SECTIONS 18987.7-18987.72

18987.7.  (a) The State Department of Social Services shall convenea workgroup of public and private nonprofit stakeholders that shalldevelop a plan for transforming the current system of group care forfoster children or youth, and for children with serious emotionaldisorders (SED), into a system of residentially based services. Thestakeholders may include, but not be limited to, representatives ofthe department and of the State Department of Mental Health, theState Department of Education, the State Department of Alcohol andDrug Programs, and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation;county child welfare, probation, mental health, and alcohol and drugprograms; local education authorities; current and former fosteryouth, parents of foster children or youth, and children or youthwith SED; private nonprofit agencies operating group homes; children's advocates; and other interested parties. (b) The plan developed pursuant to this chapter shall utilize thereports delivered to the Legislature pursuant to Section 75 ofChapter 311 of the Statutes of 1998 by the Steering Committee for theReexamination of the Role of Group Care in a Family-Based System ofCare in June 2001 and August 2002, and the "Framework for a NewSystem for Residentially-Based Services in California" published inMarch 2006. (c) In the development, implementation, and subsequent revisionsof the plan developed pursuant to subdivision (a), the knowledge andexperience gained by counties and private nonprofit agencies throughthe operation of their residentially based services programs createdunder voluntary agreements made pursuant to Section 18987.72,including, but not limited to, the results of evaluations preparedpursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 18987.72shall be utilized. (d) By July 1, 2014, the department shall provide a copy of theplan developed by the workgroup pursuant to subdivision (a) to theLegislature. The plan shall include, in addition to otherrequirements set forth in this chapter, any statutory revisionsnecessary for its implementation.18987.71.  For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shallhave the following meanings: (a) (1) "Residentially based services" means behavioral ortherapeutic interventions delivered in nondetention group caresettings in which multiple children or youth live in the same housingunit and receive care and supervision from paid staff. Residentiallybased services are most effectively used as intensive, short-terminterventions when children have unmet needs that create conditionsthat render them or those around them unsafe, or that prevent theeffective delivery of needed services and supports provided in thechildren's own homes or in other family settings, such as with arelative, guardian, foster family, or adoptive family. (2) "Residentially based services" shall include the followinginterventions and services: (A) Environmental interventions that establish a safe, stable, andstructured living situation in which children or youth can receivethe comfort, attention, structure, and guidance needed to help themreduce the intensity of conditions that led to their placement in theprogram, so that their caregivers can identify and address thefactors creating those conditions. (B) Intensive treatment interventions that facilitate the rapidmovement of children or youth toward connection or reconnection withappropriate and natural home, school, and community ecologies, byhelping them and their families find ways to mitigate the conditionsthat led to their placement in the program with positive andproductive alternatives. (C) Parallel, predischarge, community-based interventions thathelp family members and other people in the social ecologies thatchildren and youth will be joining or rejoining, to prepare forconnection or reconnection. These preparations should be initiatedupon placement and proceed apace with the environmental interventionsbeing provided within the residential setting. (D) Followup postdischarge support and services, consistent withthe child's case plan, provided as needed after children or youthhave exited the residential component and returned to their ownfamily or to another family living situation, in order to ensure thestability and success of the connection or reconnection with home,school, and community. (b) "County" means a county that enters into a voluntary agreementwith a private nonprofit agency to test alternative program designsand funding models pursuant to this chapter, and may include aconsortia or consortium of counties.18987.72.  (a) In order to obtain knowledge and experience withwhich to inform the process of developing and implementing the planfor residentially based services, required by Section 18987.7, thedepartment shall encourage counties and private nonprofit agencies todevelop voluntary agreements to test alternative program design andfunding models for transforming existing group home programs intoresidentially based services programs in order to meet the diverseneeds of children or youth and families in the child welfare,juvenile justice, and mental health systems. (b) (1) With the approval of the department, any countiesparticipating in the federal Title IV-E waiver capped allocationdemonstration project pursuant to Section 18260, at their option, andtwo other counties may enter into and implement voluntary agreementswith private nonprofit agencies to transform all or part of anexisting group home program into a residentially based servicesprogram. (2) If one or more counties participating in the federal TitleIV-E waiver capped allocation demonstration project opts not to enterinto a voluntary agreement pursuant to this chapter, the departmentmay select one or more nonwaiver counties. The department may approveup to four counties to participate in the voluntary agreementspursuant to this section. (3) The department shall select participating counties, based onletters of interest submitted to the department from counties, inconsultation with the California Alliance of Child and FamilyServices and the County Welfare Directors Association. (c) Voluntary agreements by counties and nonprofit agencies shallsatisfy all of the following requirements: (1) Incorporate and address all of the components and elements forresidentially based services described in the "Framework for a NewSystem for Residentially-Based Services in California." (2) Reflect active collaboration among the private nonprofitagency that will operate the residentially based services program andcounty departments of social services, mental health, or juvenilejustice, alcohol and drug programs, county offices of education, orother public entities, as appropriate, to ensure that children,youth, and families receive the services and support necessary tomeet their needs. (3) Provide for an annual evaluation report, to be preparedjointly by the county and the private nonprofit agency. Theevaluation report shall include analyses of the outcomes for childrenand youth, including achievement of permanency, average lengths ofstay, and rates of entry and reentry into group care. The evaluationreport shall also include analyses of the involvement of children oryouth and their families, client satisfaction, the use of the programby the county, the operation of the program by the private nonprofitagency, payments made to the private nonprofit agency by the county,actual costs incurred by the nonprofit agency for the operation ofthe program, and the impact of the program on state and countyAFDC-FC program costs. The county shall send a copy of each annualevaluation report to the director, and the director shall make thesereports available to the Legislature upon