California Welfare and Institutions Code 16000.1 – (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the …
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) The state has a duty to care for and protect the children that the state places into foster care, and as a matter of public policy, the state assumes an obligation of the highest order to ensure the safety of children in foster care.
Terms Used In California Welfare and Institutions Code 16000.1
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- County: includes "city and county. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 14
- custody: means the legal right to custody of the child unless that right is held jointly by two or more persons, in which case "custody" means the physical custody of the child by one of the persons sharing the right to custody. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 17.1
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
(2) A judicial order establishing jurisdiction over a child placed into foster care supplants or limits parental or previous adult authority.
(3) Nothing in this section is intended to change the balance of liability between the state and the counties as it existed prior to the decision of the California Court of Appeal in County of Los Angeles v. Superior Court of Los Angeles: Real Party in Interest Terrell R. (2002) 102 Cal.App.4th 627, as established by the decision of the California Court of Appeal in Scott v. County of Los Angeles (1994) 27 Cal.App.4th 125. Furthermore, nothing in this section is intended to increase or decrease the liability of the state as it existed prior to the Terrell R. case.
(b) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that nothing in the decision of the California Court of Appeal in County of Los Angeles v. Superior Court of Los Angeles: Real Party in Interest Terrell R. (2002) 102 Cal.App.4th 627, shall be held to change the standards of liability and immunity for injuries to children in protective custody that existed prior to that decision.
(2) It is the intent of the Legislature to confirm the state’s duty to comply with all requirements under Part B of Title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 620 et seq.) and Part E of Title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 670 et seq.) that are relevant to the protection and welfare of children in foster care.
(Added by Stats. 2003, Ch. 847, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 2004.)