Web Report

	AB 81	(Ramos D)   Indian children: child custody proceedings.
		Current Text: Introduced: 12/15/2022   html   pdf
		Location: 4/20/2023-S. RLS.
		Summary: The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) governs the proceedings for determining the placement of an Indian child when that child is removed from the custody of the child’s parent or guardian. Current law states findings and declarations of the Legislature regarding Indian children, including that the state is committed to protecting the essential tribal relations and best interest of an Indian child by promoting practices in accordance with the ICWA, and it is in the interest of an Indian child that the child’s membership or citizenship in the child’s Indian tribe and connection to the tribal community be encouraged and protected, and requires the court to consider those findings in all Indian child custody proceedings. This bill would add to those findings and declarations by stating that, due to California’s discriminatory laws and policies against California Native Americans and the denial of the existence of tribal government powers, California seeks to more closely explore the historical relationships between the State of California and California Native Americans in the spirit of truth and healing.
		Position Letters: Support Letter - AJUD

			Position
			Support

	AB 87	(Quirk-Silva D)   Pupils: Section 504 plans: meetings and team meetings.
		Current Text: Amended: 3/27/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/3/2023-S. ED.
		Summary: Current law requires a special education local plan area submitting a local plan to the Superintendent of Public Instruction to ensure that it has in effect policies, procedures, and programs that are consistent with state laws, regulations, and policies governing, among other things, compliance assurances, including general compliance with Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Current law requires local educational agencies to identify, locate, and assess individuals with exceptional needs and to provide those pupils with a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment, with special education and related services as reflected in an individualized education program. Existing law authorizes the parent, guardian, or local educational agency of those pupils to audio record the proceedings of individualized education program team meetings. This bill would similarly authorize a parent, guardian, or local educational agency to audio record meetings and any team meetings for pupils held pursuant to Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as provided.

			Position
			Support

	AB 223	(Ward D)   Change of gender and sex identifier.
		Current Text: Introduced: 1/10/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/3/2023-S. JUD.
		Summary: Current law authorizes a person to file a petition with the superior court seeking a judgment recognizing their change of gender to female, male, or nonbinary, including a person who is under 18 years of age. Current law authorizes a person to file a single petition to simultaneously change the petitioner’s name and recognize the change to the petitioner’s gender and sex identifier, as specified. This bill would require any petition for a change of gender and sex identifier or a petition for change of gender, sex identifier, and name filed by a person under 18 years of age, and any papers associated with the proceeding, to be filed under seal.
		Position Letters: AB 223 Fact Sheet

			Position
			Support

	AB 248	(Mathis R)   Individuals with disabilities: The Dignity for All Act.
		Current Text: Amended: 5/17/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/3/2023-S. HUM. S.
		Summary: Current law includes the terms “mentally retarded persons,” “mentally retarded children,” “retardation,” and “handicap.” This bill, The Dignity for All Act, would make nonsubstantive changes to those provisions to eliminate this obsolete terminology. The bill would repeal obsolete provisions of law.

			Position
			Support

	AB 273	(Ramos D)   Foster care: missing children and nonminor dependents.
		Current Text: Amended: 3/15/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/26/2023-S. RLS.
		Summary: Would, among other things, additionally require a social worker or probation officer, when they receive information that a child receiving child welfare services is absent from foster care to, among other things, engage in ongoing and intensive due diligence efforts, as defined, to locate, place, and stabilize the child, request that the juvenile court schedule a hearing to review the placement and the ongoing and intensive due diligence efforts to locate and return the child, notify specified individuals whose whereabouts are known about the hearing, and prepare, submit, and serve a report at the hearing and any subsequent hearings describing their ongoing and intensive due diligence efforts to locate, place, and stabilize the child. The bill would require the court to consider the safety of the child receiving child welfare services who is absent from foster care to determine the extent of the activities and compliance of the county with the case plan in making ongoing and intensive due diligence efforts to locate and return the child to a safe placement, and to continue to periodically review their case at least every 30 calendars days, as specified. The bill would define “absent from foster care” to mean when the whereabouts of a child receiving child welfare services is unknown to the county child welfare agency or probation department or when the county child welfare agency or probation department has located the child receiving child welfare services in a location not approved by the court that may pose a risk to the child. The bill would also define “child receiving child welfare services” to include a child or nonminor dependent placed in a specified foster care placement or in the home of an emergency caregiver, and dependents, nonminor dependents, and minors who have been taken into temporary custody pursuant to specified provisions and who are in foster care. By increasing the duties of county child welfare agencies and probation departments, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.
		Position Letters: AB 273 (Ramos) Asm Approps AB 273 (Ramos) Fact Sheet AB 273 (Ramos) - Asm Judic

