including regional rate requirements, and, by January 1, 2023, would require the department to adopt regulations and determine appropriate provider rates. The bill would authorize the department to implement these provisions by specified means, including information releases, until the department adopts regulations. Because a willful violation of the bill’s requirements relative to specialized foster homes under the act would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law defines “short-term residential therapeutic program” as a residential facility licensed by the department and operated by any public agency or private organization that provides an integrated program of specialized and intensive care and supervision, services and supports, treatment, and short-term, 24-hour care and supervision to children, including foster children.
This bill would require a short-term residential therapeutic program, as a condition of licensure, to provide specified trauma-informed support and transition services to foster youth as part of a planned or unplanned discharge. By creating requirements for short-term residential therapeutic programs, the violation of which is a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) Existing law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide payments to specified foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in foster care. Existing law requires the department to administer a state system for establishing rates in the AFDC-FC program.
This bill would make specialized foster homes eligible for the AFDC-FC program. By imposing new duties on counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law establishes a rate that is paid for 24-hour out-of-home care and supervision provided to children and eligible nonminor dependents who are both consumers of regional center services and receiving AFDC-FC. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Developmental Services to develop objective criteria to be used by counties in determining eligibility for AFDC-FC and the level of a supplement to that rate for children who the county determines need extraordinary care and supervision.
This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, by February 1, 2022, to update its payment guidance to authorize counties to claim federal funding for placements made to a regional center vendored facility.
(3) Existing law requires the Secretary of California Health and Human Services and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a joint interagency resolution team, consisting of representatives from specified state departments, whose primary roles would be to develop guidance and provide support and technical assistance to counties with regard to those children and youth and the memoranda of understanding. Existing law required the team, no later than January 1, 2020, to review the placement and service options available to county child welfare agencies and county probation departments for those children and youth, and to develop and submit recommendations to the Legislature, on identified gaps in placement, needed services, and a centralized process for services.
This bill would require the joint interagency resolution team to update that review and provide recommendations to the Legislature no later than December 31, 2022, that take into account the specific needs and characteristics of youth with unplanned discharges from short-term residential therapeutic programs and youth for whom counties were unable to, or have difficulty with, securing placements and providing trauma-informed services, and articulate a plan to build trauma-informed, therapeutic programs for those in-state youth. The bill would require the joint interagency resolution team to track and report deidentified information of youth who have been assisted to preserve, or secure new, intensive therapeutic options and to post that information on the internet website of the California Health and Human Services Agency.
This bill would continuously appropriate $20,000,000 from the General Fund, on an annual basis, to the State Department of Social Services for use by county child welfare and probation agencies to support foster youth with unplanned discharges or who are unable to secure a therapeutic program due to exceptional needs, to be allocated to counties in a manner determined by the department in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association of California and the Chief Probation Officers of California. The bill would end that continuous appropriation in the fiscal year following a determination by the joint interagency resolution team of adequate capacity of high-end services and supports for foster youth. The bill would require the joint interagency team to oversee the execution of a statewide request for proposal for services to youth with severe mental health and intellectual or developmental disabilities and to report to the State Department of Social Services on the status of services, to be included in a specified report. The bill would appropriate $2,000,000 to the department to support that contract.
The bill would require the joint interagency resolution team to convene stakeholders to determine the feasibility of, and make recommendations for, establishing one or more child and family networks of care to consolidate purchasing power across counties and enhancing quality improvement activities to meet the needs of children, youth, and families involved and at risk of involvement in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, and would require the joint interagency resolution team to submit prescribed reports to the Legislature.
(4) Existing law generally provides for the placement of foster youth in various placement settings, and governs the provision of mental health services to foster youth. Among other things, existing law authorizes foster youth to be placed in a short-term residential therapeutic program if an interagency placement committee determines that the youth meets certain criteria, including that the youth either meets the medical necessity criteria for Medi-Cal specialty mental health services, is assessed as seriously emotionally disturbed, or their individual behavioral or treatment needs can only be met by the level of care provided in a short-term residential therapeutic program. Existing law also establishes an intensive services foster care program to provide specialized programs to serve children with specific needs, including behavioral and specialized health care needs.
This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, in collaboration with the State Department of Health Care Services, to establish the Children’s Crisis Continuum Pilot Program for the purpose of developing treatment options that are needed to support California’s commitment to eliminate the placement of foster youth with complex needs in out-of-state facilities. The bill would require the pilot program to be implemented for 5 years. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to take specified actions, including providing technical assistance to applicants and participating entities, awarding grants to participating entities, and developing a request for proposal process and selection criteria to determine which applicants will participate in the pilot program. The bill would require the selection criteria to include certain components, including submission of a plan of operation by an applicant. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to select counties or regional collaboratives of counties on a competitive basis and would require proposals to participate in the pilot program to be submitted no later than March 1, 2022, and would require grant funds to be disbursed no later than May 1, 2022.
This bill would require participating entities to develop and implement a highly integrated continuum of care for foster youth with high acuity mental health needs that permits the seamless transition of foster youth between treatment settings and programs, as needed for the appropriate treatment of the foster youth. The bill would authorize a participating entity to adjust or modify any required component of the continuum of care based on local needs and circumstances. The bill would require the continuum of care, across all service settings, to reflect specified core program features and service approaches, including highly individualized and trauma-informed services.
The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to appropriate moneys to the State Department of Social Services in the annual Budget Act or another statute for the purpose of administering a grant program to provide funding to participating entities for the duration of the pilot program. The bill would require the department, by 3 years after the commencement of the program, but not later than April 1, 2025, and again within one year after the pilot program’s end date, to submit a report relating to the pilot program to the Assembly Committee on Human Services and the Senate Committees on Human Services. The bill would authorize the pilot program to be implemented through all-county letters or other similar instruction and would require any guidance issued pursuant to that authorization to be issued by January 1, 2022.
(5) Existing law requires each county to, at the county’s option, develop a county plan for wraparound services. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to seek applicable federal approval to make the maximum number of children being served through wraparound services eligible for federal financial participation, and to amend any applicable state regulations to the extent necessary to eliminate any limitations on the numbers of children who can participate in those programs.
This bill would additionally require the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Health Care Services, in consultation with county representatives and other stakeholders, to develop recommendations for implementing and expanding high-fidelity wraparound services statewide.
(6) Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court and authorizes the removal of a child subject to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court from the physical custody of their parent. Existing law provides for the placement of children removed for the physical custody of their parent pursuant to these provisions and authorizes a child to be placed in an out-of-state group home if the juvenile court finds that certain conditions have been met, including that in-state facilities or programs have been determined to be unavailable or inadequate to meet the needs of the minor.
This bill would instead prohibit the placement of a minor in an out-of-state group care facility and would require the State Department of Social Services, by July 1, 2021, to terminate all placements in, and certifications of, out-of-state group care facilities accepting California children placed by county social services agencies or probation departments. The bill would make related changes to reflect this prohibition.

(6)

(7) 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons.

(7)

(8) This bill would appropriate $9,000,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Developmental Services to expand home- and community-based regional center vendored facilities serving children with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are in crisis or require specialized, ongoing care and services.
Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: YES   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) Chapter 773 of the Statutes of 2015 and Chapter 425 of the Statutes of 2015 established the statutory framework to decrease the use of residential placement for youth and support a continuum of care inclusive of social and behavioral health services delivered in family- and community-based settings. In the years since implementing this legislation, California has made clear and impactful progress in developing alternative, therapeutic, family-based placement options for foster youth.
(2) Further, Chapter 815 of the Statutes of 2018 built upon the Continuum of Care Reform effort by promoting a coordinated, timely, and trauma-informed system-of-care approach for children and youth in foster care who have experienced severe trauma. The law requires county-level, cross-systems memorandums of understanding, a joint interagency resolution team to promote access to services for youth and families, and an analysis of gaps in placement types or availability and recommendations to fill those gaps.
(3) Despite these important gains, it remains that some child welfare- and juvenile-justice-involved youth have complex, persistent, and pervasive cross-system needs, including behavioral health that cannot be safely met in a family-based placement setting. While short-term residential therapeutic programs, established pursuant to Chapter 773 of the Statutes of 2015, were originally conceptualized to meet this need, for a multitude of reasons, those programs do not represent the intensive tier of treatment needed to serve the small number of youth with the most profound needs who are served by child welfare and probation agencies.
(4) Until December 2020, due to the lack of intensive treatment options available in California, foster youth with the most complex, persistent, and pervasive needs were placed in out-of-state residential settings far from their homes and communities.
(5) In December 2020, the State Department of Social Services decertified all out-of-state facilities, leading to the expedited return of all foster youth residing in out-of-state placements to California.
(6) However, the system gaps that led to some out-of-state placements still exist and there is an urgent imperative to address these system gaps for this small population of youth in order to support California’s commitment to children, youth, and families served by the foster care system. Currently, there is not a sufficient number of intensive crisis treatment options for youth with the highest acuity needs, nor a continuum to both prevent and assist in the transition of youth from intensive treatment.
(7) Youth impacted by commercial sexual exploitation, youth with high acuity intellectual disabilities, and youth with the most complex, persistent, and pervasive behavioral health needs require specialized and individually tailored services and supports that are not always available within California.
(8) According to the State Department of Social Services 2018 Semi-Annual report on the Title IV-E Well-Being Project, “securing placement homes for high acuity youth is difficult as there is currently a lack of families prepared for and/or willing to care for these youth.”
(9) Foster youth experiencing an acute behavioral health crisis must have access to an integrated continuum of intensive and highly individualized crisis treatment settings to support stabilization and step-down to home-based care. These continuums must be available across the state to reduce the need for traumatic and costly ambulance transportation across significant distances.
(10) Only in the most critical and urgent situations where the safety of the youth is of concern should restrictive treatment settings be considered. When those options are utilized, facilities must align their services and programs to the trauma-informed care required by federal and state laws, with additional safeguards in place to reduce lengths of stay and assurances that youth and families are connected seamlessly to a continuum of care and services to promote healing and step-down to home-based care.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act, in alignment with the goals of Continuum of Care Reform and Chapter 815 of the Statutes of 2018, to establish systems of care to build trauma-informed services in home- and community-based settings, to establish a roadmap with short- and long-term strategies for state and local agencies, working in partnership, to ultimately meet these desired goals and improve safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes for children, youth, and families served by the foster care system.

SEC. 2.

 Section 7911 of the Family Code is amended to read:

7911.
 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The health and safety of California children placed by a county social services agency or probation department out of state pursuant to the provisions of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children are a matter of statewide concern.

(b)The Legislature therefore affirms its intention that the State Department of Social Services has full authority to require an assessment and placement recommendation by a county multidisciplinary team prior to placement of a child in an out-of-state group home, to investigate allegations of child abuse or neglect of minors so placed, and to ensure that out-of-state group homes, accepting California children, meet all California group home licensing standards.

(c)The Legislature also affirms its intention that, on and after January 1, 2017, the licensing standards applicable to out-of-state group homes certified by the department shall be those required of short-term residential therapeutic programs operated in this state.

(b) The Legislature affirms its intent to increase the use of home-based family care and the provision of services and supports to home-based family care, reduce the use of congregate care placement settings, and create faster paths to permanency resulting in shorter durations of involvement in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
(c) The Legislature therefore declares a moratorium on all new placements in, and certifications of, out-of-state facilities accepting California children placed by county social services agencies or probation departments effective July 1, 2021.
(d) This section is declaratory of existing law with respect to the Governor’s designation of the State Department of Social Services to act as the compact administrator and of that department to act as the single state agency charged with supervision of public social services under Section 10600 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

SEC. 3.

 Section 7911.1 of the Family Code is repealed.
7911.1.

(a)Notwithstanding any other law, the State Department of Social Services or its designee shall investigate any threat to the health and safety of children placed by a California county social services agency or probation department in an out-of-state group home pursuant to the provisions of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children. This authority shall include the authority to interview children or staff in private or review their file at the out-of-state facility or wherever the child or files may be at the time of the investigation. Notwithstanding any other law, the State Department of Social Services or its designee shall require certified out-of-state group homes to comply with the reporting requirements applicable to short-term residential therapeutic programs licensed in California for each child in care regardless of whether the child is a California placement, by submitting a copy of the required reports to the Compact Administrator within regulatory timeframes. The Compact Administrator within one business day of receiving a serious events report shall verbally notify the appropriate placement agencies and, within five working days of receiving a written report from the out-of-state group home, forward a copy of the written report to the appropriate placement agencies.

(b)Any contract, memorandum of understanding, or agreement entered into pursuant to paragraph (b) of Article 5 of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children regarding the placement of a child out of state by a California county social services agency or probation department shall include the language set forth in subdivision (a).

(c)(1)The State Department of Social Services or its designee shall perform initial and continuing inspection of out-of-state group homes in order to either certify that the out-of-state group home meets all licensure standards required of group homes operated in California or that the department has granted a waiver to a specific licensing standard upon a finding that there exists no adverse impact to health and safety.

(2)(A)On and after January 1, 2017, the licensing standards applicable to out-of-state group homes certified by the department, as described in paragraph (1), shall be those required of short-term residential therapeutic programs operated in this state, unless the out-of-state group home is granted an extension pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 11462.04 of the Welfare and Institutions Code or has otherwise been granted a waiver pursuant to this subdivision.

(B)On and after January 1, 2017, the licensing standards applicable to out-of-state group homes certified by the department, as described in paragraph (1), shall include the licensing standards for mental health program approval described in Section 1562.01 of the Health and Safety Code. These standards may be satisfied if the out-of-state group home has an equivalent mental health program approval in the state in which it is operating. If an out-of-state group home cannot satisfy the licensing standards for an equivalent mental health program approval, children shall not be placed in that facility.

(3)In order to receive certification, the out-of-state group home shall have a current license, or an equivalent approval, in good standing issued by the appropriate authority or authorities of the state in which it is operating.

(4)On and after January 1, 2017, an out-of-state group home program shall, in order to receive an AFDC-FC rate, meet the requirements of paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 11460 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(5)Failure by an out-of-state group home facility to make children or staff available as required by subdivision (a) for a private interview or make files available for review shall be grounds to deny or discontinue the certification.

(6)Certifications made pursuant to this subdivision shall be reviewed annually.

(d)A county shall be required to obtain an assessment and placement recommendation by a county multidisciplinary team prior to placement of a child in an out-of-state group home facility.

(e)Failure by an out-of-state group home to obtain or maintain its certification, as required by subdivision (c), shall preclude the use of any public funds, whether county, state, or federal, in the payment for the placement of any child in that out-of-state group home, pursuant to the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children.

(f)(1)A multidisciplinary team shall consist of participating members from county social services, county mental health, county probation, county superintendents of schools, and other members, as determined by the county.

(2)Participants shall have knowledge or experience in the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect cases, and shall be qualified to recommend a broad range of services related to child abuse or neglect.

(g)(1)The department may deny, suspend, or discontinue the certification of the out-of-state group home if the department makes a finding that the group home is not operating in compliance with the requirements of subdivision (c).

(2)Any judicial proceeding to contest the department’s determination as to the status of the out-of-state group home certificate shall be held in California pursuant to Section 1094.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(h)The certification requirements of this section shall not impact placements of emotionally disturbed children made pursuant to an individualized education program developed pursuant to the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.) if the placement is not funded with federal or state foster care funds.

