Web Report

	AB 274	(Bryan D)   CalWORKs: CalFresh: eligibility: income exclusions.
		Current Text: Amended: 9/8/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 9/14/2023-S. 2 YEAR
		Summary: Would exempt any grant, award, scholarship, loan, or fellowship benefit provided to any assistance unit member for educational purposes from consideration as income or resources for purposes of determining CalWORKs eligibility or grant amounts, as specified. The bill would also require, to the extent permitted by federal law, regulation, or guidance, or a waiver thereof, the State Department of Social Services to exercise a federal option to exclude, for purposes of calculating a household’s income under CalFresh, any type of income that the department excludes when determining eligibility or benefits for CalWORKs. This bill would require the department to implement these provisions through an all-county letter or similar instruction until regulations are adopted. By expanding the scope of eligibility for CalWORKs and CalFresh, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

			Position
			Support

	AB 369	(Zbur D)   Foster care: independent living.
		Current Text: Amended: 5/18/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 9/1/2023-S. 2 YEAR
		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) Sen APPR AB 369 (Zbur) Sen HUM 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: Amended: 6/19/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 9/14/2023-S. 2 YEAR
		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 enters grade 9.

			Position
			Support

	AB 505	(Ting D)   The Office of Youth and Community Restoration.
		Current Text: Chaptered: 10/9/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 10/9/2023-A. CHAPTERED
		Summary: Current law requires the Office of Youth and Community Restoration to have an ombudsperson and authorizes the ombudspersons to, among other things, investigate complaints from youth and access facilities serving youth involved in the juvenile justice system with advanced notice of a minimum of 48 hours to the agency in control of the facility. Current law requires the ombudsperson to publish and provide regular reports to the Legislature regarding data collected concerning, among other things, investigations performed by the ombudsperson. This bill would authorize an ombudsperson to access a facility at any time without prior notice to the operator of the facility. The bill would require the ombudsperson to have access to, review, receive, and make copies of any record of a local agency, including all juvenile facility records at all times, expect as otherwise prohibited. The bill would authorize the ombudsperson to meet or communicate privately with any youth, personnel, or volunteer in a juvenile facility and interview any relevant witnesses. The bill would authorize the ombudsperson to interview sworn probation personnel in accordance with applicable federal and state law, local probation department policies, and collective bargaining agreements. The bill would require the ombudsperson to be granted access to youth at all times, and would require the ombudsperson to be able to take notes, audio or video recording, or photographs during the meeting or communication with youth, to the extent not otherwise prohibited by applicable federal or state law. The bill would also require the ombudsperson to include recommendations for improving the juvenile justice system in their regular reports regarding data annually collected and made publicly available on the office’s internet website.
		Position Letters: AB 505 Joint Co-Sponsor Letter 6-14-23.pdf 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: 9/1/2023-S. 2 YEAR
		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) - SAPPR - SUPPORT - 7.21.23 AB 866 (Rubio) - SHUM - SUPPORT - 6.12.23 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 937	(McKinnor D)   Dependency: family reunification services.
		Current Text: Chaptered: 10/8/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 10/8/2023-A. CHAPTERED
		Summary: Current law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge a child to be a dependent of the court under certain circumstances, including when the child suffered, or there is a substantial risk that the child will suffer, serious physical harm or illness as a result of the failure or inability of their parent or guardian to adequately supervise or protect the child. Current law establishes the grounds for removal of a dependent child from the custody of the child’s parents or guardian and generally requires the court to order the social worker to provide designated child welfare services, including family reunification services, which are to be provided up to 12 months from the date the child entered foster care. Current law authorizes the court-ordered services to be extended up to another 6 months at the 12-month permanency hearing if the court finds that there is a substantial probability that the child will be returned to the physical custody of the parent or guardian within the extended time period, or that reasonable services have not been provided to the parent or guardian, and requires the court to specify the factual basis for its conclusion that there is that substantial probability. Current law similarly authorizes the court-ordered services to be extended up to another 6 months at the 18-month permanency hearing for specified parents if the court finds that it is in the best interest of the child to have the time extended and there is a substantial probability that the child will be returned to the physical custody of the parent or guardian within the extended time period, or that reasonable services have not been provided to the parent or guardian, and requires the court to specify the factual basis for its conclusion that there is that substantial probability. This bill would clarify that the court shall also specify its factual basis for its conclusion that either reasonable services have not been provided to the parent or guardian or, in the case of an Indian child, that active efforts to reunite the child with their family have not been made if the court extends the services on either basis.
		Position Letters: AB 937 Senate HUM. Services 6.27.23.pdf