			Position
			Sponsored

	AB 274	(Bryan D)   CalWORKs: CalFresh: eligibility: income exclusions.
		Current Text: Amended: 4/20/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/31/2023-S. HUM. S.
		Summary: Current federal law provides for allocation of federal funds to eligible states through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program. Current state law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program under which, through a combination of state and county funds and federal funds received through the TANF program, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Under existing law, certain types of payments received by recipients of aid under the CalWORKs program, including, among others, an award or scholarship provided by a public or private entity to, or on behalf of, a dependent child are exempt from consideration as income for purposes of determining eligibility and aid amount. Current federal law provides for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Current law requires the eligibility of households to be determined to the extent permitted by federal law. Current federal regulation provides states with the option to exclude, for purposes of calculating a household’s income under SNAP, any type of income that the state excludes when determining eligibility or benefits for TANF cash assistance. This bill would exempt any grant, award, scholarship, loan, or fellowship benefit provided to any assistance unit member for educational purposes from consideration as income for purposes of determining CalWORKs eligibility or grant amounts.

			Position
			Support

	AB 311	(Santiago D)   California Food Assistance Program: eligibility and benefits.
		Current Text: Introduced: 1/26/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/31/2023-S. DESK
		Summary: Current law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a food assistance program, known as the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP), to provide assistance to a noncitizen of the United States if the person’s immigration status meets the eligibility criteria of SNAP in effect on August 21, 1996, but the person is not eligible for SNAP benefits solely due to their immigration status, as specified. Current law also makes eligible for the program an applicant who is otherwise eligible for the program, but who entered the United States on or after August 22, 1996, if the applicant is sponsored and the applicant meets one of a list of criteria, including that the applicant, after entry into the United States, is a victim of the sponsor or the spouse of the sponsor if the spouse is living with the sponsor. Current law, to become operative on the date that the department notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) has been updated to perform the necessary automation, and subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, makes an individual 55 years of age or older eligible for the program if the individual’s immigration status is the sole basis for their ineligibility for CalFresh benefits. This bill would remove that age limitation and make any individual eligible for the program if the individual’s immigration status is the sole basis for their ineligibility for CalFresh benefits.

			Position
			Support

	AB 325	(Reyes D)   Human services: noncitizen victims.
		Current Text: Introduced: 1/30/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/31/2023-S. HUM. S.
		Summary: Under current law, noncitizen victims of trafficking, domestic violence, and other serious crimes, as defined, are eligible for certain public social services and health care services to the same extent as individuals who are admitted to the United States as refugees. Current law requires that those services discontinue if there is a final administrative denial of a visa application, as specified. Current law requires that benefits and services under those provisions be paid from state funds to the extent federal funding is unavailable. This bill would prohibit the discontinuance of those services due to the denial of a visa application if the individual is eligible for those services on another basis. The bill would also expand those services to noncitizen victims of parental maltreatment, noncitizen children who have been bused, neglected, or abandoned, and noncitizens who fear persecution.

			Position
			Support

	AB 369	(Zbur D)   Foster care: independent living.
		Current Text: Amended: 5/18/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/26/2023-S. RLS.
		Summary: Current law establishes the Independent Living Program (ILP), which has among its purposes providing training in daily living skills, budgeting, locating and maintaining housing, and career planning for foster youth up to 21 years of age. Current federal law authorizes a state, under certain circumstances, to expand eligibility for the ILP to former foster youth who have not attained 23 years of age. Current law requires the State Department of Social Services, with the approval of the federal government, to amend the foster care state plan to permit all eligible children to be served by the ILP up to 21 years of age. This bill would require, by June 30, 2025, the department to develop a plan, in consultation with, among others, county ILP administrators, to, among other things, update and upgrade curriculum to facilitate successful transitions to adulthood.
		Position Letters: AB 369 (Zbur) AsmAPPR 4.5.23 AB 369 (Zbur) Fact Sheet Cosponsor Letter - Assembly Human Services - 2.22.23

			Position
			Sponsored

	AB 438	(Rubio, Blanca D)   Pupils with exceptional needs: individualized education programs: postsecondary goals and transition services.
		Current Text: Introduced: 2/6/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/31/2023-S. DESK
		Summary: Current law requires local educational agencies to identify, locate, and assess individuals with exceptional needs and to provide those pupils with a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment, with special education and related services as reflected in an individualized education program. Current law requires, beginning not later than the first individualized education program to be in effect when a pupil is 16 years of age, or younger if determined appropriate by the individualized education program team, and updated annually thereafter, the individualized education program to include appropriate measurable postsecondary goals and transition services, as defined, needed to assist the pupil in reaching those goals. This bill would instead require an individualized education program, commencing July 1, 2025, to include measurable postsecondary goals and transition services beginning when an individual with exceptional needs is 14 years of age.