(i)Only an out-of-state group home authorized by the Compact Administrator to receive state funds for the placement by a county social services agency or probation department of any child in that out-of-state group home from the effective date of this section shall be eligible for public funds pending the department’s certification under this section.

SEC. 4.

 Section 7911.1 is added to the Family Code, to read:

7911.1.
 (a) Pursuant to Section 7911, the State Department of Social Services shall terminate all placements in, and certifications of, out-of-state group care facilities accepting California children placed by county social services agencies or probation departments effective July 1, 2021.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, the State Department of Social Services is authorized to enforce Section 7911 and retains its authority to investigate any threat to the health and safety of children placed by a California county social services agency or probation department.

SEC. 5.

 Section 7912 of the Family Code is repealed.
7912.

(a)The Legislature finds and declares that the health and safety of children in out-of-state group home care pursuant to the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children is a matter of statewide concern. The Legislature therefore affirms its intention that children placed by a county social services agency or probation department in out-of-state group homes be accorded the same personal rights and safeguards of a child placed in a California group home. This section is in clarification of existing law.

(b)(1)The Compact Administrator may temporarily suspend any new placements in an out-of-state group home, for a period not to exceed 100 days, pending the completion of an investigation, pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 7911.1, regarding a threat to the health and safety of children in care. During any suspension period the department or its designee shall have staff daily onsite at the out-of-state group home.

(2)On and after January 1, 2017, the licensing standards applicable to out-of-state group homes certified by the State Department of Social Services shall be those required of short-term residential therapeutic programs operated in this state.

SEC. 6.

 Section 7912 is added to the Family Code, to read:

7912.
 On and after January 1, 2017, the licensing standards applicable to out-of-state group homes certified by the State Department of Social Services shall be those required of short-term residential therapeutic programs operated in this state.

SEC. 2.SEC. 7.

 Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

1502.
 As used in this chapter:
(a) “Community care facility” means any facility, place, or building that is maintained and operated to provide nonmedical residential care, day treatment, adult daycare, or foster family agency services for children, adults, or children and adults, including, but not limited to, the physically handicapped, mentally impaired, incompetent persons, and abused or neglected children, and includes all of the following:
(1) “Residential facility” means any family home, group care facility, or similar facility determined by the department, for 24-hour nonmedical care of persons in need of personal services, supervision, or assistance essential for sustaining the activities of daily living or for the protection of the individual.
(2) “Adult day program” means any community-based facility or program that provides care to persons 18 years of age or older in need of personal services, supervision, or assistance essential for sustaining the activities of daily living or for the protection of these individuals on less than a 24-hour basis.
(3) “Therapeutic day services facility” means any facility that provides nonmedical care, counseling, educational or vocational support, or social rehabilitation services on less than a 24-hour basis to persons under 18 years of age who would otherwise be placed in foster care or who are returning to families from foster care. Program standards for these facilities shall be developed by the department, pursuant to Section 1530, in consultation with therapeutic day services and foster care providers.
(4) “Foster family agency” means any public agency or private organization, organized and operated on a nonprofit basis, engaged in any of the following:
(A) Recruiting, certifying, approving, and training of, and providing professional support to, foster parents and resource families.
(B) Coordinating with county placing agencies to find homes for foster children in need of care.
(C) Providing services and supports to licensed or certified foster parents, county-approved resource families, and children to the extent authorized by state and federal law.
(5) “Foster family home” means any residential facility providing 24-hour care for six or fewer foster children that is owned, leased, or rented and is the residence of the foster parent or parents, including their family, in whose care the foster children have been placed. The placement may be by a public or private child placement agency or by a court order, or by voluntary placement by a parent, parents, or guardian. It also means a foster family home described in Section 1505.2.
(6) “Small family home” means any residential facility, in the licensee’s family residence, that provides 24-hour care for six or fewer foster children who have mental disorders or developmental or physical disabilities and who require special care and supervision as a result of their disabilities. A small family home may accept children with special health care needs, pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 17710 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. In addition to placing children with special health care needs, the department may approve placement of children without special health care needs, up to the licensed capacity.
(7) “Social rehabilitation facility” means any residential facility that provides social rehabilitation services for no longer than 18 months in a group setting to adults recovering from mental illness who temporarily need assistance, guidance, or counseling. Program components shall be subject to program standards pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 5670) of Chapter 2.5 of Part 2 of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(8) “Community treatment facility” means any residential facility that provides mental health treatment services to children in a group setting and that has the capacity to provide secure containment. Program components shall be subject to program standards developed and enforced by the State Department of Health Care Services pursuant to Section 4094 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
This section does not prohibit or discourage placement of persons who have mental or physical disabilities into any category of community care facility that meets the needs of the individual placed, if the placement is consistent with the licensing regulations of the department.
(9) (A) “Full-service adoption agency” means any licensed entity engaged in the business of providing adoption services, that does all of the following:
(i) Assumes care, custody, and control of a child through relinquishment of the child to the agency or involuntary termination of parental rights to the child.
(ii) Assesses the birth parents, prospective adoptive parents, or child.
(iii) Places children for adoption.
(iv) Supervises adoptive placements.
(B) Private full-service adoption agencies shall be organized and operated on a nonprofit basis. As a condition of licensure to provide intercountry adoption services, a full-service adoption agency shall be accredited and in good standing according to Part 96 (commencing with Section 96.1) of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or supervised by an accredited primary provider, or acting as an exempted provider, in compliance with Subpart F (commencing with Section 96.29) of Part 96 of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(10) (A) “Noncustodial adoption agency” means any licensed entity engaged in the business of providing adoption services, that does all of the following:
(i) Assesses the prospective adoptive parents.
(ii) Cooperatively matches children freed for adoption, who are under the care, custody, and control of a licensed adoption agency, for adoption, with assessed and approved adoptive applicants.
(iii) Cooperatively supervises adoption placements with a full-service adoptive agency, but does not disrupt a placement or remove a child from a placement.
(B) Private noncustodial adoption agencies shall be organized and operated on a nonprofit basis. As a condition of licensure to provide intercountry adoption services, a noncustodial adoption agency shall be accredited and in good standing according to Part 96 (commencing with Section 96.1) of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or supervised by an accredited primary provider, or acting as an exempted provider, in compliance with Subpart F (commencing with Section 96.29) of Part 96 of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(11) “Transitional shelter care facility” means any group care facility that provides for 24-hour nonmedical care of persons in need of personal services, supervision, or assistance essential for sustaining the activities of daily living or for the protection of the individual. Program components shall be subject to program standards developed by the State Department of Social Services pursuant to Section 1502.3.
(12) “Transitional housing placement provider” means an organization licensed by the department pursuant to Section 1559.110 to provide transitional housing to foster children who are at least 16 years of age to promote their transition to adulthood. A transitional housing placement provider shall be privately operated and organized on a nonprofit basis.
(13) “Group home” means a residential facility that provides 24-hour care and supervision to children, delivered at least in part by staff employed by the licensee in a structured environment. The care and supervision provided by a group home shall be nonmedical, except as otherwise permitted by law.
(14) “Youth homelessness prevention center” means a group home licensed by the department to operate a program pursuant to Section 1502.35 to provide voluntary, short-term, shelter and personal services to homeless youth, youth who are at risk of homelessness, youth who are exhibiting status offender behavior, or runaway youth, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502.35.
(15) “Enhanced behavioral supports home” means a facility certified by the State Department of Developmental Services pursuant to Article 3.6 (commencing with Section 4684.80) of Chapter 6 of Division 4.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and licensed by the State Department of Social Services as an adult residential facility or a group home that provides 24-hour nonmedical care to individuals with developmental disabilities who require enhanced behavioral supports, staffing, and supervision in a homelike setting. An enhanced behavioral supports home shall have a maximum capacity of four consumers, shall conform to Section 441.530(a)(1) of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and shall be eligible for federal Medicaid home- and community-based services funding.
(16) “Community crisis home” means a facility certified by the State Department of Developmental Services pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 4698) of Chapter 6 of Division 4.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and licensed by the State Department of Social Services pursuant to Article 9.7 (commencing with Section 1567.80), as an adult residential facility, providing 24-hour nonmedical care to individuals with developmental disabilities receiving regional center service, in need of crisis intervention services, and who would otherwise be at risk of admission to the acute crisis center at Fairview Developmental Center, Sonoma Developmental Center, an acute general hospital, acute psychiatric hospital, an institution for mental disease, as described in Part 5 (commencing with Section 5900) of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or an out-of-state placement. A community crisis home shall have a maximum capacity of eight consumers, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1567.80, shall conform to Section 441.530(a)(1) of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and shall be eligible for federal Medicaid home- and community-based services funding.
(17) “Crisis nursery” means a facility licensed by the department to operate a program pursuant to Section 1516 to provide short-term care and supervision for children under six years of age who are voluntarily placed for temporary care by a parent or legal guardian due to a family crisis or stressful situation.
(18) “Short-term residential therapeutic program” means a residential facility operated by a public agency or private organization and licensed by the department pursuant to Section 1562.01 that provides an integrated program of specialized and intensive care and supervision, services and supports, treatment, and short-term, 24-hour care and supervision to children. The care and supervision provided by a short-term residential therapeutic program shall be nonmedical, except as otherwise permitted by law. Private short-term residential therapeutic programs shall be organized and operated on a nonprofit basis. A short-term residential therapeutic program may be operated as a children’s crisis residential program.
(19) “Private alternative boarding school” means a group home licensed by the department to operate a program pursuant to Section 1502.2 to provide youth with 24-hour residential care and supervision, which, in addition to providing educational services to youth, provides, or holds itself out as providing, behavioral-based services to youth with social, emotional, or behavioral issues. The care and supervision provided by a private alternative boarding school shall be nonmedical, except as otherwise permitted by law.
(20) “Private alternative outdoor program” means a group home licensed by the department to operate a program pursuant to Section 1502.21 to provide youth with 24-hour residential care and supervision, which provides, or holds itself out as providing, behavioral-based services in an outdoor living setting to youth with social, emotional, or behavioral issues. The care and supervision provided by a private alternative outdoor program shall be nonmedical, except as otherwise permitted by law.
(21) “Children’s crisis residential program” means a facility licensed by the department as a short-term residential therapeutic program pursuant to Section 1562.02 and approved by the State Department of Health Care Services, or a county mental health plan to which the State Department of Health Care Services has delegated approval authority, to operate a children’s crisis residential mental health program approval pursuant to Section 11462.011 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to serve children experiencing mental health crises as an alternative to psychiatric hospitalization.
(22) “Specialized foster home” means a facility licensed by the department as providing 24-hour care for foster children that is the residence of the foster parent or parents, including their family, with enhanced care and supervision provided by the foster parent or parents who have completed specialized training and meet other requirements pursuant to standards developed by the department, as specified in Section 1502.25, to meet the higher level of needs of youth placed by county child welfare agencies or probation departments. The residence may be owned or operated by the foster parent or parents, a foster family agency, short-term residential treatment facility, or the county.
(b) “Department” or “state department” means the State Department of Social Services.
(c) “Director” means the Director of Social Services.

SEC. 3.SEC. 8.

 Section 1502.25 is added to the Health and Safety Code, immediately following Section 1502.21, to read:

1502.25.
 (a) (1) The department shall license specialized foster homes as residential facilities providing board, care, and supervision by a resource parent pursuant to standards developed in consultation with county placing agencies and interested stakeholders.
(2) At a minimum, specialized foster homes shall meet the standards described in Section 16519.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. These standards shall include, but are not limited to, training standards that include trauma-informed approaches to meet the needs of children, youth, and nonminor dependents who reside in specialized foster homes. The specialized foster homes shall complete training as a condition of obtaining and maintaining licensure, as directed by the department. Training topics shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) Developing strong independent living skills.
(B) Promoting and facilitating connections for youth with family and important adult connections, with the goal of facilitating relational permanency.
(C) Providing support to achieve educational outcomes and career and educational goals. This shall include active engagement in any educational plan developed for the youth, as appropriate.
(D) Providing emotional support to youth and supporting the youth’s journey to recovery and healing from trauma and engaging in the child or youth’s mental health treatment plan, as appropriate.
(E) Promoting health and wellness activities, including encouraging and facilitating attendance in any extracurricular activities.
(F) Requiring participation in any child and family team meetings and transitional independent living planning.
(G) Training in topics described in Section 16519.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(b) The rate paid to the resource parent shall be established by the department to include regional rates, and may include multiple rates based on the models to be developed by the department in consultation with county placing agencies and relevant stakeholders, and shall not exceed the rate paid for short-term residential treatment programs.
(c) By January 1, 2023, the department shall adopt regulations and determine appropriate provider rates to implement this section, in consultation with county placing agencies and interested stakeholders. The rates shall be based on actual estimated costs and may include costs that are ineligible for federal financial participation. These rates shall be adjusted based on cost-of-living changes on an annual basis, effective July 1 of each year.
(d) Except as otherwise provided by law, the requirements set forth in Article 2 (commencing with Section 16519.5) of Chapter 5 of Part 4 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code shall apply to specialized foster homes.
(e) Notwithstanding the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the department may implement this section by publishing information releases or similar instructions from the director until the regulations adopted by the department pursuant to subdivision (c) become effective.

SEC. 4.SEC. 9.

