During the 2015 legislative session, CWDA sponsored or jointly sponsored several pieces of legislation that successfully made it to the Governor’s desk and received his signature. Generally, legislation passed in 2015 will take effect as of January 1, 2016. For various reasons, some of the bills CWDA sponsored included a delayed implementation date, as noted in the following descriptions.

SB 196 (Hancock): Protective Orders for Adult Protective Services Clients

SB 196 authorizes a county adult protective services (APS) agency, at its discretion, to file a petition for a protective order on behalf of an elder or dependent adult if the elder or dependent adult has been identified as lacking capacity and a conservatorship is being sought. This will enable the county APS agency to intervene to stop the abuse or neglect that is occurring while the conservatorship is put into place, protecting the health and well-being of the elder or dependent adult as well as, in the case of financial abuse, protecting their remaining assets. As with any protective order request, a court would review and approve or deny the request in order to provide the necessary checks and balances.

SB 238 (Mitchell): Oversight of Psychotropic Medications for Foster Children

Provides child welfare services social workers and other partner agencies (including but not limited to juvenile court judges, county probation officers, and foster caregivers) serving foster children with the data, training and tools needed to provide appropriate oversight of psychotropic medication and other mental health treatments being prescribed and delivered for the children in their care. Portions of this bill are delayed until July 1, 2016 due to the time needed to put new procedures into place. (Cosponsored with the National Center for Youth Law.)

SB 478 (Huff): Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act: Mandated Reporters Online Pilot Program

Creates a pilot project for participating counties to develop an reporting system to enable specified child welfare mandated reporters to file non-emergent abuse or neglect reports online. Specifies the requirements for such a system to be used, including necessary training for reporters and data collection and reporting to monitor outcomes and ensure children are appropriately protected. The pilot will be developed by the California Department of Social Services in conjunction with CWDA and interested counties. The bill has a sunset date of January 1, 2021 to allow for review and oversight of the pilot. (Cosponsored with the County of Los Angeles.)

AB 879 (Burke): Juveniles Court Proceedings Notice System

Allows county child welfare agencies and their juvenile courts to “opt-in” to an electronic notice system. As a result, this would permit a party to a child welfare case to voluntarily receive notices of scheduled court hearings electronically through a designated e-mail address, and would allow counties and their courts to design and tailor appropriate systems to deliver these notices. The bill will facilitate and improve the successful delivery of the notice to parties who lack a permanent address or who move frequently. This bill has a sunset date of January 1, 2019 to allow for review and oversight on its effectiveness. (Cosponsored with the County of Los Angeles.)

AB 1436 (Burke): In-Home Supportive Services Authorized Representative

Creates a standardized, statewide structure for In-Home Supportive Services applicants or recipients to name an authorized representative to assist them in applying for, receiving and retaining IHSS services. It is voluntary on a recipient’s part whether to name an authorized representative, and the duties of the representative can be specified, limited, and revoked at any time. The California Department of Social Services must adopt regulations to implement the bill by July 1, 2016. (Cosponsored with the California Association of Public Authorities for IHSS.)