			Position
			Support

	AB 448	(Carrillo, Juan D)   Juveniles: relative placement: family finding.
		Current Text: Amended: 3/21/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/31/2023-S. DESK
		Summary: Current law requires a county social worker to investigate the circumstances of each child taken into temporary custody by a peace officer under specified circumstances. Current law requires the social worker to conduct an investigation, within 30 days of the child’s removal, to identify and locate adult relatives of the child, as specified, and to provide them with a notification that the child has been removed from the custody of the child’s parents, guardians, or Indian custodian, and an explanation of the various options to participate in the care and placement of the child. This bill would require the social worker to conduct the investigation to identify and locate adult relatives, immediately, and no later than 30 days, after the child has been taken into temporary custody.
		Position Letters: AB 448 (Carrillo, J.) AAPPR 4.25.23 AB 448 (Carrillo, J.) Asm JUD 3.20.23

			Position
			Support

	AB 505	(Ting D)   The Office of Youth and Community Restoration.
		Current Text: Amended: 3/23/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/26/2023-S. RLS.
		Summary: Current law creates the Office of Youth and Community Restoration within the California Health and Human Services Agency to promote trauma-responsive, culturally informed services for youth involved in the juvenile justice system, as specified. Current law grants the office the responsibility and authority to report on youth outcomes, identify policy recommendations, identify and disseminate best practices, and provide technical assistance to develop and expand local youth diversion opportunities. Current law establishes the Board of State and Community Corrections, with the mission of providing statewide leadership, coordination, and technical assistance to promote effective state and local efforts and partnerships in California’s adult and juvenile criminal justice system. Current law requires the board to collect and maintain available information and data about state and community correctional policies, practices, capacities, and needs, as specified, relating to adult corrections and juvenile justice. This bill would transfer all authority, responsibilities, and duties on the board regarding juvenile justice to the office, including, but not limited to, conducting inspections and developing and enforcing minimum standards for local facilities.
		Position Letters: Sponsor Letter - Assembly Public Safety Support Letter Template AB 505 (Ting) Fact Sheet

			Position
			Sponsored

	AB 525	(Ting D)   Foster youth: supervised independent living placement housing supplement
		Current Text: Amended: 3/22/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/19/2023-A. 2 YEAR
		Summary: Current law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide payments to foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in foster care. Current law establishes a schedule of basic rates to be paid for the care and supervision of each foster child, administered by the State Department of Social Services. Current law also establishes the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program (Kin-GAP), which provides aid on behalf of eligible children who have a kinship guardianship, and the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Program (ARC), which provides payments to approved relative caregivers who are caring for children and nonminor dependents who are ineligible for AFDC-FC payments. Current law requires a monthly basic rate to be paid for a nonminor dependent placed in a licensed foster family home or with a resource family, or placed in an approved home of a relative or approved home of a nonrelative extended family member, or placed in a supervised independent living placement, as specified. This bill, commencing July 1, 2025, and subject to an appropriation, would create a housing supplement to the basic rate paid for a nonminor dependent placed in a supervised independent living placement, as specified. The bill would require the department to work with the County Welfare Directors Association of California and the Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) to develop and implement the necessary system changes to implement the housing supplement. The bill would require the monthly housing supplement payment to be made to the nonminor dependent in one lump sum and prorated based on the number of days in a month the dependent is in a placement.
		Position Letters: AB 525 (Ting) Fact Sheet AB 525 (Ting) AAPPR 4.11.23 - Support AB 525 (Ting) - Support Letter AHUM 3.13.23

			Position
			Support

	AB 866	(Rubio, Blanca D)   Food assistance for nonminor dependents.
		Current Text: Amended: 5/18/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/31/2023-S. RLS.
		Summary: Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh, under which nutrition assistance benefits are distributed to eligible individuals by the counties. Existing law establishes eligibility and benefit level requirements for receipt of CalFresh benefits.This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to establish a state-funded food assistance program to provide assistance for a nonminor dependent, as defined, who is residing in a supervised independent living placement or a transitional living setting, as specified. The bill would require the program to utilize the existing CalFresh and electronic benefits transfer system infrastructure to implement the program, to the extent permissible under federal law. The bill would authorize the State Department of Social Services to implement and administer its provisions through all-county letters or similar instructions without taking regulatory action until final regulations are adopted, as specified. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
		Position Letters: AB 866 (Rubio) - AAPPR - Support - 4.18.23 AB 866 (Rubio) Fact Sheet Support Letter Template - AHUM AB 866 - Sponsor Letter - Assembly Human Services