 Section 1562.01 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

1562.01.
 (a) The department shall license short-term residential therapeutic programs, as defined in paragraph (18) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502, pursuant to this chapter. A short-term residential therapeutic program shall comply with all requirements of this chapter that are applicable to group homes and to the requirements of this section.
(b) (1) A short-term residential therapeutic program shall have national accreditation from an entity identified by the department pursuant to the process described in paragraph (6) of subdivision (b) of Section 11462 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(2) A short-term residential therapeutic program applicant shall submit documentation of accreditation or application for accreditation with its application for licensure.
(3) A short-term residential therapeutic program shall have up to 24 months from the date of licensure to obtain accreditation.
(4) A short-term residential therapeutic program shall provide documentation to the department reporting its accreditation status at 12 months and at 18 months after the date of licensure.
(5) This subdivision does not preclude the department from requesting additional information from the short-term residential therapeutic program regarding its accreditation status.
(6) The department may revoke a short-term residential therapeutic program’s license pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 1550) for failure to obtain accreditation within the timeframes specified in this subdivision.
(c) (1) A short-term residential therapeutic program shall have up to 12 months from the date of licensure to obtain in good standing a mental health program approval that includes a Medi-Cal mental health certification, as set forth in Sections 4096.5 and 11462.01 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(2) A short-term residential therapeutic program shall maintain the program approval described in paragraph (1) in good standing during its licensure.
(3) The department shall track the number of licensed short-term residential therapeutic programs that were unable to obtain a mental health program approval and provide that information to the Legislature annually as part of the State Budget process.
(d) (1) A short-term residential therapeutic program shall prepare and maintain a current, written plan of operation as required by the department.
(2) The plan of operation shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) A statement of purposes and goals.
(B) A plan for the supervision, evaluation, and training of staff. The training plan shall be appropriate to meet the needs of staff and children.
(C) A program statement that includes all of the following:
(i) Description of the short-term residential therapeutic program’s ability to support the differing needs of children and their families with short-term, specialized, and intensive treatment.
(ii) Description of the core services, as set forth in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 11462 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to be offered to children and their families, as appropriate or necessary.
(iii) Procedures for the development, implementation, and periodic updating of the needs and services plan for children served by the short-term residential therapeutic program and procedures for collaborating with the child and family team described in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 16501 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, that include, but are not limited to, a description of the services to be provided to meet the treatment needs of the child as assessed, pursuant to subdivision (d) or (e) of Section 11462.01 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the anticipated duration of the treatment, and the timeframe and plan for transitioning the child to a less restrictive family environment.
(iv) A description of the population or populations to be served.
(v) A description of compliance with the mental health program approval requirement in subdivision (c). A short-term residential therapeutic program that has not satisfied the requirement in subdivision (c) shall demonstrate the ability to meet the mental health service needs of children.
(vi) (I) A description of how the short-term residential therapeutic program, in accordance with the child’s case plan and the child and family team recommendations, will provide for, arrange for the provision of, or assist in, both of the following:
(ia) Identification of home-based family settings for a child who no longer needs the level of care and supervision provided by a short-term residential therapeutic program.
(ib) Continuity of care, services, and treatment as a child moves from their short-term residential therapeutic program placement to home-based family care or to a permanent living situation through reunification, adoption, or guardianship.
(II) This clause shall not be interpreted to supersede the placement and care responsibility vested in the county child welfare agency or probation department.
(vii) Any other information that may be prescribed by the department for the proper administration of this section.
(e) In addition to the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter, a county licensed to operate a short-term residential therapeutic program shall describe, in the plan of operation, its conflict of interest mitigation plan, as set forth in subdivision (g) of Section 11462.02 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(f) (1) (A) (i) A short-term residential therapeutic program applicant shall submit an application to the department that includes a letter of recommendation in support of its program from a county placing agency.
(ii) The letter of recommendation shall include a statement that the county placing agency reviewed a copy of the applicant’s program statement.
(iii) If the letter of recommendation is not from the county in which the facility is located, the short-term residential therapeutic program applicant shall include, with its application, a statement that it provided the county in which the facility is located an opportunity for that county to review the program statement and notified that county that the facility has received a letter of recommendation from another county.
(B) If the application does not contain a letter of recommendation as described in subparagraph (A), then the department shall cease review of the application. Nothing in this paragraph shall constitute a denial of the application for purposes of Section 1526 or any other law.
(C) A new letter of recommendation shall not be required when a short-term residential therapeutic program moves locations.
(2) A short-term residential therapeutic program shall submit a copy of its program statement to all county placing agencies from which the short-term residential therapeutic program accepts placements, including the county in which the facility is located, for optional review when the short-term residential therapeutic program updates its program statement.
(g) (1) The department shall adopt regulations to establish requirements for the education, qualification, and training of facility managers and staff who provide care and supervision to children or who have regular, direct contact with children in the course of their responsibilities in short-term residential therapeutic programs consistent with the intended role of these facilities to provide short-term, specialized, and intensive treatment.
(2) Requirements shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) Staff classifications.
(B) Specification of the date by which employees shall be required to meet the education and qualification requirements.
(C) Any other requirements that may be prescribed by the department for the proper administration of this section.
(h) The department shall adopt regulations to specify training requirements for staff who provide care and supervision to children or who have regular, direct contact with children in the course of their responsibilities. These requirements shall include the following:
(1) Timeframes for completion of training, including all of the following:
(A) Training that shall be completed prior to unsupervised care of children.
(B) Training to be completed within the first 180 days of employment.
(C) Training to be completed annually.
(2) Topics to be covered in the training shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
(A) Child and adolescent development, including sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
(B) The effects of trauma, including grief and loss, and child abuse and neglect on child development and behavior and methods to behaviorally support children impacted by that trauma or child abuse and neglect.
(C) The rights of a child in foster care, including the right to have fair and equal access to all available services, placement, care, treatment, and benefits, and to not be subjected to discrimination or harassment on the basis of actual or perceived race, ethnic group identification, ancestry, national origin, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, mental or physical disability, or HIV status.
(D) Positive discipline and the importance of self-esteem.
(E) Core practice model.
(F) An overview of the child welfare and probation systems.
(G) Reasonable and prudent parent standard.
(H) Instruction on cultural competency and sensitivity and related best practices for providing adequate care for children across diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds, as well as children identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.
(I) Awareness and identification of commercial sexual exploitation and best practices for providing care and supervision to commercially sexually exploited children.
(J) The federal Indian Child Welfare Act (25 U.S.C. Sec. 1901 et seq.), its historical significance, the rights of children covered by the act, and the best interests of Indian children, including the role of the caregiver in supporting culturally appropriate, child-centered practices that respect Native American history, culture, retention of tribal membership, and connection to the tribal community and traditions.
(K) Permanence, well-being, and educational needs of children.
(L) Basic instruction on existing laws and procedures regarding the safety of foster youth at school, and ensuring a harassment- and violence-free school environment pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 32250) of Chapter 2 of Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code.
(M) Best practices for providing care and supervision to nonminor dependents.
(N) Health issues in foster care.
(O) Physical and psychosocial needs of children, including behavior management, deescalation techniques, and trauma-informed crisis management planning.
(i) (1) Each person employed as a facility manager or staff member of a short-term residential therapeutic program, who provides direct care and supervision to children and youth residing in the short-term residential therapeutic program shall be at least 21 years of age.
(2) This subdivision shall not apply to a facility manager or staff member employed, before October 1, 2014, at a short-term residential therapeutic program that was operating under a group home license prior to January 1, 2017.
(j) Notwithstanding this chapter, the department may establish requirements for licensed group homes that are transitioning to short-term residential therapeutic programs, which may include, but not be limited to, requirements related to application and plan of operation.
(k) A short-term residential therapeutic program shall have a qualified and certified administrator, as set forth in Section 1522.41.
(l) As a condition of licensure, a short-term residential therapeutic program shall provide trauma-informed support and transition services to foster youth as part of a planned or unplanned discharge. This shall include participation in any county- or state-level meetings pursuant to Section 16521.6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code with the goal of placement preservation whenever possible or, if necessary, identifying and working with alternative short-term residential therapeutic programs or other providers to directly transition the youth.
(m) The department shall have the authority to inspect a short-term residential therapeutic program pursuant to the system of governmental monitoring and oversight developed by the department pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 11462 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

SEC. 10.

 Section 361.21 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is repealed.
361.21.

(a)The court shall not order the placement of a minor in an out-of-state group home, unless the court finds, in its order of placement, that all of the following conditions have been met:

(1)The out-of-state group home is licensed or certified for the placement of minors by an agency of the state in which the minor will be placed.

(2)The out-of-state group home meets the requirements of Section 7911.1 of the Family Code.

(3)In-state facilities or programs have been determined to be unavailable or inadequate to meet the needs of the minor.

(b)At least every six months, the court shall review each placement made pursuant to subdivision (a) in order to determine compliance with that subdivision.

(c)A county shall not be entitled to receive or expend any public funds for the placement of a minor in an out-of-state group home unless the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (b) are met.

SEC. 11.

 Section 361.21 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

361.21.
 (a) The court shall not order the placement of a minor in an out-of-state group care facility.
(b) A county shall not be entitled to receive or expend any public funds for the placement of a minor in an out-of-state group care facility.

SEC. 12.

 Section 362.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

362.2.
 It is the intent of the Legislature that if a placement out-of-home is necessary pursuant to an individualized education program, that this placement be as near the child’s home as possible, unless it is not in the best interest of the child. When the court determines that it is the best interest of the child to be placed out-of-state, the court shall read into the record that in-state alternatives have been explored and that they cannot meet the needs of the child, and the court shall state on the record the reasons for the out-of-state placement. The court shall not order the placement of a child in an out-of-state group care facility.

SEC. 13.

 Section 366 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

366.
 (a) (1) The status of every dependent child in foster care shall be reviewed periodically as determined by the court but no less frequently than once every six months, as calculated from the date of the original dispositional hearing, until the hearing described in Section 366.26 is completed. The court shall consider the safety of the child and shall determine all of the following:
(A) The continuing necessity for and appropriateness of the placement.
(B) The extent of the agency’s compliance with the case plan in making reasonable efforts, or, in the case of a child 16 years of age or older with another planned permanent living arrangement, the ongoing and intensive efforts, to return the child to a safe home and to complete any steps necessary to finalize the permanent placement of the child, including efforts to maintain relationships between a child who is 10 years of age or older and who has been in an out-of-home placement for six months or longer, and individuals other than the child’s siblings who are important to the child, consistent with the child’s best interests. Where it is known or there is reason to know that the child is an Indian child, as defined by Section 224.1, the court shall also determine whether the agency has made active efforts, as defined in Section 224.1 and as described in Section 361.7, to provide remedial services and rehabilitative programs designed to prevent the breakup of the Indian family.
(C) Whether there should be any limitation on the right of the parent, guardian, or Indian custodian to make educational decisions or developmental services decisions for the child. That limitation shall be specifically addressed in the court order and may not exceed those necessary to protect the child. Whenever the court specifically limits the right of the parent, guardian, or Indian custodian to make educational decisions or developmental services decisions for the child, the court shall at the same time appoint a responsible adult to make educational decisions or developmental services decisions for the child pursuant to Section 361.
(D) (i) Whether the child has other siblings under the court’s jurisdiction, and, if any siblings exist, all of the following:
(I) The nature of the relationship between the child and his or her the child’s siblings.
(II) The appropriateness of developing or maintaining the sibling relationships pursuant to Section 16002.
(III) If the siblings are not placed together in the same home, why the siblings are not placed together and what efforts are being made to place the siblings together, or why those efforts are not appropriate.
(IV) If the siblings are not placed together, all of the following:
(ia) The frequency and nature of the visits between the siblings.
(ib) If there are visits between the siblings, whether the visits are supervised or unsupervised. If the visits are supervised, a discussion of the reasons why the visits are supervised, and what needs to be accomplished in order for the visits to be unsupervised.
(ic) If there are visits between the siblings, a description of the location and length of the visits.
(id) Any plan to increase visitation between the siblings.
(V) The impact of the sibling relationships on the child’s placement and planning for legal permanence.
(VI) The continuing need to suspend sibling interaction, if applicable, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 16002.
(ii) The factors the court may consider in making a determination regarding the nature of the child’s sibling relationships may include, but are not limited to, whether the siblings were raised together in the same home, whether the siblings have shared significant common experiences or have existing close and strong bonds, whether either sibling expresses a desire to visit or live with his or her their sibling, as applicable, and whether ongoing contact is in the child’s best emotional interests.
(E) The extent of progress that has been made toward alleviating or mitigating the causes necessitating placement in foster care.
(F) If the review hearing is the last review hearing to be held before the child attains 18 years of age, the court shall conduct the hearing pursuant to Section 366.31 or 366.32.
(2) The court shall project a likely date by which the child may be returned to and safely maintained in the home or placed for adoption, tribal customary adoption in the case of an Indian child, legal guardianship, placed with a fit and willing relative, or in another planned permanent living arrangement.
(b) Subsequent to the hearing, periodic reviews of each child in foster care shall be conducted pursuant to the requirements of Sections 366.3 and 16503.
(c) If the child has been placed out of state, each review described in subdivision (a) and any reviews conducted pursuant to Sections 366.3 and 16503 shall also address whether the out-of-state placement continues to be the most appropriate placement selection and in the best interests of the child.
(d) (1) A review described in subdivision (a) and any reviews conducted pursuant to Sections 366.3 and 16503 shall not result in a placement of a child outside the United States prior to a judicial finding that the placement is in the best interest of the child, except as required by federal law or treaty.
(2) The party or agency requesting placement of the child outside the United States shall carry the burden of proof and must show, by clear and convincing evidence, that a placement outside the United States is in the best interest of the child.
(3) In determining the best interest of the child, the court shall consider, but not be limited to, the following factors:
(A) Placement with a relative.
(B) Placement of siblings in the same home.
(C) Amount and nature of any contact between the child and the potential guardian or caretaker.
(D) Physical and medical needs of the dependent child.
(E) Psychological and emotional needs of the dependent child.
(F) Social, cultural, and educational needs of the dependent child.
(G) Specific desires of any dependent child who is 12 years of age or older.
(4) If the court finds that a placement outside the United States is, by clear and convincing evidence, in the best interest of the child, the court may issue an order authorizing the social worker or placing agency to make a placement outside the United States. A child subject to this subdivision shall not leave the United States prior to the issuance of the order described in this paragraph.
(5) For purposes of this subdivision, “outside the United States” shall not include the lands of any federally recognized American Indian tribe or Alaskan Natives.
(6) This section shall not apply to the placement of a dependent child with a parent.
(e) A child may shall not be placed in an out-of-state group home, or remain in an out-of-state group home, unless the group home is in compliance with Section 7911.1 of the Family Code. care facility.
(f) The status review of every nonminor dependent, as defined in subdivision (v) of Section 11400, shall be conducted pursuant to the requirements of Sections 366.3, 366.31, or 366.32, and 16503 until dependency jurisdiction is terminated pursuant to Section 391.

SEC. 14.

 Section 706.6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

706.6.
 (a) Services to minors are best provided in a framework that integrates service planning and delivery among multiple service systems, including the mental health system, using a team-based approach, such as a child and family team. A child and family team brings together individuals that engage with the child or youth and family in assessing, planning, and delivering services. Use of a team approach increases efficiency, and thus reduces cost, by increasing coordination of formal services and integrating the natural and informal supports available to the child or youth and family.
(b) (1) For the purposes of this section, “child and family team” has the same meaning as in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 16501.
(2) In its development of the case plan, the probation agency shall consider any recommendations of the child and family team, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 16501. The agency shall document the rationale for any inconsistencies between the case plan and the child and family team recommendations.
(c) A case plan prepared as required by Section 706.5 shall be submitted to the court. It shall either be attached to the social study or incorporated as a separate section within the social study. The case plan shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:
(1) A description of the circumstances that resulted in the minor being placed under the supervision of the probation department and in foster care.
(2) Documentation of the preplacement assessment of the minor’s and family’s strengths and service needs showing that preventive services have been provided, and that reasonable efforts to prevent out-of-home placement have been made. The assessment shall include the type of placement best equipped to meet those needs.
(3) (A) A description of the type of home or institution in which the minor is to be placed, and the reasons for that placement decision, including a discussion of the safety and appropriateness of the placement, including the recommendations of the child and family team, if available.
(B) An appropriate placement is a placement in the least restrictive, most family-like environment that promotes normal childhood experiences, in closest proximity to the minor’s home, that meets the minor’s best interests and special needs.
(d) The following shall apply:
(1) The agency selecting a placement shall consider, in order of priority:
(A) Placement with relatives, nonrelated extended family members, and tribal members.
(B) Foster family homes and certified homes or resource families of foster family agencies.
(C) Treatment and intensive treatment certified homes or resource families of foster family agencies, or multidimensional treatment foster homes or therapeutic foster care homes.
(D) Group care placements in the following order:
(i) Short-term residential therapeutic programs.
(ii) Group homes.
(iii) Community treatment facilities.

(iv)Out-of-state residential treatment pursuant to Part 5 (commencing with Section 7900) of Division 12 of the Family Code.

