(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to support the urgent and exceptional needs of children and nonminor dependents in foster care under the supervision of a county child welfare agency or probation department, including those who otherwise may be placed in an out-of-state residential facility.

(b) (1) The department shall allocate funds appropriated to the department for this purpose in the Budget Act of 2021 through contracts with community-based providers or entities or through local assistance allocations to counties or Indian tribes that have entered into an agreement pursuant to Section 10553.1 that support new or expanded programs, services, practices, and training that builds system capacity and ensures the provision of a high-quality continuum of care that is designed to support foster children in the least restrictive setting, consistent with a child’s permanency plan.

(2) Pursuant to guidance and a process established by the department and the State Department of Health Care Services, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association of California, Chief Probation Officers of California, and County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California, fund recipients shall use the allocated funds to supplement county efforts to build system capacity for any of the following activities:

(A) Specialized models of professional foster care, including therapeutic foster care, intensive services foster care, or other models as may be developed in collaboration with counties, including the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California, and providers.

(B) Intensive child-specific recruitment, family finding and engagement, and support programs for children with complex needs, including specialized permanency support services as described in Section 16501 and activities associated with the Active Supportive Intervention Services for Transition program.

(C) Specialized models of integrated care and support for family-based settings, including high-fidelity wraparound, and community-based treatment models that create alternatives to out-of-home or residential placement.

(D) Highly individualized short-term residential therapeutic programs designed to serve children with complex needs who otherwise may have been placed in an out-of-state residential facility.

(E) A Children’s Crisis Continuum Pilot Program established pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 16550).

(F) Highly specialized short-term residential therapeutic programs designed to serve children with cooccurring intellectual or developmental disabilities and behavioral health needs.

(3) Allocations made pursuant to this subdivision shall be conditioned on qualitative and outcomes standards that are established by the department, in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services, counties, tribes, and other entities that may receive funding.

(c) (1) The department shall allocate or expend, through contracts with community-based providers or entities or through local assistance allocations to counties or Indian tribes that have entered into an agreement pursuant to Section 10553.1, funds appropriated to the department for this purpose in the Budget Act of 2021, and in any future fiscal year, to provide and implement the recommendations of child-specific assessments, evaluations, enhanced care planning, ongoing technical assistance, and exceptional supports to meet the complex care needs of children in foster care within California within the least restrictive setting.

(2) The department shall establish a process through which funds may be made available pursuant to a request from a county child welfare agency or probation department on behalf of an individual child. Requests shall identify the exceptional services that are needed to support the child in the least restrictive setting and shall be based upon the recommendation of a qualified individual, technical assistance provided by the department, or a clinical determination of an interagency placement committee that considers the recommendations of a child and family team.

(3) Funds made available pursuant to this subdivision shall be conditioned on qualitative and outcomes standards that are established by the department. Outcomes standards shall include a continuous quality improvement process designed to address systematic gaps or barriers to meeting the needs of children and nonminor dependents in the least restrictive setting. Those outcomes standards shall be developed by the department and the State Department of Health Care Services, in consultation with counties, tribes, and other entities that may receive funding.

(d) The department shall consult with the joint interagency resolution team, the County Welfare Directors Association of California, the Chief Probation Officers of California, the California Behavioral Health Directors Association of California, legislative staff, and other stakeholders with respect to the implementation of this section.

(e) Funding made available to counties pursuant to this section shall only be used to supplement, and not supplant, existing funding.

(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 86, Sec. 44. (AB 153) Effective July 16, 2021.)