			Position
			Sponsored

	AB 867	(Friedman D)   Foster youth.
		Current Text: Introduced: 2/14/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/31/2023-S. RLS.
		Summary: Current law authorizes nonminors who have not yet attained 21 years of age and who exited foster care at or after the age of majority to petition the court to resume dependency jurisdiction or to assume transition jurisdiction over the nonminor. Under current law, the county welfare department is required to submit reports at the first regularly scheduled review hearing after a dependent child has attained 16 years of age, at the last regularly scheduled review hearing before a dependent child attains 18 years of age, and at every regularly scheduled review hearing thereafter, verifying that specified information, documents, and services have been provided to the child or nonminor. This bill would require certain additional verifications to be included in those reports, including, among other things, verification that specified information has been included in the child’s or nonminor’s case plan.
		Position Letters: AB 867 (Friedman) AAPPR 4.13.23 AB 867 (Friedman) Asm HUM 3.6.23

			Position
			Support

	AB 954	(Bryan D)   Dependency: court-ordered services.
		Current Text: Amended: 3/22/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/3/2023-S. JUD.
		Summary: Current law establishes the grounds for removal of a dependent child from the custody of the child’s parents or guardian, and requires the court to order the social worker to provide designated child welfare services, including family reunification services, as prescribed. Current law also requires family maintenance services to be provided or arranged for by county welfare department staff in order to maintain a child in their own home, and requires the services to be available without regard to income to specified families, including families in which the child is in the care of a previously noncustodial parent under the supervision of the juvenile court. This bill would require a court to inquire whether a parent or guardian can afford court-ordered services when making reasonable orders for a dependent child. The bill would prohibit a court from declaring a parent or guardian noncompliant with a court-ordered case plan when there is evidence that the parent or guardian is unable to pay for a service, or that payment for a service would create an undue financial hardship for them, at specified review hearings.
		Position Letters: AB 954 (Bryan) AFLOOR - SUPPORT 4.24.23 AB 954 AHUM - SUPPORT 4.4.23 AB 954 (Bryan) AJUD - SUPPORT 3.14.23

			Position
			Support

	AB 1057	(Weber D)   California Home Visiting Program.
		Current Text: Amended: 4/20/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/31/2023-S. RLS.
		Summary: Would establish within the Health and Safety Code the California Home Visiting Program, a voluntary program originally created administratively, under which the State Department of Public Health provides funds to local health departments to support pregnant people and parents with young children who live in communities that face greater risks and barriers to achieving positive maternal and child health outcomes, as provided.

			Position
			Support

	AB 1094	(Wicks D)   Drug and alcohol testing: informed consent.
		Current Text: Introduced: 2/15/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 4/28/2023-A. 2 YEAR
		Summary: Would authorize performing a drug or alcohol test or screen on a pregnant person, perinatal person, or newborn without consent if, in the physician’s judgment, an emergency exists, the person is in immediate need of medical attention, and an attempt to secure consent would result in a delay of treatment that would increase the risk to the person’s life or health. If a test or screen is performed without consent, the bill would require that the pregnant person, perinatal person, or person authorized to consent for a newborn receive verbal and written notification, as specified. The bill would prohibit medical personnel from refusing to treat a pregnant person, perinatal person, or newborn due to the refusal to consent to a drug or alcohol test or screen.
		Position Letters: AB 1094 AHEALTH - SUPPORT 4.4.23

			Position
			Support

	AB 1112	(McKinnor D)   Foster youth.
		Current Text: Introduced: 2/15/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/31/2023-S. DESK
		Summary: Current law requires, when a child is living with a parent who receives Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) or Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program (Kin-GAP) benefits, or Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Program (ARC) payments, that the rate paid to the foster care provider on behalf of the parent include an additional amount, known as an infant supplement, for the care and supervision of the child. Current law makes a pregnant minor or nonminor dependent eligible for the infant supplement, referred to in this instance as an expectant parent benefit, for the 3-month period immediately prior to the month the birth is anticipated. This bill would expand eligibility for the expectant parent benefit to include minors and nonminor dependents who are under the dependency jurisdiction of the juvenile court and who would be eligible to have foster care benefits paid on their behalf but for the minor or nonminor dependent not residing in an approved placement. The bill would require the department to develop and implement automated payments for these purposes, as specified. Because counties would administer these extended benefits, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
		Position Letters: AB 1112 (McKinnor) - AHUM