(2) Although the placement options shall be considered in the preferential order specified in paragraph (1), the placement of a child may be with any of these placement settings in order to ensure the selection of a safe placement setting that is in the child’s best interests and meets the child’s special needs.
(3) A minor may be placed into a community care facility licensed as a short-term residential therapeutic program, as defined in subdivision (ad) of Section 11400, provided the case plan indicates that the placement is for the purposes of providing short-term, specialized, and intensive treatment for the minor, the case plan specifies the need for, nature of, and anticipated duration of this treatment, and the case plan includes transitioning the minor to a less restrictive environment and the projected timeline by which the minor will be transitioned to a less restrictive environment.
(e) Effective January 1, 2010, a case plan shall ensure the educational stability of the child while in foster care and shall include both of the following:
(1) Assurances that the placement takes into account the appropriateness of the current educational setting and the proximity to the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement.
(2) An assurance that the placement agency has coordinated with appropriate local educational agencies to ensure that the child remains in the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement, or, if remaining in that school is not in the best interests of the child, assurances by the placement agency and the local educational agency to provide immediate and appropriate enrollment in a new school and to provide all of the child’s educational records to the new school.
(f) Specific time-limited goals and related activities designed to enable the safe return of the minor to his or her their home, or in the event that return to his or her their home is not possible, activities designed to result in permanent placement or emancipation. Specific responsibility for carrying out the planned activities shall be assigned to one or more of the following:
(1) The probation department.
(2) The minor’s parent or parents or legal guardian or guardians, as applicable.
(3) The minor.
(4) The foster parents or licensed agency providing foster care.
(g) The projected date of completion of the case plan objectives and the date services will be terminated.
(h) (1) Scheduled visits between the minor and his or her their family and an explanation if no visits are made.
(2) Whether the child has other siblings, and, if any siblings exist, all of the following:
(A) The nature of the relationship between the child and his or her their siblings.
(B) The appropriateness of developing or maintaining the sibling relationships pursuant to Section 16002.
(C) If the siblings are not placed together in the same home, why the siblings are not placed together and what efforts are being made to place the siblings together, or why those efforts are not appropriate.
(D) If the siblings are not placed together, all of the following:
(i) The frequency and nature of the visits between the siblings.
(ii) If there are visits between the siblings, whether the visits are supervised or unsupervised. If the visits are supervised, a discussion of the reasons why the visits are supervised, and what needs to be accomplished in order for the visits to be unsupervised.
(iii) If there are visits between the siblings, a description of the location and length of the visits.
(iv) Any plan to increase visitation between the siblings.
(E) The impact of the sibling relationships on the child’s placement and planning for legal permanence.
(F) The continuing need to suspend sibling interaction, if applicable, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 16002.
(3) The factors the court may consider in making a determination regarding the nature of the child’s sibling relationships may include, but are not limited to, whether the siblings were raised together in the same home, whether the siblings have shared significant common experiences or have existing close and strong bonds, whether either sibling expresses a desire to visit or live with his or her their sibling, as applicable, and whether ongoing contact is in the child’s best emotional interests.
(i) (1)When placement is made in a foster family home, group home, or other child care institution that is either a substantial distance from the home of the minor’s parent or legal guardian or out of state, the case plan shall specify the reasons why the placement is the most appropriate and is in the best interest of the minor.

(2)When an out-of-state group home placement is recommended or made, the case plan shall comply with Section 727.1 of this code and Section 7911.1 of the Family Code. In addition, documentation of the recommendation of the multidisciplinary team and the rationale for this particular placement shall be included. The case plan shall also address what in-state services or facilities were used or considered and why they were not recommended.

(j) If applicable, efforts to make it possible to place siblings together, unless it has been determined that placement together is not in the best interest of one or more siblings.
(k) A schedule of visits between the minor and the probation officer, including a monthly visitation schedule for those children placed in group homes.
(l) Health and education information about the minor, school records, immunizations, known medical problems, and any known medications the minor may be taking, names and addresses of the minor’s health and educational providers; the minor’s grade level performance; assurances that the minor’s placement in foster care takes into account proximity to the school in which the minor was enrolled at the time of placement; and other relevant health and educational information.
(m) When out-of-home services are used and the goal is reunification, the case plan shall describe the services that were provided to prevent removal of the minor from the home, those services to be provided to assist in reunification and the services to be provided concurrently to achieve legal permanency if efforts to reunify fail.
(n) (1) The updated case plan prepared for a permanency planning hearing shall include a recommendation for a permanent plan for the minor. The identified permanent plan for a minor under 16 years of age shall be return home, adoption, legal guardianship, or placement with a fit and willing relative. The case plan shall identify any barriers to achieving legal permanence and the steps the agency will take to address those barriers.
(2) If, after considering reunification, adoptive placement, legal guardianship, or permanent placement with a fit and willing relative the probation officer recommends placement in a planned permanent living arrangement for a minor 16 years of age or older, the case plan shall include documentation of a compelling reason or reasons why termination of parental rights is not in the minor’s best interest. For purposes of this subdivision, a “compelling reason” shall have the same meaning as in subdivision (c) of Section 727.3. The case plan shall also identify the intensive and ongoing efforts to return the minor to the home of the parent, place the minor for adoption, establish a legal guardianship, or place the minor with a fit and willing relative, as appropriate. Efforts shall include the use of technology, including social media, to find biological family members of the minor.
(o) Each updated case plan shall include a description of the services that have been provided to the minor under the plan and an evaluation of the appropriateness and effectiveness of those services.
(p) A statement that the parent or legal guardian, and the minor have had an opportunity to participate in the development of the case plan, to review the case plan, to sign the case plan, and to receive a copy of the plan, or an explanation about why the parent, legal guardian, or minor was not able to participate or sign the case plan.
(q) For a minor in out-of-home care who is 16 years of age or older, a written description of the programs and services, which will help the minor prepare for the transition from foster care to successful adulthood.

SEC. 15.

 Section 727.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is repealed.
727.1.

(a)If the court orders the care, custody, and control of the minor to be under the supervision of the probation officer for foster care placement pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 727, the decision regarding choice of placement, pursuant to Section 706.6, shall be based upon selection of a safe setting that is the least restrictive or most familylike, and the most appropriate setting that meets the individual needs of the minor and is available, in proximity to the parent’s home, consistent with the selection of the environment best suited to meet the minor’s special needs and best interests. The selection shall consider, in order of priority, placement with relatives, tribal members, and foster family, group care, and residential treatment pursuant to Section 7950 of the Family Code.

(b)Unless otherwise authorized by law, the court shall not order the placement of a minor who is adjudged a ward of the court on the basis that he or she is a person described by either Section 601 or 602 in a private residential facility or program that provides 24-hour supervision, outside of the state, unless the court finds, in its order of placement, that all of the following conditions are met:

(1)In-state facilities or programs have been determined to be unavailable or inadequate to meet the needs of the minor.

(2)The State Department of Social Services or its designee has performed initial and continuing inspection of the out-of-state residential facility or program and has either certified that the facility or program meets the greater of all licensure standards required of group homes or of short-term residential therapeutic programs operated in California, or that the department has granted a waiver to a specific licensing standard upon a finding that there exists no adverse impact to health and safety, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 7911.1 of the Family Code.

(3)The requirements of Section 7911.1 of the Family Code are met.

(c)If, upon inspection, the probation officer of the county in which the minor is adjudged a ward of the court determines that the out-of-state facility or program is not in compliance with the standards required under paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) or has an adverse impact on the health and safety of the minor, the probation officer may temporarily remove the minor from the facility or program. The probation officer shall promptly inform the court of the minor’s removal, and shall return the minor to the court for a hearing to review the suitability of continued out-of-state placement. The probation officer shall, within one business day of removing the minor, notify the State Department of Social Services’ Compact Administrator, and, within five working days, submit a written report of the findings and actions taken.

(d)The court shall review each of these placements for compliance with the requirements of subdivision (b) at least once every six months.

(e)The county shall not be entitled to receive or expend any public funds for the placement of a minor in an out-of-state group home or short-term residential therapeutic program, unless the conditions of subdivisions (b) and (d) are met.

SEC. 16.

 Section 727.1 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

727.1.
 (a) If the court orders the care, custody, and control of the minor to be under the supervision of the probation officer for foster care placement pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 727, the decision regarding choice of placement, pursuant to Section 706.6, shall be based upon selection of a safe setting that is the least restrictive or most familylike, and the most appropriate setting that meets the individual needs of the minor and is available, in proximity to the parent’s home, consistent with the selection of the environment best suited to meet the minor’s special needs and best interests. The selection shall consider, in order of priority, placement with relatives, tribal members, and foster family, group care, and residential treatment pursuant to Section 7950 of the Family Code.
(b) The court shall not order the placement of a minor who is adjudged a ward of the court on the basis that the minor is a person described by either Section 601 or 602 in a private residential facility or program that provides 24-hour supervision, outside of the state.
(c) The county shall not be entitled to receive or expend any public funds for the placement of a minor in an out-of-state group home or short-term residential therapeutic program.

SEC. 17.

 Section 4096 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

4096.
 (a) This section governs interagency placement committees related to the placement of dependents and wards into short-term residential therapeutic programs, as specified in Section 11462.01, and group homes operating at a rate classification level 13 or 14 that have been granted an extension pursuant to Section 11462.04, and out-of-state residential programs operating pursuant to Section 7911.1 of the Family Code. 11462.04. This section shall also apply to determinations made pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) of Section 4094.5, as applicable.
(1) Interagency collaboration and children’s program services shall be structured in a manner that will facilitate implementation of the goals of Part 4 (commencing with Section 5850) of Division 5 to develop protocols outlining the roles and responsibilities of placing agencies and programs regarding nonemergency placements of foster children in certified residential therapeutic programs.
(2) Components shall be added to state-county performance contracts required in Section 5650 that provide for reports from counties on how this section is implemented.
(3) The State Department of Health Care Services shall develop performance contract components required by paragraph (2).
(4) Performance contracts subject to this section shall document that the procedures to be implemented in compliance with this section have been approved by the county social services department and the county probation department.
(b) Funds specified in subdivision (a) of Section 17601 for services to wards of the court and dependent children of the court shall be allocated and distributed to counties based on the number of wards of the court and dependent children of the court in the county.
(c) A county may utilize funds allocated pursuant to subdivision (b) only if the county has established an operational interagency placement committee with a membership that includes at least the county placement agency and a licensed mental health professional from the county department of mental health. If necessary, the funds may be used for costs associated with establishing the interagency placement committee.
(d) Funds allocated pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be used to provide services to wards of the court and dependent children of the court jointly identified by county mental health, social services, and probation departments as the highest priority. Every effort shall be made to match those funds with funds received pursuant to Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act, contained in Subchapter 19 (commencing with Section 1396) of Chapter 7 of Title 42 of the United States Code.
(e) (1) Each interagency placement committee shall establish procedures whereby a ward of the court or dependent child of the court, or a voluntarily placed child whose placement is funded by the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care Program, who is to be placed or is currently placed in a program, as specified in subdivision (a), shall be determined to meet one of the following:
(A) He or she The child meets the medical necessity criteria for Medi-Cal specialty mental health services, as the criteria are described in Section 1830.205 or 1830.210 of Title 9 of the California Code of Regulations.
(B) He or she The child is assessed as seriously emotionally disturbed, as described in subdivision (a) of Section 5600.3.
(C) His or her The child’s individual behavioral or treatment needs can only be met by the level of care provided in a program, as specified in subdivision (a).
(2) The determination required by paragraph (1) shall do all of the following:
(A) Ensure that the care and services that the child needs are provided by a program, as specified in subdivision (a).
(B) Ensure that the requirements of subdivision (c) of Section 16514 have been met with respect to commonality of need.
(C) Consider the detailed history that shall be provided by the placing agency outlining behavior that may pose a threat to the health or safety of that child and the other children residing in the program and consider any potential interference with the effectiveness of the care and services provided to that child and the other children residing in the program, as specified in subdivision (a).
(D) Describe additional safety measures and therapeutic interventions needed to mitigate identified challenging behaviors or risks to the safety of the child and other children in the facility.
(E) Present the determination to the placing agency within five business days of the referral.
(3) Nothing in this subdivision shall prohibit an interagency placement committee from considering an assessment that was provided by a licensed mental health professional, as described in subdivision (g), and that was developed consistent with procedures established by the county pursuant to paragraph (1).
(4) The State Department of Health Care Services and the State Department of Social Services shall develop a dispute resolution process or utilize an existing dispute resolution process currently operated by each department to jointly review a disputed interagency placement committee determination made pursuant to this subdivision. The departments shall report the developed or utilized dispute resolution process to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature no later than January 1, 2017, and shall track the number of disputes reported and resolved, and provide that information to the Legislature annually as part of the State Budget process. 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), the departments may issue guidance on the joint review process for dispute resolution by written directive.
(f) The interagency placement committee shall document the results of the determination required by subdivision (e) and shall notify the appropriate provider in writing, of those results within 10 days of the completion of the determination.
(g) If the child’s or youth’s placement is not funded by the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care Program, a licensed mental health professional, or an otherwise recognized provider of mental health services, shall certify that the child has been assessed as meeting the medical necessity criteria for Medi-Cal specialty mental health Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment services, as the criteria are described in Section 1830.210 of Title 9 of the California Code of Regulations, or assessed as seriously emotionally disturbed, as described in subdivision (a) of Section 5600.3. A “licensed mental health professional” includes a physician licensed under Section 2050 of the Business and Professions Code, a licensed psychologist within the meaning of subdivision (a) of Section 2902 of the Business and Professions Code, a licensed clinical social worker within the meaning of subdivision (a) of Section 4996 of the Business and Professions Code, a licensed marriage and family therapist within the meaning of subdivision (b) of Section 4980 of the Business and Professions Code, or a licensed professional clinical counselor within the meaning of subdivision (e) of Section 4999.12.

SEC. 5.SEC. 18.

