(a) The Legislature finds and declares that the health and safety of children placed in out-of-state residential facilities 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 child welfare agency or probation department in out-of-state residential facilities be accorded the same personal rights and safeguards of a child placed in a California licensed short-term residential therapeutic program. This section is in clarification of existing law.

(b) (1) On or before September 1, 2021, and each month thereafter, the department shall report to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature the number of children placed by a county child welfare agency or probation department in out-of-state residential facilities pursuant to the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children.

Terms Used In California Family Code 7912

  • County: includes city and county. See California Family Code 67
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, or a commonwealth, territory, or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See California Family Code 145

(2) On or before January 1, 2022, and every six months thereafter until facilities are decertified and all children returned to California on or before January 1, 2023, the department, in consultation with the counties, shall report to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on the capacity for serving all child welfare and probation-supervised foster children within California or in home-based settings outside of the state. The report shall also include all of the following data, as applicable:

(A) The number of children served by out-of-state residential facilities, disaggregated by child welfare services agency and probation department supervision.

(B) Data measures related to ongoing transition planning efforts, including child and family team meetings, child-specific recruitment and family finding activities, and multiagency care coordination efforts that occurred for each child before and during placement in the out-of-state residential facility.

(C) The lengths of stay of each child placed in an out-of-state residential facility by a California child welfare agency or probation department.

(D) The total number of all serious incident reports received regarding out-of-state residential facilities, and descriptions of the types of incidents reported.

(E) The total number of serious incident reports received regarding California children placed in out-of-state residential facilities, and descriptions of the types of incidents reported.

(3) Reports made pursuant to this subdivision shall not include any demographic data that would permit identification of any child or nonminor dependent.

(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 86, Sec. 9. (AB 153) Effective July 16, 2021.)