			Position
			Support

	AB 1154	(Wilson D)   Juveniles: mentoring programs.
		Current Text: Amended: 4/19/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/19/2023-A. 2 YEAR
		Summary: Would require the social worker and probation officer to include in the supplemental report or social study, respectively, information on the likely emotional and social benefits from one-to-one mentoring services for the child or nonminmor dependant, and a recommendation for one-to-one mentoring, as specified. The bill would, if the supplemental report includes a referral for mentoring, require the court to ask the foster youth, at any status hearing, whether participation in a mentoring program has been offered to them and whether they are interested in participating in a mentoring program, and would specify that in this case the foster youth shall only be referred for mentoring if they agree to participate. The bill would, if the social study includes a referral for mentoring, require the court or probation officer to include a mentoring program in the foster youth’s case plan if the foster youth agrees to participate in such a program. The bill would specify that participation in the mentoring program is on a purely voluntary basis and would prohibit a foster youth from being subject to discipline or other adverse action based on the foster youth’s subsequent decision to discontinue participation in the mentoring program. The bill would authorize a court to refer or order the foster youth to participate in a one-to-one mentoring program through a nonprofit organization that meets specified criteria, including, among other things, having experience serving foster children and youth. The bill would require a social worker or probation officer to make their best efforts to identify and refer a foster youth for whom mentoring has been recommended and accepted or for whom mentoring has been ordered to a nonprofit organization. By imposing new duties on counties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

			Position
			Support

	AB 1186	(Bonta D)   Juveniles: restitution.
		Current Text: Introduced: 2/16/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/26/2023-S. RLS.
		Summary: Current law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court over minors who are between 12 and 17 years of age, inclusive, who have violated a federal, state, or local law or ordinance, as specified, and over minors under 12 years of age who have been alleged to have committed specified crimes. Current law authorizes a juvenile court to adjudge a person under these circumstances to be a ward of the court. Existing law authorizes a court, upon adjudicating a person to be a ward of the court, to require the minor to pay restitution to the victim or victims. This bill would remove the ability of the court to require the minor to pay restitution to the victim. The bill would authorize the court to instead order the minor to make amends by participating in a restorative justice program, performing community service, or participating in an educational, employment, youth development, or mental health program, as specified.
		Position Letters: Support Letter - APUBS

			Position
			Support

	AB 1323	(Kalra D)   School safety: mandatory notifications.
		Current Text: Amended: 3/23/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 4/28/2023-A. 2 YEAR
		Summary: Current law provides that any person who willfully disturbs any public school or any public school meeting is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of not more than $500. The bill would exempt from those misdemeanor and fine provisions a person who, at the time of the disturbance, is a pupil of the school district.

			Position
			Support

	AB 1324	(Bryan D)   Child welfare agencies: enforcement.
		Current Text: Amended: 3/13/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/26/2023-S. RLS.
		Summary: Current law delegates to the Department of Child Support Services and local child support agencies the responsibility for collecting and enforcing child support obligations, including child support delinquencies, as defined. Current law requires the State Department of Social Services to promulgate regulations for county child welfare departments, including, but not limited to, any case of separation or desertion of a parent from a child that results in foster care assistance payments, payments for a minor child placed in the same home as a minor or nonminor dependent parent, and California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) payments to a caretaker relative of a child who comes within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. Current law requires those regulations to require the county child welfare department to determine whether it is in the best interests of the child or nonminor to have the case referred to the local child support agency for child support services. Current law, on or before October 1, 2023, further requires those regulations to require the county child welfare department to presume that the payment of support by the parent is likely to pose a barrier to the proposed reunification. This bill would, on or before January 1, 2025, require the Department of Child Support Services to identify all child support referrals made pursuant to the above-described provisions prior to January 1, 2023.
		Position Letters: AB 1324 (Bryan) AAPPR 4.25.23 Cosponsor Letter - Assembly Human Services Support Letter Template - AHUM Fact sheet -NO NAME GIVEN-

			Position
			Sponsored

	AB 1340	(Garcia D)   School accountability: pupils with exceptional needs.
		Current Text: Introduced: 2/16/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/26/2023-S. RLS.
		Summary: Current law requires the Department of Education to report annually, on its internet website, enrollment data by disability, as specified. This bill would require the department to report annually, on its internet website, specified statewide-level indicia of pupil performance for pupils who are individuals with exceptional needs, disaggregated by certain identified disabilities, as provided.