 Section 11400 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

11400.
 For purposes of this article, and Article 6 (commencing with Section 11450), the following definitions shall apply:
(a) “Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC)” means the aid provided on behalf of needy children in foster care under the terms of this division.
(b) “Case plan” means a written document that, at a minimum, specifies the type of home in which the child shall be placed, the safety of that home, and the appropriateness of that home to meet the child’s needs. It shall also include the agency’s plan for ensuring that the child receive proper care and protection in a safe environment, and shall set forth the appropriate services to be provided to the child, the child’s family, and the foster parents, in order to meet the child’s needs while in foster care, and to reunify the child with the child’s family. In addition, the plan shall specify the services that will be provided or steps that will be taken to facilitate an alternate permanent plan if reunification is not possible.
(c) “Certified family home” means an individual or family certified by a licensed foster family agency and issued a certificate of approval by that agency as meeting licensing standards, and used exclusively by that foster family agency for placements.
(d) “Family home” means the family residence of a licensee in which 24-hour care and supervision are provided for children.
(e) “Small family home” means any residential facility, in the licensee’s family residence, which provides 24-hour care for six or fewer foster children who have mental disorders or developmental or physical disabilities and who require special care and supervision as a result of their disabilities.
(f) “Foster care” means the 24-hour out-of-home care provided to children whose own families are unable or unwilling to care for them, and who are in need of temporary or long-term substitute parenting.
(g) “Foster family agency” means a licensed community care facility, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code. Private foster family agencies shall be organized and operated on a nonprofit basis.
(h) “Group home” means a nondetention privately operated residential home, organized and operated on a nonprofit basis only, of any capacity, or a nondetention licensed residential care home operated by the County of San Mateo with a capacity of up to 25 beds, that accepts children in need of care and supervision in a group home, as defined by paragraph (13) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code.
(i) “Periodic review” means review of a child’s status by the juvenile court or by an administrative review panel, that shall include a consideration of the safety of the child, a determination of the continuing need for placement in foster care, evaluation of the goals for the placement and the progress toward meeting these goals, and development of a target date for the child’s return home or establishment of alternative permanent placement.
(j) “Permanency planning hearing” means a hearing conducted by the juvenile court in which the child’s future status, including whether the child shall be returned home or another permanent plan shall be developed, is determined.
(k) “Placement and care” refers to the responsibility for the welfare of a child vested in an agency or organization by virtue of the agency or organization having (1) been delegated care, custody, and control of a child by the juvenile court, (2) taken responsibility, pursuant to a relinquishment or termination of parental rights on a child, (3) taken the responsibility of supervising a child detained by the juvenile court pursuant to Section 319 or 636, or (4) signed a voluntary placement agreement for the child’s placement; or to the responsibility designated to an individual by virtue of the individual being appointed the child’s legal guardian.
(l) “Preplacement preventive services” means services that are designed to help children remain with their families by preventing or eliminating the need for removal.
(m) “Relative” means an adult who is related to the child by blood, adoption, or affinity within the fifth degree of kinship, including stepparents, stepsiblings, and all relatives whose status is preceded by the words “great,” “great-great,” or “grand” or the spouse of any of these persons even if the marriage was terminated by death or dissolution.
(n) “Nonrelative extended family member” means an adult caregiver who has an established familial or mentoring relationship with the child, as described in Section 362.7.
(o) “Voluntary placement” means an out-of-home placement of a child by (1) the county welfare department, probation department, or Indian tribe that has entered into an agreement pursuant to Section 10553.1, after the parents or guardians have requested the assistance of the county welfare department and have signed a voluntary placement agreement, or (2) the county welfare department licensed public or private adoption agency, or the department acting as an adoption agency, after the parents have requested the assistance of either the county welfare department, the licensed public or private adoption agency, or the department acting as an adoption agency for the purpose of adoption planning, and have signed a voluntary placement agreement.
(p) “Voluntary placement agreement” means a written agreement between either the county welfare department, probation department, or Indian tribe that has entered into an agreement pursuant to Section 10553.1, licensed public or private adoption agency, or the department acting as an adoption agency, and the parents or guardians of a child that specifies, at a minimum, the following:
(1) The legal status of the child.
(2) The rights and obligations of the parents or guardians, the child, and the agency in which the child is placed.
(q) “Original placement date” means the most recent date on which the court detained a child and ordered an agency to be responsible for supervising the child or the date on which an agency assumed responsibility for a child due to termination of parental rights, relinquishment, or voluntary placement.
(r) (1) “Transitional housing placement provider” means an organization licensed by the State Department of Social Services pursuant to Section 1559.110 of the Health and Safety Code to provide supervised transitional housing services to foster children who are at least 16 years of age. A transitional housing placement provider shall be privately operated and organized on a nonprofit basis.
(2) Before licensure, a provider shall obtain certification from the applicable county, in accordance with Section 16522.1.
(s) “Transitional Housing Program-Plus” means a provider certified by the applicable county, in accordance with subdivision (c) of Section 16522, to provide transitional housing services to former foster youth who have exited the foster care system on or after their 18th birthday.
(t) “Whole family foster home” means a resource family, licensed foster family home, approved relative caregiver or nonrelative extended family member’s home, the home of a nonrelated legal guardian whose guardianship was established pursuant to Section 360 or 366.26, certified family home, or a host family of a transitional housing placement provider, that provides foster care for a minor or nonminor dependent parent and their child, and is specifically recruited and trained to assist the minor or nonminor dependent parent in developing the skills necessary to provide a safe, stable, and permanent home for the child. The child of the minor or nonminor dependent parent need not be the subject of a petition filed pursuant to Section 300 to qualify for placement in a whole family foster home.
(u) “Mutual agreement” means any of the following:
(1) A written voluntary agreement of consent for continued placement and care in a supervised setting between a minor or, on and after January 1, 2012, a nonminor dependent, and the county welfare services or probation department or tribal agency responsible for the foster care placement, that documents the nonminor’s continued willingness to remain in supervised out-of-home placement under the placement and care of the responsible county, tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization that has entered into an agreement with the state pursuant to Section 10553.1, remain under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court as a nonminor dependent, and report any change of circumstances relevant to continued eligibility for foster care payments, and that documents the nonminor’s and social worker’s or probation officer’s agreement to work together to facilitate implementation of the mutually developed supervised placement agreement and transitional independent living case plan.
(2) An agreement, as described in paragraph (1), between a nonminor former dependent or ward in receipt of Kin-GAP payments under Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 11360) or Article 4.7 (commencing with Section 11385), and the agency responsible for the Kin-GAP benefits, provided that the nonminor former dependent or ward satisfies the conditions described in Section 11403.01, or one or more of the conditions described in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 11403. For purposes of this paragraph and paragraph (3), “nonminor former dependent or ward” has the same meaning as described in subdivision (aa).
(3) An agreement, as described in paragraph (1), between a nonminor former dependent or ward in receipt of AFDC-FC payments under subdivision (e) or (f) of Section 11405 and the agency responsible for the AFDC-FC benefits, provided that the nonminor former dependent or ward described in subdivision (e) of Section 11405 satisfies one or more of the conditions described in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 11403, and the nonminor described in subdivision (f) of Section 11405 satisfies the secondary school or equivalent training or certificate program conditions described in that subdivision.
(v) “Nonminor dependent” means, on and after January 1, 2012, a foster child, as described in Section 675(8)(B) of Title 42 of the United States Code under the federal Social Security Act who is a current dependent child or ward of the juvenile court, or who is a nonminor under the transition jurisdiction of the juvenile court, as described in Section 450, and who satisfies all of the following criteria:
(1) The nonminor dependent has attained 18 years of age while under an order of foster care placement by the juvenile court, and is not more than 19 years of age on or after January 1, 2012, not more than 20 years of age on or after January 1, 2013, or not more than 21 years of age on or after January 1, 2014, and as described in Section 10103.5.
(2) The nonminor dependent is in foster care under the placement and care responsibility of the county welfare department, county probation department, Indian tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization that entered into an agreement pursuant to Section 10553.1.
(3) The nonminor dependent has a transitional independent living case plan pursuant to Section 475(8) of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 675(8)), as contained in the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-351), as described in Section 11403.
(w) “Supervised independent living placement” means, on and after January 1, 2012, an independent supervised setting in which the nonminor dependent is living independently, pursuant to Section 472(c) of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 672(c)).
(x) “Supervised independent living setting,” pursuant to Section 472(c) of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 672(c)), includes all of the following:
(1) A supervised independent living placement, as defined in subdivision (w), and as specified in a nonminor dependent’s transitional independent living case plan.
(2) A residential housing unit certified by the transitional housing placement provider operating a Transitional Housing Placement program for nonminor dependents, as described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 16522.1.
(3) A transitional living setting approved by the county to support youth who are entering or reentering foster care or transitioning between placements. The short-term independent living setting shall not include a youth homelessness prevention center or an adult homeless shelter. A transitional living setting approved by the county for purposes of this paragraph is not subject to licensing pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (l) of Section 1505 of the Health and Safety Code.
(y) “Transitional independent living case plan” means, on or after January 1, 2012, a child’s case plan submitted for the last review hearing held before the child reaches 18 years of age or the nonminor dependent’s case plan, updated every six months, that describes the goals and objectives of how the nonminor will make progress in the transition to living independently and assume incremental responsibility for adult decisionmaking, the collaborative efforts between the nonminor and the social worker, probation officer, or Indian tribal placing entity and the supportive services as described in the transitional independent living plan to ensure active and meaningful participation in one or more of the eligibility criteria described in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 11403, the nonminor’s appropriate supervised placement setting, and the nonminor’s permanent plan for transition to living independently, which includes maintaining or obtaining permanent connections to caring and committed adults, as set forth in paragraph (16) of subdivision (f) of Section 16501.1.
(z) “Voluntary reentry agreement” means a written voluntary agreement between a former dependent child or ward or a former nonminor dependent, who has had juvenile court jurisdiction terminated pursuant to Section 391, 452, or 607.2, and the county welfare or probation department or tribal placing entity that documents the nonminor’s desire and willingness to reenter foster care, to be placed in a supervised setting under the placement and care responsibility of the placing agency, the nonminor’s desire, willingness, and ability to immediately participate in one or more of the conditions of paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 11403, the nonminor’s agreement to work collaboratively with the placing agency to develop their transitional independent living case plan within 60 days of reentry, the nonminor’s agreement to report any changes of circumstances relevant to continued eligibility for foster care payments, and (1) the nonminor’s agreement to participate in the filing of a petition for juvenile court jurisdiction as a nonminor dependent pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 388 within 15 judicial days of the signing of the agreement and the placing agency’s efforts and supportive services to assist the nonminor in the reentry process, or (2) if the nonminor meets the definition of a nonminor former dependent or ward, as described in subdivision (aa), the nonminor’s agreement to return to the care and support of their former juvenile court-appointed guardian and meet the eligibility criteria for AFDC-FC pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 11405.
(aa) “Nonminor former dependent or ward” means, on and after January 1, 2012, either of the following:
(1) A nonminor who reached 18 years of age while subject to an order for foster care placement, and for whom dependency, delinquency, or transition jurisdiction has been terminated, and who is still under the general jurisdiction of the court.
(2) A nonminor who is over 18 years of age and, while a minor, was a dependent child or ward of the juvenile court when the guardianship was established pursuant to Section 360 or 366.26, or subdivision (d) of Section 728, and the juvenile court dependency or wardship was dismissed following the establishment of the guardianship.
(ab) “Youth homelessness prevention center” means a type of group home, as defined in paragraph (14) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code, that is not an eligible placement option under Sections 319, 361.2, 450, and 727, and that is ineligible for AFDC-FC funding pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 11402 or Section 11462.
(ac) “Transition dependent” is a minor between 17 years and five months and 18 years of age who is subject to the court’s transition jurisdiction under Section 450.
(ad) “Short-term residential therapeutic program” means a nondetention, licensed community care facility, as defined in paragraph (18) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code, that provides an integrated program of specialized and intensive care and supervision, services and supports, and treatment for the child or youth, when the child’s or youth’s case plan specifies the need for, nature of, and anticipated duration of this specialized treatment. Short-term residential therapeutic programs shall be organized and operated on a nonprofit basis.
(ae) “Resource family” means an approved caregiver, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 16519.5.
(af) “Core Services” mean services, made available to children, youth, and nonminor dependents either directly or secured through agreement with other agencies, which are trauma informed and culturally relevant as specified in Sections 11462 and 11463.
(ag) “Specialized foster home” has the same meaning as that term is defined in paragraph (22) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code, and described in Section 1502.25 of the Health and Safety Code.

SEC. 6.SEC. 19.

 Section 11402 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

11402.
 To be eligible for AFDC-FC, a child or nonminor dependent shall be placed in one of the following:
(a) Before January 1, 2021:
(1) The approved home of a relative, provided the child or youth is otherwise eligible for federal financial participation in the AFDC-FC payment.
(2) The approved home of a nonrelative extended family member, as described in Section 362.7.
(3) The licensed family home of a nonrelative.
(b) The approved home of a resource family, as defined in Section 16519.5, if either of the following is true:
(1) The caregiver is a nonrelative.
(2) The caregiver is a relative, and the child or youth is otherwise eligible for federal financial participation in the AFDC-FC payment.
(c) A small family home, as defined in paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code.
(d) A housing unit, as described in Section 1559.110 of the Health and Safety Code, certified by a licensed transitional housing placement provider, as defined in paragraph (12) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code and subdivision (r) of Section 11400.
(e) An approved supervised independent living setting for nonminor dependents, as described in subdivision (w) of Section 11400.
(f) A licensed foster family agency, as defined in subdivision (g) of Section 11400 and paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code, for placement into a certified or approved home used exclusively by the foster family agency.
(g) A short-term residential therapeutic program, as defined in subdivision (ad) of Section 11400 and paragraph (18) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code.

(h)An out-of-state group home that meets the requirements of paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 11460, provided that the placement worker, in addition to complying with all other statutory requirements for placing a child or youth in an out-of-state group home, documents that the requirements of Section 7911.1 of the Family Code have been met.

(i)

(h) A community treatment facility, as defined in paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code, and as set forth in Article 5 (commencing with Section 4094) of Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Division 4.

(j)

(i) A community care facility licensed pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 1500) of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code and vendored by a regional center pursuant to Section 56004 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations.

(k)

(j) The home of a nonrelated legal guardian or the home of a former nonrelated legal guardian when the guardianship of a child or youth who is otherwise eligible for AFDC-FC has been dismissed due to the child or youth attaining 18 years of age.

(l)

(k) A dormitory or other designated housing of a postsecondary educational institution in which a minor dependent who is enrolled at the postsecondary educational institution is living independently, as described in Section 11402.7.

(m)

(l) On or after April 1, 2021, a residential family-based treatment facility for substance abuse, in which an eligible child is placed with a parent in treatment, licensed pursuant to Chapter 7.5 (commencing with Section 11834.01) of Part 2 of Division 10.5 of the Health and Safety Code, and the placement and facility meets all of the requirements of subdivision (j) of Section 672 of Title 42 of the United States Code.

(n)

(m) “Specialized foster home” has the same meaning as that term is defined in paragraph (22) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code, and described in Section 1502.25 of the Health and Safety Code.

SEC. 7.SEC. 20.

 Section 11461.7 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, immediately following Section 11461.6, to read:

11461.7.
 (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that youth with intellectual or developmental disabilities in foster care receive appropriate services and supports from regional centers.
(b) By February 1, 2022, the State Department of Social Services shall update its payment guidance to authorize counties to claim federal funding for placements made to a regional center vendored facility. The guidance shall include costs above the established short-term residential therapeutic program rate.

SEC. 21.

