(a) The State Department of Social Services shall provide technical assistance to encourage and facilitate the county placement agency’s evaluation of placement needs and the development of needed placement resources and programs. County placement agencies shall, on a regular basis, conduct an evaluation of the county’s placement resources and programs in relation to the needs of children and nonminor dependents placed in out-of-home care. County placement agencies shall examine the adequacy of existing placement resources and programs and identify the type of additional placement resources and programs needed. The county placement agency shall specifically examine both of the following:

(1) Placements that are out of county and shall determine the reason the placement was necessary, and identify the additional placement resources and programs that need to be developed and available to allow a child to remain within the county and as close as possible to their home.

(2) The county’s ability to meet the emergency housing needs of nonminor dependents in order to ensure that all nonminor dependents have access to immediate housing upon reentering foster care or for periods of transition between placements.

(b) The department shall also support the development and operation of a consortia of county placement agencies on a regional basis for the purpose of developing specialized programs serving a multicounty area.

(c) The reason for each out-of-county and out-of-state placement shall be included in the statewide child welfare information system, and the State Department of Social Services shall utilize that data to evaluate out-of-county and out-of-state placements and to assist in the identification of resource and placement needs.

(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that the State Department of Social Services review the out-of-state placement of children to determine the reason for out-of-state placement. The department shall make the information available to the Legislature upon request.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 50, Sec. 69. (SB 187) Effective June 30, 2022.)