			Position
			Support

	AB 1512	(Bryan D)   Foster care payments.
		Current Text: Amended: 4/6/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/18/2023-A. THIRD READING
		Summary: Existing law provides for the out-of-home placement, including foster care placement, of children who are unable to remain in the custody and care of their parents. Existing law, the federal Social Security Act, provides for benefits for eligible beneficiaries, including survivorship and disability benefits and supplemental security income (SSI) benefits for, among others, blind and disabled children. Existing law requires every youth who is in foster care and nearing emancipation to be screened by the county for potential eligibility for federal Supplemental Security Income and requires that screening to occur when the foster youth is at least 16 years and 6 months of age and not older than 17 years and 6 months of age. This bill would repeal the requirement for that workgroup to make the above-described recommendations regarding feasibility and cost-effectiveness. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
		Position Letters: AB 1512 (Bryan) AAPPR 4.27.23 AB 1512 (Bryan) AHUM Support Ltr Template 4.17.23 AB 1512 (Bryan) AHUM 4.7.23 AB 1512 (Bryan) Fact Sheet

			Position
			Sponsored

	ACR 16	(Fong, Mike D)   Needs of opportunity youth.
		Current Text: Introduced: 2/14/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 4/19/2023-S. THIRD READING
		Summary: Would declare that the Legislature recognizes the importance of creating pathways to success for California’s opportunity youth and the need to develop a statewide comprehensive plan that will reduce persistent economic inequities endured by California’s opportunity youth.

			Position
			Support

	SB 21	(Umberg D)   Civil actions: remote proceedings.
		Current Text: Amended: 2/23/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/24/2023-A. DESK
		Summary: Current law authorizes, until July 1, 2023, a party to appear remotely and a court to conduct conferences, hearings, proceedings, and trials in civil cases, in whole or in part, through the use of remote technology. This bill would extend these provisions until January 1, 2026. The bill would exempt specific types of proceedings from these provisions. The bill would authorize, until January 1, 2026, a court to conduct an adoption finalization hearing, in whole or in part, through the use of remote technology, without the court making specific findings and would prohibit a court from requiring a party to appear through the use of remote technology.
		Position Letters: Support Letter - SJUD

			Position
			Support

	SB 245	(Hurtado D)   California Food Assistance Program: eligibility and benefits.
		Current Text: Amended: 3/16/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/24/2023-A. DESK
		Summary: Current law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a food assistance program, known as the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP), to provide assistance to a noncitizen of the United States if the person’s immigration status meets the eligibility criteria of SNAP in effect on August 21, 1996, but the person is not eligible for SNAP benefits solely due to their immigration status, as specified. Current law also makes eligible for the program an applicant who is otherwise eligible for the program, but who entered the United States on or after August 22, 1996, if the applicant is sponsored and the applicant meets one of a list of criteria, including that the applicant, after entry into the United States, is a victim of the sponsor or the spouse of the sponsor if the spouse is living with the sponsor. Current law, to become operative on the date that the department notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) has been updated to perform the necessary automation, and subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, makes an individual 55 years of age or older eligible for the program if the individual’s immigration status is the sole basis for their ineligibility for CalFresh benefits. This bill would remove that age limitation and make any individual eligible for the program if the individual’s immigration status is the sole basis for their ineligibility for CalFresh benefits.
		Position Letters: Support Letter - SHUM

			Position
			Support

	SB 260	(Menjivar D)   CalWORKs: aid payments.
		Current Text: Amended: 5/18/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/30/2023-A. DESK
		Summary: Would, beginning April 1, 2025, make a menstruating person who is qualified for aid under the CalWORKs program and between 10 and 55 years of age, inclusive, entitled to $20 per month to assist with menstrual product costs. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to work with the County Welfare Directors Association of California and the California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) to develop and implement the necessary system changes on or before April 1, 2025. By increasing the duties of counties administering the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program.
		Position Letters: SB 260 (Menjivar) SEN GO - SUPPORT - 4.4.23 SB 260 (Menjivar) SHS - SUPPORT - 3.15.23

			Position
			Support

	SB 274	(Skinner D)   Suspensions and expulsions: willful defiance.
		Current Text: Amended: 4/10/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/18/2023-A. ED.
		Summary: Current law prohibits a pupil from being suspended from school or recommended for expulsion, unless the superintendent of the school district or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed a specified act, an act from a list of specified acts, including, among other acts, disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties. Current law authorizes a teacher to suspend any pupil from class for any of the listed acts, including willful defiance, for the day of the suspension and the day following. Current law prohibits the suspension of a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 5, inclusive, and recommending the expulsion of a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, for disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid authority of those school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties. Current law, until July 1, 2025, prohibits the suspension of a pupil enrolled in any of grades 6 to 8, inclusive, for those acts. Current law applies these same provisions to charter schools. This bill would extend the prohibition against the suspension of pupils, including pupils enrolled in a charter school, for disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties to all grades, indefinitely, but would retain a teacher’s existing authorization to suspend any pupil from class for any of the listed acts, including willful defiance, for the day of the suspension and the day following, as provided.
		Position Letters: SB 274 SED Support 4.4.23