 Section 16501.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

16501.1.
 (a) (1) The Legislature finds and declares that the foundation and central unifying tool in child welfare services is the case plan.
(2) The Legislature further finds and declares that a case plan ensures that the child receives protection and safe and proper care and case management, and that services are provided to the child and parents or other caretakers, as appropriate, in order to improve conditions in the parent’s home, to facilitate the safe return of the child to a safe home or the permanent placement of the child, and to address the needs of the child while in foster care.
(3) The agency shall consider and document the recommendations of the child and family team, as defined in Section 16501, if any are available. The agency shall document the rationale for any inconsistencies between the case plan and the child and family team recommendations.
(b) (1) A case plan shall be based upon the principles of this section and the input from the child and family team.
(2) The case plan shall document that a preplacement assessment of the service needs of the child and family, and preplacement preventive services, have been provided, and that reasonable efforts to prevent out-of-home placement have been made. Preplacement services may include intensive mental health services in the home or a community setting and the reasonable efforts made to prevent out-of-home placement.
(3) In determining the reasonable services to be offered or provided, the child’s health and safety shall be the paramount concerns.
(4) Upon a determination pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) of Section 361.5 that reasonable services will be offered to a parent who is incarcerated in a county jail or state prison, detained by the United States Department of Homeland Security, or deported to their country of origin, the case plan shall include information, to the extent possible, about a parent’s incarceration in a county jail or the state prison, detention by the United States Department of Homeland Security, or deportation during the time that a minor child of that parent is involved in dependency care.
(5) Reasonable services shall be offered or provided to make it possible for a child to return to a safe home environment, unless, pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (e) of Section 361.5, the court determines that reunification services shall not be provided.
(6) If reasonable services are not ordered, or are terminated, reasonable efforts shall be made to place the child in a timely manner in accordance with the permanent plan and to complete all steps necessary to finalize the permanent placement of the child.
(c) If out-of-home placement is used to attain case plan goals, the case plan shall consider the recommendations of the child and family team.
(d) (1) The case plan shall include a description of the type of home or institution in which the child is to be placed, and the reasons for that placement decision. The decision regarding choice of placement shall be based upon selection of a safe setting that is the least restrictive family setting that promotes normal childhood experiences and the most appropriate setting that meets the child’s individual needs and is available, in proximity to the parent’s home, in proximity to the child’s school, and consistent with the selection of the environment best suited to meet the child’s special needs and best interests. The selection shall consider, in order of priority, placement with relatives, nonrelative extended family members, and tribal members; foster family homes, resource families, and approved or certified homes of foster family agencies; followed by intensive services for foster care homes; or multidimensional treatment foster care homes or therapeutic foster care homes; group care placements in the order of short-term residential therapeutic programs, group homes, and community treatment facilities, and out-of-state residential treatment pursuant to Part 5 (commencing with Section 7900) of Division 12 of the Family Code. facilities.
(2) If a short-term residential therapeutic program placement is selected for a child, the case plan shall indicate the needs of the child that necessitate this placement, the plan for transitioning the child to a less restrictive environment, and the projected timeline by which the child will be transitioned to a less restrictive environment. This section of the case plan shall be reviewed and updated at least semiannually.
(A) The case plan for placements in a group home, or commencing January 1, 2017, in a short-term residential therapeutic program, shall indicate that the county has taken into consideration Section 16010.8.
(B) (i) After January 1, 2017, a child and family team meeting as described in Section 16501 shall be convened by the county placing agency for the purpose of identifying the supports and services needed to achieve permanency and enable the child or youth to be placed in the least restrictive family setting that promotes normal childhood experiences.
(ii) Child and family teams shall be provided written or electronic information developed by the department describing services and activities, including specialized permanency services, shown to be effective in achieving and sustaining permanency for all children, youth, and nonminor dependents.
(3) On or after January 1, 2012, for a nonminor dependent, as defined in subdivision (v) of Section 11400, who is receiving AFDC-FC benefits and who is up to 21 years of age pursuant to Section 11403, in addition to the above requirements, the selection of the placement, including a supervised independent living placement, as described in subdivision (w) of Section 11400, shall also be based upon the developmental needs of young adults by providing opportunities to have incremental responsibilities that prepare a nonminor dependent to transition to successful adulthood. If admission to, or continuation in, a group home or short-term residential therapeutic program placement is being considered for a nonminor dependent, the group home or short-term residential therapeutic program placement approval decision shall include a youth-driven, team-based case planning process, as defined by the department, in consultation with stakeholders. The case plan shall consider the full range of placement options, and shall specify why admission to, or continuation in, a group home or short-term residential therapeutic program placement is the best alternative available at the time to meet the special needs or well-being of the nonminor dependent, and how the placement will contribute to the nonminor dependent’s transition to successful adulthood. The case plan shall specify the treatment strategies that will be used to prepare the nonminor dependent for discharge to a less restrictive family setting that promotes normal childhood experiences, including a target date for discharge from the group home or short-term residential therapeutic program placement. The placement shall be reviewed and updated on a regular, periodic basis to ensure that continuation in the group home or short-term residential therapeutic program placement remains in the best interests of the nonminor dependent and that progress is being made in achieving case plan goals leading to successful adulthood. The group home or short-term residential therapeutic program placement planning process shall begin as soon as it becomes clear to the county welfare department or probation office that a foster child in group home or short-term residential therapeutic program placement is likely to remain in group home or short-term residential therapeutic program placement on their 18th birthday, in order to expedite the transition to a less restrictive family setting that promotes normal childhood experiences, if the child becomes a nonminor dependent. The case planning process shall include informing the youth of all of the options, including, but not limited to, admission to or continuation in a group home or short-term residential therapeutic program placement.
(4) Consideration for continuation of existing group home placement for a nonminor dependent under 19 years of age may include the need to stay in the same placement in order to complete high school. After a nonminor dependent either completes high school or attains their 19th birthday, whichever is earlier, continuation in or admission to a group home placement is prohibited unless the nonminor dependent satisfies the conditions of paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 11403, and group home placement functions as a short-term transition to the appropriate system of care. Treatment services provided by the group home placement to the nonminor dependent to alleviate or ameliorate the medical condition, as described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 11403, shall not constitute the sole basis to disqualify a nonminor dependent from the group home placement.
(5) In addition to the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, and taking into account other statutory considerations regarding placement, the selection of the most appropriate home that will meet the child’s special needs and best interests shall also promote educational stability by taking into consideration proximity to the child’s school of origin, and school attendance area, the number of school transfers the child has previously experienced, and the child’s school matriculation schedule, in addition to other indicators of educational stability that the Legislature hereby encourages the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education to develop.
(e) A written case plan shall be completed within a maximum of 60 days of the initial removal of the child or of the in-person response required under subdivision (f) of Section 16501 if the child has not been removed from their home, or by the date of the dispositional hearing pursuant to Section 358, whichever occurs first. The case plan shall be updated, as the service needs of the child and family dictate. At a minimum, the case plan shall be updated in conjunction with each status review hearing conducted pursuant to Sections 364, 366, 366.3, and 366.31, and the hearing conducted pursuant to Section 366.26, but no less frequently than once every six months. Each updated case plan shall include a description of the services that have been provided to the child under the plan and an evaluation of the appropriateness and effectiveness of those services.
(1) It is the intent of the Legislature that extending the maximum time available for preparing a written case plan from 30 to 60 days will afford caseworkers time to actively engage families, and to solicit and integrate into the case plan the input of the child and the child’s family, as well as the input of relatives and other interested parties.
(2) The extension of the maximum time available for preparing a written case plan from 30 to 60 days shall be effective 90 days after the date that the department gives counties written notice that necessary changes have been made to the Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS) to account for the 60-day timeframe for preparing a written case plan.
(f) The child welfare services case plan shall be comprehensive enough to meet the juvenile court dependency proceedings requirements pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 300) of Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 2.
(g) The case plan shall be developed considering the recommendations of the child and family team, as follows:
(1) The case plan shall be based upon an assessment of the circumstances that required child welfare services intervention. The child shall be involved in developing the case plan as age and developmentally appropriate.
(2) The case plan shall identify specific goals and the appropriateness of the planned services in meeting those goals.
(3) The case plan shall identify the original allegations of abuse or neglect, as defined in Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 11164) of Chapter 2 of Title 1 of Part 4 of the Penal Code, or the conditions cited as the basis for declaring the child a dependent of the court pursuant to Section 300, or all of these, and the other precipitating incidents that led to child welfare services intervention.
(4) The case plan shall include a description of the schedule of the placement agency contacts with the child and the family or other caretakers. The frequency of these contacts shall be in accordance with regulations adopted by the State Department of Social Services. If the child has been placed in foster care out of state, the county social worker or probation officer, or a social worker or probation officer on the staff of the agency in the state in which the child has been placed, shall visit the child in a foster family home or the home of a relative, consistent with federal law and in accordance with the department’s approved state plan. For children in out-of-state group home facilities, visits shall be conducted at least monthly, pursuant to Section 16516.5. At least once every six months, at the time of a regularly scheduled placement agency contact with the foster child, and at each placement change, the child’s social worker or probation officer shall inform the child, the care provider, and the child and family team, if applicable, of the child’s rights as a foster child, as specified in Section 16001.9, and shall provide a written copy of the rights to the child as part of the explanation. The social worker or probation officer shall provide the information to the child in a manner appropriate to the age or developmental level of the child. The social worker or probation officer shall document in the case plan that they have informed the child of, and have provided the child with a written copy of, the child’s rights.
(5) (A) When out-of-home services are used, the frequency of contact between the natural parents or legal guardians and the child shall be specified in the case plan. The frequency of those contacts shall reflect overall case goals, and consider other principles outlined in this section.
(B) Information regarding any court-ordered visitation between the child and the natural parents or legal guardians, and the terms and conditions needed to facilitate the visits while protecting the safety of the child, shall be provided to the child’s out-of-home caregiver as soon as possible after the court order is made.
(6) When out-of-home placement is made, the case plan shall include provisions for the development and maintenance of sibling relationships as specified in subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) of Section 16002. If appropriate, when siblings who are dependents of the juvenile court are not placed together, the social worker for each child, if different, shall communicate with each of the other social workers and ensure that the child’s siblings are informed of significant life events that occur within their extended family. Unless it has been determined that it is inappropriate in a particular case to keep siblings informed of significant life events that occur within the extended family, the social worker shall determine the appropriate means and setting for disclosure of this information to the child commensurate with the child’s age and emotional well-being. These significant life events shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following:
(A) The death of an immediate relative.
(B) The birth of a sibling.
(C) Significant changes regarding a dependent child, unless the child objects to the sharing of the information with their siblings, including changes in placement, major medical or mental health diagnoses, treatments, or hospitalizations, arrests, and changes in the permanent plan.
(7) If out-of-home placement is made in a foster family home, resource family home, group home, or other childcare institution that is either a substantial distance from the home of the child’s parent or out of state, the case plan shall specify the reasons why that placement is in the best interest of the child. When an out-of-state group home placement is recommended or made, the case plan shall, in addition, specify compliance with Section 7911.1 of the Family Code.
(8) A case plan shall ensure the educational stability of the child while in foster care and shall include both of the following:
(A) An assurance that the placement takes into account the appropriateness of the current educational setting and the proximity to the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement.
(B) An assurance that the placement agency has coordinated with the person holding the right to make educational decisions for the child and appropriate local educational agencies to ensure that the child remains in the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement or, if remaining in that school is not in the best interests of the child, assurances by the placement agency and the local educational agency to provide immediate and appropriate enrollment in a new school and to provide all of the child’s educational records to the new school.
(9) (A) If out-of-home services are used, or if parental rights have been terminated and the case plan is placement for adoption, the case plan shall include a recommendation regarding the appropriateness of unsupervised visitation between the child and any of the child’s siblings. This recommendation shall include a statement regarding the child’s and the siblings’ willingness to participate in unsupervised visitation. If the case plan includes a recommendation for unsupervised sibling visitation, the plan shall also note that information necessary to accomplish this visitation has been provided to the child or to the child’s siblings.
(B) Information regarding the schedule and frequency of the visits between the child and siblings, as well as any court-ordered terms and conditions needed to facilitate the visits while protecting the safety of the child, shall be provided to the child’s out-of-home caregiver as soon as possible after the court order is made.
(10) If out-of-home services are used and the goal is reunification, the case plan shall describe the services to be provided to assist in reunification and the services to be provided concurrently to achieve legal permanency if efforts to reunify fail. The plan shall also consider in-state and out-of-state placements, the importance of developing and maintaining sibling relationships pursuant to Section 16002, and the desire and willingness of the caregiver to provide legal permanency for the child if reunification is unsuccessful.
(11) If out-of-home services are used, the child has been in care for at least 12 months, and the goal is not adoptive placement, the case plan shall include documentation of the compelling reason or reasons why termination of parental rights is not in the child’s best interest. A determination completed or updated within the past 12 months by the department when it is acting as an adoption agency or by a licensed adoption agency that it is unlikely that the child will be adopted, or that one of the conditions described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 366.26 applies, shall be deemed a compelling reason.
(12) (A) Parents and legal guardians shall have an opportunity to review the case plan, and to sign it whenever possible, and then shall receive a copy of the plan. In a voluntary service or placement agreement, the parents or legal guardians shall be required to review and sign the case plan. Whenever possible, parents and legal guardians shall participate in the development of the case plan. Commencing January 1, 2012, for nonminor dependents, as defined in subdivision (v) of Section 11400, who are receiving AFDC-FC or CalWORKs assistance and who are up to 21 years of age pursuant to Section 11403, the transitional independent living case plan, as set forth in subdivision (y) of Section 11400, shall be developed with, and signed by, the nonminor.
(B) Parents and legal guardians shall be advised that, pursuant to Section 1228.1 of the Evidence Code, neither their signature on the child welfare services case plan nor their acceptance of any services prescribed in the child welfare services case plan shall constitute an admission of guilt or be used as evidence against the parent or legal guardian in a court of law. However, they shall also be advised that the parent’s or guardian’s failure to cooperate, except for good cause, in the provision of services specified in the child welfare services case plan may be used in any hearing held pursuant to Section 366.21, 366.22, or 366.25 of this code as evidence.
(13) A child shall be given a meaningful opportunity to participate in the development of the case plan and state their preference for foster care placement. A child who is 12 years of age or older and in a permanent placement shall also be given the opportunity to review the case plan, sign the case plan, and receive a copy of the case plan.
(14) The case plan shall be included in the court report, and shall be considered by the court at the initial hearing and each review hearing. Modifications to the case plan made during the period between review hearings need not be approved by the court if the casework supervisor for that case determines that the modifications further the goals of the plan. If out-of-home services are used with the goal of family reunification, the case plan shall consider and describe the application of subdivision (b) of Section 11203.
(15) (A) If the case plan has as its goal for the child a permanent plan of adoption, legal guardianship, or another planned permanent living arrangement, it shall include a statement of the child’s wishes regarding their permanent placement plan and an assessment of those stated wishes. The agency shall also include documentation of the steps the agency is taking to find an adoptive family or other permanent living arrangements for the child; to place the child with an adoptive family, an appropriate and willing relative, or a legal guardian, and to finalize the adoption or legal guardianship. At a minimum, the documentation shall include child-specific recruitment efforts, such as the use of state, regional, and national adoption exchanges, including electronic exchange systems, when the child has been freed for adoption. Regardless of whether the child has been freed for adoption, documentation shall include a description of any barriers to achieving legal permanence and the steps the agency will take to address those barriers. If a child has been in care for three years or more, the documentation shall include a description of the specialized permanency services used or, if specialized permanency services have not been used, a statement explaining why the agency chose not to provide these services. If the plan is for kinship guardianship, the case plan shall document how the child meets the kinship guardianship eligibility requirements.
(B) Specific elements of specialized permanency services may be included in the case plan as needed to meet the permanency needs of the individual child or nonminor dependent.
(C) When the child is 16 years of age or older and is in another planned permanent living arrangement, the case plan shall identify the intensive and ongoing efforts to return the child to the home of the parent, place the child for adoption, place the child for tribal customary adoption in the case of an Indian child, establish a legal guardianship, or place the child nonminor dependent with a fit and willing relative, as appropriate. Efforts shall include the use of technology, including social media, to find biological family members of the child.
(16) (A) (i) For a child who is 14 or 15 years of age, the case plan shall include a written description of the programs and services that will help the child, consistent with the child’s best interests, to prepare for the transition from foster care to successful adulthood. The description may be included in the document described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (18).
(ii) When appropriate, for a child who is 16 years of age or older and, commencing January 1, 2012, for a nonminor dependent, the case plan shall include the transitional independent living plan (TILP), a written description of the programs and services that will help the child, consistent with the child’s best interests, to prepare for the transition from foster care to successful adulthood, and, in addition, whether the youth has an in-progress application pending for Title XVI Supplemental Security Income benefits or for special immigrant juvenile status or other applicable application for legal residency and an active dependency case is required for that application. When appropriate, for a nonminor dependent, the transitional independent living case plan, as described in subdivision (y) of Section 11400, shall include the TILP, a written description of the programs and services that will help the nonminor dependent, consistent with their best interests, to prepare for transition from foster care and assist the youth in meeting the eligibility criteria set forth in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 11403. If applicable, the case plan shall describe the individualized supervision provided in the supervised independent living placement as defined in subdivision (w) of Section 11400. The case plan shall be developed with the child or nonminor dependent and individuals identified as important to the child or nonminor dependent, and shall include steps the agency is taking to ensure that the child or nonminor dependent achieves permanence, including maintaining or obtaining permanent connections to caring and committed adults.
(B) During the 90-day period prior to the participant attaining 18 years of age or older as the state may elect under Section 475(8)(B)(iii) of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 675(8)(B)(iii)), whether during that period foster care maintenance payments are being made on the child’s behalf or the child is receiving benefits or services under Section 477 of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 677), a caseworker or other appropriate agency staff or probation officer and other representatives of the participant, as appropriate, shall provide the youth or nonminor dependent with assistance and support in developing the written 90-day transition plan, that is personalized at the direction of the child, information as detailed as the participant elects that shall include, but not be limited to, options regarding housing, health insurance, education, local opportunities for mentors and continuing support services, and workforce supports and employment services, a power of attorney for health care, and information regarding the advance health care directive form. Information provided regarding health insurance options shall include verification that the eligible youth or nonminor dependent is enrolled in Medi-Cal and a description of the steps that have been or will be taken by the youth’s social worker or probation officer to ensure that the eligible youth or nonminor dependent is transitioned into the Medi-Cal program for former foster youth upon case closure with no interruption in coverage and with no new application being required, as provided in Section 14005.28.
(C) For youth 14 years of age or older, the case plan shall include documentation that a consumer credit report was requested annually from each of the three major credit reporting agencies at no charge to the youth and that any results were provided to the youth. For nonminor dependents, the case plan shall include documentation that the county assisted the nonminor dependent in obtaining their reports. The case plan shall include documentation of barriers, if any, to obtaining the credit reports. If the consumer credit report reveals any accounts, the case plan shall detail how the county ensured the youth received assistance with interpreting the credit report and resolving any inaccuracies, including any referrals made for the assistance.
(17) For youth 14 years of age or older and nonminor dependents, the case plan shall be developed in consultation with the youth. At the youth’s option, the consultation may include up to two members of the case planning team who are chosen by the youth and who are not foster parents of, or caseworkers for, the youth. The agency, at any time, may reject an individual selected by the youth to be a member of the case planning team if the agency has good cause to believe that the individual would not act in the youth’s best interest. One individual selected by the youth to be a member of the case planning team may be designated to be the youth’s adviser and advocate with respect to the application of the reasonable and prudent parent standard to the youth, as necessary.
(18) For youth in foster care 14 years of age or older and nonminor dependents, the case plan shall include both of the following:
(A) A document that describes the youth’s rights with respect to education, health, visitation, and court participation, the right to be annually provided with copies of their credit reports at no cost while in foster care pursuant to Section 10618.6, and the right to stay safe and avoid exploitation.
(B) A signed acknowledgment by the youth that they have been provided a copy of the document and that the rights described in the document have been explained to the youth in an age-appropriate manner.
(19) The case plan for a child or nonminor dependent who is, or who is at risk of becoming, the victim of commercial sexual exploitation, shall document the services provided to address that issue.
(20) For a youth in foster care 10 years of age or older who is in junior high, middle, or high school, or a nonminor dependent enrolled in high school, the case plan shall be reviewed annually, and updated as needed, to indicate that the case management worker has verified that the youth or nonminor dependent received comprehensive sexual health education that meets the requirements established in Chapter 5.6 (commencing with Section 51930) of Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, through the school system. The case plan shall document either of the following:
(A) For a youth in junior high or middle school, either that the youth has already received this instruction during junior high or middle school, or how the county will ensure that the youth receives the instruction at least once before completing junior high or middle school if the youth remains under the jurisdiction of the dependency court during this timeframe.
(B) For a youth or nonminor dependent in high school, either that the youth or nonminor dependent already received this instruction during high school, or how the county will ensure that the youth or nonminor dependent receives the instruction at least once before completing high school if the youth or nonminor dependent remains under the jurisdiction of the dependency court during this timeframe.
(21) (A) For a youth in foster care 10 years of age or older or a nonminor dependent, the case plan shall be updated annually to indicate that the case management worker has done all of the following:
(i) Informed the youth or nonminor dependent that they may access age-appropriate, medically accurate information about reproductive and sexual health care, including, but not limited to, unplanned pregnancy prevention, abstinence, use of birth control, abortion, and the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.
(ii) Informed the youth or nonminor dependent, in an age- and developmentally appropriate manner, of their right to consent to sexual and reproductive health services and their confidentiality rights regarding those services.
(iii) Informed the youth or nonminor dependent how to access reproductive and sexual health care services and facilitated access to that care, including by assisting with any identified barriers to care, as needed.
(B) This paragraph shall not be construed to affect any applicable confidentiality law.
(22) For a child who is 16 years of age or older and for a nonminor dependent, the case plan shall identify the person or persons, who may include the child’s high school counselor, Court-Appointed Special Advocate, guardian, or other adult, who shall be responsible for assisting the child or nonminor dependent with applications for postsecondary education and related financial aid, unless the child or nonminor dependent states that they do not want to pursue postsecondary education, including career or technical education. If, at any point in the future, the child or nonminor dependent expresses that they wish to pursue postsecondary education, the case plan shall be updated to identify an adult individual responsible for assisting the child or nonminor dependent with applications for postsecondary education and related financial aid.
(h) If the court finds, after considering the case plan, that unsupervised sibling visitation is appropriate and has been consented to, the court shall order that the child or the child’s siblings, the child’s current caregiver, and the child’s prospective adoptive parents, if applicable, be provided with information necessary to accomplish this visitation. This section does not require or prohibit the social worker’s facilitation, transportation, or supervision of visits between the child and their siblings.
(i) The case plan documentation on sibling placements required under this section shall not require modification of existing case plan forms until the Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS) is implemented on a statewide basis.
(j) When a child is 10 years of age or older and has been in out-of-home placement for six months or longer, the case plan shall include an identification of individuals, other than the child’s siblings, who are important to the child and actions necessary to maintain the child’s relationship with those individuals, provided that those relationships are in the best interest of the child. The social worker or probation officer shall ask every child who is 10 years of age or older and who has been in out-of-home placement for six months or longer to identify individuals other than the child’s siblings who are important to the child, and may ask any other child to provide that information, or may seek that information from the child and family team, as appropriate. The social worker or probation officer shall make efforts to identify other individuals who are important to the child, consistent with the child’s best interests.
(k) The child’s caregiver shall be provided a copy of a plan outlining the child’s needs and services. The nonminor dependent’s caregiver shall be provided with a copy of the nonminor’s TILP.
(l) Each county shall ensure that the total number of visits made by caseworkers on a monthly basis to children in foster care during a federal fiscal year is not less than 95 percent of the total number of those visits that would occur if each child were visited once every month while in care and that the majority of the visits occur in the residence of the child. The county child welfare and probation departments shall comply with data reporting requirements that the department deems necessary to comply with the federal Child and Family Services Improvement Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-288) and the federal Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (Public Law 112-34).
(m) The implementation and operation of the amendments to subdivision (i) enacted at the 2005–06 Regular Session shall be subject to appropriation through the budget process and by phase, as provided in Section 366.35.