			Position
			Support

	AB 954	(Bryan D)   Dependency: court-ordered services.
		Current Text: Chaptered: 10/9/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 10/9/2023-A. CHAPTERED
		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 at specified review hearings that a parent or guardian is noncompliant with a court-ordered case plan when the court finds 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, and the social worker did not provide a comparable free service that was accessible and available to them, as specified.
		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 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 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: Amended: 6/19/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 9/14/2023-S. 2 YEAR
		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. Current 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 monetary restitution to the victim. The bill would authorize the court to instead order the minor to make nonmonetary restitution by participating in a community-based restoration 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: 8/14/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 9/1/2023-S. 2 YEAR
		Summary: 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. The bill would require the department to direct local child support agencies to cease enforcement of arrearages assigned to the state for the reimbursement of foster care placements and seek modification of child support orders when necessary to eliminate ongoing obligations, including the cancellation of all arrears owed to the state and any accrued interest. The bill would also require the department, on or before June 1, 2024, to implement these provisions by means of departmental letters or similar written instructions.
		Position Letters: AB 1324 (Bryan) Sen APPR AB 1324 (Bryan) Sen JUD AB 1324 (Bryan) AAPPR 4.25.23 Cosponsor Letter - Assembly Human Services Support Letter Template - AHUM Fact sheet -NO NAME GIVEN-

			Position
			Sponsored

	ACR 16	(Fong, Mike D)   Needs of opportunity youth.
		Current Text: Chaptered: 8/22/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 8/22/2023-A. CHAPTERED
		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: 6/13/2023-A. APPR.
		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: 7/14/2023-A. 2 YEAR
		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: 9/1/2023-A. 2 YEAR
		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) SAPPR - SUPPORT - 4.18.23 SB 260 (Menjivar) AHUM - SUPPORT - 6.14.23 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: interventions and supports.
		Current Text: Chaptered: 10/9/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 10/9/2023-S. CHAPTERED
		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 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. This bill would extend the prohibition against the suspension of pupils enrolled in any of grades 6 to 8, inclusive, including those 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, by 4 years to instead be until July 1, 2029, and, commencing July 1, 2024, would prohibit the suspension of pupils enrolled in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, including those pupils enrolled in a charter school, for those acts until July 1, 2029, but would retain a teacher’s existing authorization to suspend any pupil in any grade 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 (Skinner) AED Support 6.20.23 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: 7/3/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 7/14/2023-A. 2 YEAR
		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.
		Position Letters: SB 333 (Cortese) AED Support 6.20.23 SB 333 (Cortese) SHUM 4.18.23

			Position
			Support

	SB 456	(Menjivar D)   Multifamily Housing Program: nonprofit corporations: homeless or at-risk youth.
		Current Text: Amended: 6/30/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 9/1/2023-A. 2 YEAR
		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. Current 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. The bill would also require that at least one-half of these funds be prioritized for units to house current foster youth between 18 to 21 years of age, inclusive. The bill would prohibit units that house current or former foster youth between 18 to 21 years of age, inclusive, from requiring a referral through the coordinated entry system for a person under juvenile court jurisdiction, as specified.
		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: Chaptered: 9/1/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 8/22/2023-S. CHAPTERED
		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: 6/15/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 9/14/2023-A. 2 YEAR
		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 encourages counties to appoint members of the community who represent specific groups, including county offices of education and hospitals. 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 one member of a mental health board’s membership to be employed by a local educational agency, and at least one member to be an individual who is 25 years of age or younger in counties with a mental health board membership of 5 to 8 members. The bill would require 2 members of the board to be employed by a local educational agency and at least 2 members to be 25 years of age or younger in counties with a mental health board membership of 9 to 15 members. The bill would require at least 2 members of the board to be employed by a local educational agency and at least two members to be 25 years of age or younger in counties with a mental health board membership of 16 or more members. The bill would require counties to give a strong preference to appointing members of the board who have experience providing mental health services to students. The bill would state that the intent of the Legislature is for youth appointments to a mental health board to address or prevent health and mental health disparities or inequities through representation of vulnerable, underserved, and marginalized communities.

			Position
			Support

	SB 589	(Alvarado-Gil D)   Foster youth: disaster aid assistance.
		Current Text: Amended: 5/18/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 9/1/2023-A. 2 YEAR
		Summary: 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) AAPPR 7.31.23 SB 589 (Alvarado-Gil) AHUM 6.9.23 SB 589 (Alvarado-Gil) SHUM 4.12.23

			Position
			Support

	SB 760	(Newman D)   School facilities: all-gender restrooms.
		Current Text: Chaptered: 9/24/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 9/24/2023-S. CHAPTERED
		Summary: Current law requires every restroom of every public and private school maintaining any combination of classes from kindergarten to grade 12, inclusive, to be maintained and cleaned regularly, fully operational, and stocked at all times with toilet paper, soap, and paper towels or functional hand dryers, and kept open during school hours when pupils are not in classes. Current law requires that a sufficient number of restrooms be kept open during school hours when pupils are in classes. Current law authorizes a school to temporarily close a restroom as necessary for pupil safety or as necessary to repair the facility. This bill would revise the conditions under which a restroom is authorized to be temporarily closed to instead be as necessary (1) for a documented pupil safety concern, (2) for an immediate threat to pupil safety, or (3) to repair the facility. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2026, 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 grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide and maintain at least one all-gender restroom for voluntary pupil use at each of its schoolsites that meet specified criteria. 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.
		Position Letters: Support Letter - SED

			Position
			Support

	SB 824	(Ashby D)   Foster care.
		Current Text: Amended: 4/11/2023   html   pdf
		Location: 9/1/2023-A. 2 YEAR
		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) AAPPR 6.14.23 SB 824 (Ashby) AJUD 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

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Total Measures: 25

Total Tracking Forms: 25