			Position
			Support

	SB 333	(Cortese D)   Homeless pupils: California Success, Opportunity, and Academic Resilience (SOAR) Guaranteed Income Program.
		Current Text: Amended: 4/10/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/26/2023-A. HUM. S.
		Summary: Current law establishes various programs to provide assistance to homeless youth, including, among others, homeless youth emergency service pilot projects and the Runaway Youth and Families in Crisis Projects. This bill, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, would require the State Department of Social Services to establish the California Success, Opportunity, and Academic Resilience (SOAR) Guaranteed Income Program. The program would award public school pupils who are in grade 12 and are homeless children or youths, as defined, a guaranteed income of $1,000 each month for 5 months from April 1, 2025, to August 1, 2025, inclusive, as provided. The bill would establish the California SOAR Guaranteed Income Fund as the initial depository of all moneys appropriated, donated, or otherwise received for the program, and upon appropriation by the Legislature, would provide moneys in the fund to eligible participants.

			Position
			Support

	SB 445	(Portantino D)   Special education: individualized education programs: translation services.
		Current Text: Amended: 5/18/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/31/2023-A. DESK
		Summary: Current law requires a local educational agency to initiate and conduct meetings for purposes of developing, reviewing, and revising the individualized education program of each individual with exceptional needs in accordance with federal law. Current law requires the local educational agency to take any action necessary to ensure that the parent of the individual with exceptional needs understands the proceedings at a meeting, including arranging for an interpreter for parents with deafness or whose native language is a language other than English. Current law defines “parent” for purposes of these provisions to mean a biological or adoptive parent, a foster parent, a guardian generally authorized to act as the child’s parent or authorized to make educational decisions for the child, an individual acting in the place of a biological or adoptive parent, or a surrogate parent, as specified. Current law requires that a person who meets the definition of “parent,” except for a surrogate parent, be determined to be the “parent” for purposes of these provisions if there is a judicial decree or order identifying that person, as specified. This bill would revise the definition of “parent” to specify that it also includes the educational rights holder and the conservator of a child. The bill would instead require that a person who meets the definition of “parent,” including all categories of people included in that definition, be determined to be the “parent” for purposes of these provisions if there is a judicial decree or order identifying that person, as specified.

			Position
			Support

	SB 456	(Menjivar D)   Multifamily Housing Program: nonprofit corporations: homeless or at-risk youth.
		Current Text: Amended: 4/10/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/25/2023-A. DESK
		Summary: Current law establishes the Multifamily Housing Program administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development. Current law requires assistance for projects under the program to be provided in the form of deferred payment loans to pay for eligible costs of specified types of development, as provided. Current law requires that specified funds appropriated to provide housing for individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness and who are inherently impacted by or at increased risk for medical diseases or conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic or other communicable diseases be disbursed in accordance with the Multifamily Housing Program for specified uses. Existing law exempts these specified funds from the deferred payment loan requirement, as specified. Current law also requires at least 8 percent of these specified funds to be available for projects serving homeless youth, or youth at risk of homelessness, as defined. This bill would, instead, require that at least 8 percent of the specified funds be available for units, rather than projects, serving homeless youth, or youth at risk of homelessness.
		Position Letters: SB 456 (Menjivar) SAPPR 4.27.23 SB 456 (Menjivar) Fact Sheet SB 456 (Menjivar) Sen Housing 3.2.23

			Position
			Sponsored

	SB 457	(Menjivar D)   Vision care: consent by a minor.
		Current Text: Amended: 3/20/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/4/2023-A. JUD.
		Summary: Would authorize minors to consent to their own vision care, and would authorize an optometrist to advise a minor’s parent or guardian of the care given or needed, under the same conditions applicable to the provision of medical care and dental care. The bill would define “vision care” as the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and management of disorders, diseases, and dysfunctions of the visual system and the provision of habilitative or rehabilitative optometric services by a licensed optometrist, as specified.
		Position Letters: SB 457 (Menjivar) Asm JUD SB 457 (Menjivar) Sen JUD

			Position
			Support

	SB 551	(Portantino D)   Mental health boards.
		Current Text: Amended: 5/1/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/24/2023-A. DESK
		Summary: The Bronzan-McCorquodale Act contains provisions governing the operation and financing of community mental health services in every county through locally administered and locally controlled community mental health programs. Current law requires each community mental health service to have a mental health board, as specified. Current law requires a member of the board to abstain from voting on any issue in which the member has a financial interest. This bill would require at least 20% of a mental health board’s membership to be employed by a local educational agency, and at least 20% to be an individual who is 25 years of age or younger in counties with a population of 500,000 or more. The bill would also require one member of the board to be employed by a local educational agency and at least one member to be 25 years of age or younger in counties with a population fewer than 500,000, but more than 100,000. In counties with a population of fewer than 100,000, this bill would require those counties to give a strong preference to appointing at least one member of the board who is employed by a local education agency or is 25 years of age or younger.