SEC. 8.SEC. 22.

 Section 16521.6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

16521.6.
 To ensure that coordinated, timely, and trauma-informed services are provided to children and youth in foster care who have experienced severe trauma, all of the following shall occur:
(a) (1) Each county shall develop and implement a memorandum of understanding setting forth the roles and responsibilities of agencies and other entities that serve children and youth in foster care who have experienced severe trauma. Participants in the development and implementation of the memorandum of understanding shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) The county child welfare agency.
(B) The county probation department.
(C) The county behavioral health departments.
(D) The county office of education.
(E) The regional center or centers that serve children and youth with developmental disabilities in the county.
(F) Foster care or other child welfare advocacy groups, as deemed appropriate by the organizations that will be parties to the memorandum, serving in an advisory capacity.
(2) The memorandum of understanding shall include, at a minimum, provisions addressing all of the following:
(A) Establishment and operation of an interagency leadership team.
(B) Establishment and operation of an interagency placement committee, as defined in Section 4096.
(C) Commitment to implementation of an integrated core practice model.
(D) Processes for screening, assessment, and entry to care.
(E) Processes for child and family teaming and universal service planning.
(F) Alignment and coordination of transportation and other foster youth services.
(G) Recruitment and management of resource families and delivery of therapeutic foster care services.
(H) Information and data sharing agreements.
(I) Staff recruitment, training, and coaching.
(J) Financial resource management and cost sharing.
(K) Dispute resolution.
(3) (A) Members of the interagency leadership team described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2), may, to the extent permitted by federal law, and subject to the limitations described in subparagraph (B), disclose to, and exchange with, one another information or a writing that may be designated as confidential under state law if the member of the team having that information or writing reasonably believes it is generally relevant to the identification, reduction, or elimination of barriers to services for, or to placement of, children and youth in foster care or to improve provision of those services or those placements.
(B) Members of the interagency leadership team who receive disclosed or exchanged information or a writing pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall destroy or return that information or writing once the purposes for which it was disclosed or exchanged are satisfied. The information or writing shall be used only for the purposes described in subparagraph (A). Any information or writing disclosed or exchanged pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be confidential and shall not be open to public inspection, unless the information or writing is aggregated and deidentified in a manner that prevents the identification of an individual who is a subject of that information or writing. Any discussion concerning the disclosed or exchanged information or writing during a team meeting shall be confidential and shall not be open to public inspection.
(C) Members of an interagency placement committee, as defined in Section 4096, child abuse multidisciplinary personnel team, as defined in Section 18961.7, or child and family team, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 16501, that is convened for the purpose of implementing the provisions of the memorandum of understanding developed pursuant to this subdivision shall comply with applicable statutory confidentiality provisions for that committee or team. Members of teams convened for purposes of implementing the memorandum of understanding shall comply with applicable records retention policies for their respective agencies or programs.
(4) To the extent possible, the implementation of the memorandum of understanding shall utilize existing processes and structures within and across the respective organizations that are parties to it.
(b) (1) (A) No later than June 1, 2019, the Secretary of California Health and Human Services and the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall establish a joint interagency resolution team consisting of representatives from the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, the State Department of Developmental Services, and the State Department of Education.
(B) (i) The primary roles of the joint interagency resolution team shall be to develop guidance to counties, county offices of education, and regional centers with regard to developing the memoranda of understanding required by this section, to support the implementation of those memoranda of understanding, and to provide technical assistance to counties to identify and secure the appropriate level of services to meet the needs of children and youth in foster care who have experienced severe trauma.
(ii) The agencies shall ensure that a process is developed for counties and partner agencies that are parties to the memorandum of understanding to request interdepartmental technical assistance from the joint interagency resolution team.
(2) (A) No later than January 1, 2020, the joint interagency resolution team, in consultation with county agencies, service providers, and advocates for children and resource families, shall review the placement and service options available to county child welfare agencies and county probation departments for children and youth in foster care who have experienced severe trauma and shall develop and submit recommendations to the Legislature addressing any identified gaps in placement types or availability, needed services to resource families, or other identified issues. The joint interagency resolution team shall update its review and provide recommendations to the Legislature no later than December 31, 2022, that take into account the specific needs and characteristics of youth with unplanned discharges from short-term residential therapeutic programs and youth for whom counties were unable to, or have difficulty with, securing placements and providing trauma-informed services, including, but not limited to, youth impacted by commercial sexual exploitation, youth with acute behavioral needs, and youth with intellectual or developmental disabilities, and articulate a plan to build trauma-informed, therapeutic programs for such in-state youth.
(B) A report submitted to the Legislature pursuant to this paragraph shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(3) No later than June 1, 2020, the joint interagency resolution team, in consultation with county agencies, service providers, behavioral health professionals, schools of social work, and advocates for children and resource families, shall develop a multiyear plan for increasing the capacity and delivery of trauma-informed care to children and youth in foster care served by short-term residential therapeutic programs and other foster care and behavioral health providers.
(4) (A) Members of the joint interagency resolution team described in this subdivision may, to the extent permitted by federal law, and subject to the limitations described in subparagraph (B), disclose to, and exchange with, one another information or a writing that may be designated as confidential under state law if the member of the team or committee having that information or writing reasonably believes it is generally relevant to the identification, reduction, or elimination of barriers to services for, or to placement of, children and youth in foster care or to improve provision of those services or those placements.
(B) Members of the joint interagency resolution team who receive disclosed or exchanged information, or a writing, pursuant to subparagraph (A), shall destroy or return that information or writing once the purposes for which it was disclosed or exchanged are satisfied. The information or writing shall be used only for the purposes described in subparagraph (A). Any information or writing disclosed or exchanged pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be confidential and shall not be open to public inspection, unless the information or writing is aggregated and deidentified in a manner that prevents the identification of an individual who is a subject of that information or writing. Any discussion concerning the disclosed or exchanged information or writing during a team meeting shall be confidential and shall not be open to public inspection.
(5) The joint interagency resolution team shall track and report deidentified information of youth who have been assisted to preserve, or secure new, intensive therapeutic options. This information shall be posted on the internet website of the California Health and Human Services Agency beginning March 1, 2022, updated every six months, and shall include the number of youth served through its technical assistance process, characteristics of youth served, and outcomes to preserve current placements or secure new placements and services, and, on an annual basis, actions taken or in progress to address systemic issues identified by the team.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the Legislature hereby continuously appropriates twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) from the General Fund, on an annual basis, until the determination pursuant to paragraph (2) is made, to the State Department of Social Services for use by county child welfare and probation agencies to support foster youth with unplanned discharges or who are unable to secure a therapeutic program due to exceptional needs. These funds may be used for, but are not limited to, placement preservation activities, enhanced transition planning and assessment services, additional staffing for supervision, and specialized transportation. These funds shall be directly allocated to counties in a manner determined by the department in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association of California and the Chief Probation Officers of California, and shall not be subject to preauthorization from the department.
(2) This continuous appropriation shall end in the fiscal year following a determination by the joint interagency resolution team of adequate capacity of high-end services and supports for foster youth. Upon making that determination, the joint interagency resolution team shall provide a notice to the Legislature of the determination. A notice submitted pursuant to this paragraph shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(d) The joint interagency resolution team shall oversee the execution of a statewide request for proposal for services to youth with severe mental health and intellectual or developmental disabilities and shall report to the State Department of Social Services on the status of services to be included by the State Department of Social Services as part of the department’s supplemental reporting for the Continuum of Care Reform implementation. The Legislature hereby appropriates two million dollars ($2,000,000) from the General Fund to the State Department of Social Services to support this contract and encourages the joint interagency resolution team to leverage other federal and local fund sources.
(e) (1) The joint interagency resolution team shall convene stakeholders, including, but not limited to, representatives of county child welfare, probation, mental health plans, special education agencies, and regional centers, to determine the feasibility of, and make recommendations for, establishing one or more child and family networks of care, for the purpose of consolidating purchasing power across counties and enhancing quality improvement activities to meet the needs of children, youth, and families involved and at risk of involvement in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, across the full continuum from prevention to high-end intervention.
(A) The parameters of the recommendations shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
(i) Procurement of services by the network or networks of care with authority to enter into contracts to build regional capacity for the full continuum of services, including, but not limited to, prevention services authorized pursuant to the federal Family First Prevention Services Act, wraparound services, Family Urgent Response System, and residentially based services. This may include the ability to develop and fund alternative models of trauma-informed care and leverage federal, state, and local funding streams to build a continuum of home and community-based services.
(ii) Rate-setting authority to the network or networks of care for placement and care, specialty mental health services, regional center services, and other applicable services.
(iii) Contractual authority for the network or networks of care that may include additional terms and conditions to ensure equitable access to services for youth and families and continuous quality improvement.
(iv) Quality assurance and continuous quality improvement activities to promote trauma-informed services and supports, including, but not limited to, provider performance monitoring, model fidelity of programs, and training and support for providers.
(v) Modalities for the administration of the network or networks of care, including, but not limited to, administrative care organizations or joint powers authorities, directed by governance structures that are inclusive of county agencies. This shall include options for establishing and supporting those modalities.
(2) The joint interagency resolution team shall explore options to support impacted county agencies for blended funding models, simplified claiming and reporting, and streamlined program oversight, to the extent permitted under federal law, and shall consider any federal waivers or approvals in support of these goals.
(3) The recommendations shall ensure decisionmaking, rate-setting, and contracting authority for services and placements remain with the relevant local agencies, with input from child and family teams and supported by local systems of care pursuant to subdivision (a).
(4) (A) The joint interagency resolution team shall submit a status report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2023, and a final report on or before than July 1, 2023.
(B) A report to be submitted pursuant to this paragraph shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