			Position
			Support

	SB 589	(Alvarado-Gil D)   Foster youth: disaster aid assistance.
		Current Text: Amended: 5/18/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/30/2023-A. DESK
		Summary: Current law requires the State Department of Social Services to ensure that, among other things, emergency response services are coordinated with the implementation of specified program models. Current law also requires each county to provide the department with a disaster response plan describing how county programs that receive federal assistance for child and family services would respond to a disaster. Current law also requires the department to review its disaster plan, revise the plan to clarify the role and responsibilities of the state in the event of a disaster, and consult with counties to identify opportunities for collaboration in the event of a disaster. This bill would establish the Child Welfare Disaster Response Program, to be administered by the department. The bill would establish the Child Welfare Disaster Response Account to fund the program. The bill would require, upon appropriation by the Legislature, $2,000,000 to be allocated from the General Fund to the Child Welfare Disaster Response Account for purposes of the program and to support the needs of foster children and youth and their caregivers during a disaster. The bill would require the department to determine eligibility criteria for applicants and would authorize county child welfare departments to apply for funds. The bill would require funds awarded pursuant those provisions to be available to meet the housing, clothing, transportation, and other tangible needs of foster children and youth and their caregivers that occur within 180 days of a local emergency proclamation by a local government or a state of emergency proclamation by the Governor.
		Position Letters: SB 589 (Alvarado-Gil) SHUM 4.12.23

			Position
			Support

	SB 760	(Newman D)   School facilities: all-gender restrooms.
		Current Text: Amended: 5/18/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/31/2023-A. DESK
		Summary: Would require, on or before July 1, 2025, each school district, county office of education, and charter school, including charter schools operating in a school district facility, maintaining any combination of classes from kindergarten to grade 12, inclusive, to provide at least one all-gender restroom for voluntary pupil use at each of its schoolsites. The bill would require the all-gender restroom to meet certain requirements, including, among other things, that it has signage identifying the bathroom facility as being open to all genders and is unlocked, unobstructed, and easily accessible by any pupil. The bill would require the local educational agency to designate a staff member to serve as a point of contact for these purposes and to post a notice regarding these requirements in a prominent and conspicuous location outside at least one all-gender restroom. The bill would require these requirements to be subject to compliance review, as specified. By imposing additional requirements on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize a local educational agency to use an existing restroom to satisfy these requirements, as provided. The bill would require the State Department of Education to post on its internet website guidance for implementation of these provisions.
		Position Letters: Support Letter - SED

			Position
			Support

	SB 824	(Ashby D)   Foster care.
		Current Text: Amended: 4/11/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 5/26/2023-A. HUM. S.
		Summary: Current law subjects foster care provider applicants, resource family applicants, and certain other adults in those homes, to a criminal records check and requires the applicant or other adult in the applicant’s home to obtain a criminal record clearance or criminal record exemption prior to licensure or approval. Existing law prohibits the State Department of Social Services or other approving entity from granting a criminal records exemption, except as specified, to an applicant or other adult in the applicant’s home who has been convicted of certain felonies. Current law authorizes the State Department of Social Services or other approving entity, for the purpose of the resource family approval process described below, to grant an exemption from disqualification for the conviction of a felony for which a criminal record exemption cannot be granted if the applicant is a relative seeking placement of a specific relative child or children, the applicant or other adult living in the home is of present good character necessary to justify granting the exemption, and the applicant or other adult living in the home has not been convicted of certain felonies within the last 5 years. This bill would, among other things, additionally authorize the department, or other approving entity, to grant an exemption under those circumstances to a nonrelative extended family member or an extended family member.
		Position Letters: SB 824 (Ashby) AHUM 5.30.23 SB 824 (Ashby) SAPPR 4.27.23 SB 824 (Ashby) SAAPR Support Ltr Template 4.27.23 SB 824 (Ashby) SJUD Support Ltr Template 4.13.23 SB 824 (Ashby) SJUD 4.12.23 SB 824 (Ashby) Fact Sheet Cosponsor Letter - Senate Human Services

			Position
			Sponsored

Total Measures: 38

Total Tracking Forms: 38