SEC. 9.SEC. 23.

 Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 16550) is added to Part 4 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
CHAPTER  6. Children’s Crisis Continuum Pilot Program

16550.
 For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:
(a) “Department” means the State Department of Social Services.
(b) “Foster youth” means a child or youth who is a dependent or ward of the juvenile court and who the juvenile court has ordered into foster care or who is, as determined by the director of the child welfare department, at imminent risk of being found to be a dependent of the juvenile court.
(c) “Participating entity” means a county or a regional collaborative of counties that has received a grant pursuant to this chapter.

16551.
 (a) The department, in collaboration with the State Department of Health Care Services, and with input from county child welfare departments, probation departments, impacted youth and families, youth advocates, service providers, community-based organizations, and other stakeholders, shall establish the Children’s Crisis Continuum Pilot Program for the purpose of developing treatment options that are needed to support California’s commitment to keep children in families to the greatest degree possible based on the best interest of the child and to eliminate the placement of foster youth with complex needs in out-of-state facilities. The pilot program shall include guidelines for foster youth eligibility and the selection, operation, and evaluation of the pilot program. The pilot program shall be implemented for five years from the date of the appropriation described in Section 16554.
(b) The guidelines for the operation of the pilot program shall, at a minimum, include a requirement that the participants track the information required in Section 16555 and provide each of the following within the structure of the pilot program:
(1) Family supports and services to keep youth in family settings from escalating to more restrictive settings whenever possible.
(2) Limits on placements in the restrictive treatment settings operated within the pilot program to the most critical and urgent situations where supports and services cannot be provided to keep a youth safe in a family setting.
(3) Limits on length of stay in the restrictive treatment settings operated within the pilot program to the time needed to stabilize the child and transition the child to a family setting in a manner consistent with state law.
(4) Facility plans of operation that identify the strategies, treatment, services, and supports that facility will employ to protect youth served by the program treatment and needs and services plans for each child that identify the specific strategies, treatment, services, and supports that will be used to protect that individual youth.
(5) Seamless connections of youth and families to a continuum of care and services to promote healing and step-down to family-based care when youth are placed in restrictive treatment settings within the pilot program.
(6) Evidence that all facilities, services providers, and agencies used by the pilot program meet all state law requirements for their licensure category, align their services and programs to the trauma-informed care required by federal and state laws, and comply with all state laws, guidelines, and policies established for the pilot program.

(b)

(c) In implementing the pilot program, the department shall do all of the following:
(1) Incentivize participation in the pilot program by counties or regional collaboratives of counties in order to develop or enhance comprehensive, integrated, high-end continuums of care for foster youth.
(2) (A) Provide technical assistance to applicants, including those that are not selected to participate, and participating entities. Technical assistance shall include, but is not limited to, guidance on program implementation and leveraging multiple sources of public revenue to support long-term sustainability.
(B) When providing technical assistance to small and rural counties, the department shall consider the unique needs of those counties and, in addition to any other technical assistance needed, shall assist the county mitigate barriers to participation in the pilot program, including by designing an adjusted or modified continuum of care, as described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 16553.
(C) Commit to gathering and providing necessary child-specific information and data, as well as information that may pertain to the overall pilot program site, consistent with the evaluation criteria set forth in Section 16555 and any other outcomes reporting that the department may require.
(3) Work with the State Department of Health Care Services and the department’s Community Care Licensing Division to make any regulatory changes necessary to support the successful implementation pilot program.
(4) Award grants pursuant to this chapter and oversee the successful implementation of the pilot program.

(c)

(d) The State Department of Health Care Services shall determine if any amendments to the Medicaid state plan are necessary to implement the pilot program and, if necessary, seek approval of any amendments to the state plan no later than January 1, 2023. It is the intent of the Legislature to utilize federal funding received pursuant to Subchapter XIX (commencing with Section 1396) of Chapter 7 of Title 42 of the United States Code to deliver the intensive treatment and services established pursuant to the pilot program.

16552.
 (a) The department shall develop and administer a request for proposals process, and shall develop selection criteria, to determine which applicants shall be selected to participate in the pilot program. At a minimum, the selection criteria shall include both of the following requirements:
(1) A lead county applicant. Each lead county applicant shall designate either the county child welfare department, the county behavioral health department, the county mental health plan, or the probation department, to lead the application and implementation process.
(2) Submission of a plan of operation by the applicant that includes, at a minimum, all of the following:
(A) Demonstrated ability to partner and collaborate across county child welfare, behavioral health, probation, developmental services, and education departments in the design, delivery, and evaluation of the pilot program.
(B) A clear articulation and demonstration of the ability to maximize all sources of local, state, and federal funding.
(C) An oversight plan that includes utilization review controls to ensure appropriate usage of the continuum of care in a manner that is consistent with the intent of the Legislature in enacting this chapter.
(b) The department shall require proposals to participate in the pilot program to be submitted no later than March 1, 2022, and shall disburse grant funds no later than May 1, 2022.
(c) The department shall select counties or regional collaboratives of counties to participate in the pilot program on a competitive basis to ensure that the process is fair.

16553.
 (a) Except as otherwise provided, in lieu of providing foster youth with high acuity mental health needs mental health services pursuant to existing statutory procedures, a participating entity shall provide mental health services to foster youth through the continuum of care established pursuant to this chapter. This chapter does not limit the benefits provided to participants by the federal Medicaid program, including the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment Program (EPSDT).
(b) (1) A participating entity shall develop and implement a highly integrated continuum of care for foster youth with high acuity mental health needs. The continuum of care shall be designed to permit the seamless transition of foster youth, as needed for the appropriate treatment of the foster youth, between treatment settings and programs, which shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:
(A) A crisis stabilization unit.
(i) The crisis stabilization unit shall have the capacity to provide assessment and stabilization for up to 23 hours and 59 minutes for up to eight youth, be a licensed 24-hour health care facility or hospital-based outpatient program or provider site, and comply with all regulations contained in Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 1810.100) of Division 1 of Title 9 of the California Code of Regulations that are applicable to the provision of crisis stabilization.
(ii) The crisis stabilization unit shall be colocated with a psychiatric health facility or other secure hospital alternative setting capable of meeting the needs of youth experiencing a mental health crisis in order to reduce unnecessary and traumatizing delays and ambulance transport when inpatient treatment is necessary.
(B) A crisis residential program.
(i) The crisis residential program shall provide highly individualized stabilization services for foster youth who do not require inpatient treatment and shall be licensed as a crisis residential program, a short-term residential therapeutic program, or a community treatment facility. The crisis residential program shall be operated in accordance with all statutes and regulations governing its licensure category, including, for short-term residential therapeutic programs, the interagency placement committee process established pursuant to Section 4096.
(ii) The crisis residential program may be a program that receives funding as an individualized alternative to residential care pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 11460.
(iii) The crisis residential program shall not serve more than four youth at a time.
(C) A psychiatric health facility.
(i) The psychiatric health facility shall provide a secure, highly individualized, therapeutic, hospital-like setting for foster youth who require inpatient treatment and shall be operated in accordance with Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 77001) of Division 5 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii) The psychiatric health facility shall not serve more than four foster youth at a time.
(D) Intensive services foster care with integrated specialty mental health services.
(i) To support foster youth in stepping down to less restrictive placements and maintain available capacity in more acute treatment settings, a participating entity shall maintain at least two times the number of intensive services foster care resource families as the number of beds available in the hospital alternative treatment settings.
(ii) Intensive services foster care may be enhanced to include in-home staff who are available to provide care, additional behavioral support, permanency services, mental health services, and educational services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, as needed.
(E) Community-based supportive services.
(i) Community-based supportive services shall be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
(ii) A participating entity shall utilize a model equivalent to the department’s expedited transition planning services model for youth returning from out-of-state placement, including an expedited transition planning services team, to provide community-based supportive services.
(iii) Community-based supportive services shall be available to provide front- and back-end integrated transition services and supports to support treatment gains made in more restrictive placements and minimize reliance on costly and ineffective interventions, including ambulance transport, emergency department visits, and law enforcement involvement.
(iv) Each expedited transition planning services team shall include, at a minimum, one mental health professional with a master’s degree who is either licensed or license-eligible, one support counselor with a bachelor’s degree, and one peer partner. An expedited transition planning services team may serve up to four foster youth at a time and shall have the ability to support foster youth in any out-of-home treatment setting in the continuum of care.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a participating entity may, based on local needs and circumstances, adjust or modify any required component of the continuum of care if agreed upon by the county departments participating in the implementation of the continuum of care. care and approved by the department as meeting the needs of the target foster youth population in the county in a manner that is consistent with the intent of the pilot program.
(c) A participating entity shall provide a foster youth participating in the continuum of care, or ensure foster youths participating in the continuum of care are provided, with all of the following:
(1) One-on-one services, when clinically indicated.
(2) Single occupancy Single-occupancy rooms, unless a double occupancy double-occupancy room is clinically indicated by the individual plan of care developed by an interdisciplinary treatment team.
(3) A deinstitutionalized environment with warm and comforting decor, food, and clothing that maintains safety at all times.
(d) The continuum of care created by a participating entity shall, across all service settings, reflect all of the following core program features and service approaches:
(1) Highly individualized and trauma-informed services.
(2) Culturally and linguistically responsive and competent treatment.
(3) Alignment with the integrated core practice model and a commitment to centering the voices of foster youth and their families and a team approach to all decisionmaking. The child and family team shall be involved in all treatment planning and decisions and family engagement and involvement in treatment shall be central to all programs within the continuum of care.
(4) Coordinated and streamlined assessment practices to ensure that level-of-care determinations are appropriate, that foster youth are able to step up or step down to more or less restrictive placements across the continuum of care, and that duplicative assessments for foster youth in crisis are eliminated.

16554.
 (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to appropriate moneys to the department in the annual Budget Act or other statute for the purpose of administering a grant program to provide funding to participating entities for the duration of the pilot program.
(b) The department shall work with participating entities to design long-term plans to sustain the successful operation of continuums of care established pursuant to this chapter.

16555.
 (a) No Three years after the commencement of the pilot program, but not later than April 1, 2025, and again within one year of the pilot program’s end date, the department shall submit a report to the Assembly Committee on Human Services and the Senate Committee on Human Services that includes, at a minimum, both all of the following:
(1) A description of the impact of the pilot program on desired outcomes, including, but not limited to, any reduced reliance on hospitals, emergency departments, out-of-state facilities, and law enforcement in responding to the acute needs of foster youth who require more intensive short-term treatment. treatment, as well as reduced absences from placement by children who received services from the pilot program.
(2) An analysis that includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(A) The reasons children were served by the pilot program.
(B) To the extent not covered in subparagraph (A), a discussion of the most common needs of children placed into the pilot program that could not be met in family care and the services available in the pilot program to meet those needs.
(C) The number of children served in the pilot program, including the number of children receiving services in each component or level of care in the pilot program, and the length of time children were served for each service and level of care, including time spent in congregate care settings.
(D) Types of services provided by the pilot program.
(E) Outcomes related to child safety, wellbeing, and permanency for children who received services within the pilot program, at 6 months and 12 months after participating in the pilot program, or upon exit from foster care.
(F) Other impacts of the pilot program interventions and services on the child.
(G) The impact of the pilot program on the goals of building trauma-informed in-home and community-based services.

(2)

(3) Best practice recommendations related to the provision of services to foster youth with high acuity mental health needs, including, but not limited to, recommendations relating to program structure, cross-sector partnership and collaboration, and local financing.
(b) (1) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(2) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this section shall become inoperative on April 1, 2029, and, as of January 1, 2030, is repealed.

16556.
 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), the department and the State Department of Health Care Services may implement this chapter, and provide guidance to participating entities regarding consistent implementation of this chapter, through all-county letters or other similar instruction. Any guidance issued pursuant to this section shall be issued by January 1, 2022.

SEC. 10.SEC. 24.

 Section 18257.5 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

18257.5.
 The State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Health Care Services, in consultation with county representatives and other stakeholders, shall develop recommendations for implementing and expanding high-fidelity wraparound services statewide. The departments shall complete these activities no later than one year from the enactment of this section.

SEC. 11.SEC. 25.

 To the extent that this act has an overall effect of increasing the costs already borne by a local agency for programs or levels of service mandated by the 2011 Realignment Legislation within the meaning of Section 36 of Article XIII of the California Constitution, it shall apply to local agencies only to the extent that the state provides annual funding for the cost increase. Any new program or higher level of service provided by a local agency pursuant to this act above the level for which funding has been provided shall not require a subvention of funds by the state or otherwise be subject to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.
With regard to certain other costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district, no reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because, in that regard, this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.

SEC. 12.SEC. 26.

 (a) The Legislature hereby appropriates nine million dollars ($9,000,000) from the General Fund to the State Department of Developmental Services to expand home- and community-based regional center vendored facilities serving children with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are in crisis or require specialized, ongoing care and services.
(b) In allocating these funds, the department shall prioritize services to foster youth who are served by child welfare and probation agencies.