request. (4) Permit amendments, modifications, and extensions of theagreement to be made, with the mutual consent of both parties andwith approval of the department, based on the evaluations describedin paragraph (3), and on the experience and information acquired fromthe implementation and the ongoing operation of the program. (5) Be consistent with the county's system improvement plandeveloped pursuant to the California Child Welfare Outcomes andAccountability System. (d) (1) Upon a county's request, the director may waive childwelfare regulations regarding the role of counties in conjunctionwith private nonprofit agencies operating residentially basedservices programs to enhance the development and implementation ofcase plans and the delivery of services in order to enable a countyand a private nonprofit agency to implement an agreement described insubdivision (b). Nothing in this section shall be construed tosupersede the requirements set forth in subdivision (c) of Section16501. (2) Notwithstanding Sections 11460 and 11462, or any other law orregulation governing payments under the AFDC-FC program, upon therequest of one or more counties, and in accordance with the voluntaryagreements as described in subdivision (b), the director may alsoapprove the use of up to a total of five alternative funding modelsfor determining the method and level of payments that will be madeunder the AFDC-FC program to private nonprofit agencies operatingresidentially based services programs in lieu of using the rateclassification levels and schedule of standard rates provided for inSection 11462. These alternative funding models may include, butshall not be limited to, the use of cost reimbursement, case rates,per diem or monthly rates, or a combination thereof. An alternativefunding model shall do all of the following: (A) Support the values and goals for residentially based services,including active child and family involvement, permanence,collaborative decisionmaking, and outcome measurement. (B) Ensure that quality care and effective services are deliveredto appropriate children or youth at a reasonable cost to the public. (C) Ensure that payment levels are sufficient to permit theprivate nonprofit agencies operating residentially based servicesprograms to provide care and supervision, social work activities,parallel predischarge community-based interventions for families, andfollowup postdischarge support and services for children and theirfamilies, including the cost of hiring and retaining qualified staff. (D) Facilitate compliance with state requirements and theattainment of federal and state performance objectives. (E) Control overall program costs by providing incentives for theprivate nonprofit agencies to use the most cost-effective approachesfor achieving positive outcomes for the children or youth and theirfamilies. (F) Facilitate the ability of the private nonprofit agencies toaccess other available public sources of funding and services to meetthe needs of the children or youth placed in their residentiallybased services programs, and the needs of their families. (G) Enable the combination of various funding streams necessary tomeet the full range of services needed by foster children or youthin residentially based services programs, with particular referenceto funding for mental health treatment services through the Medi-CalEarly and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment program. (H) Maximize federal financial participation, and mitigate theloss of federal funds, while ensuring the effective delivery ofservices to children or youth and families, and the achievement ofpositive outcomes. (I) Provide for effective administrative oversight and enforcementmechanisms in order to ensure programmatic and fiscalaccountability. (3) A waiver granted by the director pursuant to paragraph (1), oran approval of an alternative funding model pursuant to paragraph(2), shall be applicable only to the development, implementation, andongoing operation of a residentially based services program andrelated county activities provided under the terms of the agreementand for the duration of the agreement, and shall be granted only whenall of the following apply: (A) The agreement promises to offer a worthwhile test related tothe development, implementation, and ongoing operation of aresidentially based services program as described in this chapter. (B) Existing regulatory provisions or the existing AFDC-FC paymentrequirements, or both, impose barriers for the effective, efficient,and timely implementation of the agreement. (C) The requesting county proposes to monitor the agreement forcompliance with the terms of the waiver or the alternative fundingmodel, or both. (D) Notwithstanding any change to payments made to group homesunder Section 11462, the department may pay higher AFDC-FC paymentsfor children and youth who are enrolled in a residentially basedservices program, to be offset by cost efficiencies achieved throughshorter lengths of stay in foster care, or a reduction of reentriesinto foster care, as a result of providing predischarge support andpostdischarge services to the children or youth and their families.Any upfront costs for this project shall be offset by other programsavings identified by the department, to ensure that there are no netGeneral Fund costs in each fiscal year. (e) The department shall conduct a review of the countyresidentially based services program, no sooner than 18 months afterthe first child is enrolled in the program, to determine whetherchildren are moving from residentially based services groupresidential care facilities into lower levels of care or exiting fromfoster care to permanent families in a timely manner, as describedin the county's approved residentially based services plan. With 60days advance notice to the county, the department may terminate thecounty's participation in the residentially based services reformproject if it determines, based on its review, that the county is notachieving timely movement from residentially based services groupresidential care facilities into lower levels of care or exits fromfoster care to permanent families with associated savings. (f) In addition to the requirements set forth in subdivision (c),the voluntary agreements shall do all of the following: (1) Provide that, to the extent that some of the care, services,and other activities associated with a residentially based servicesprogram operated under an agreement described in subdivision (b) arenot eligible for federal financial participation as foster caremaintenance payments under Part E (commencing with Section 470) ofTitle IV of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 670 etseq.), but may be eligible for federal financial participation asadministration or training, or may be eligible for federal financialparticipation under other programs, including, but not limited to,Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1396 etseq.), the appropriate state departments shall take measures toobtain that federal funding. (2) Provide that, prior to approving any waiver or alternativefunding model pursuant to subdivision (d), the director shall make adetermination that the design of the residentially based servicesprogram to be operated under the agreement described in subdivision(b) would ensure the health and safety of children or youth to beserved. (g) Agreements entered into pursuant to this section shallterminate on or before January 1, 2015, unless a later enactedstatute extends or removes this limitation. (h) The department shall report during the legislative budgethearings on the status of any county agreements entered into pursuantto subdivision (b), and on the development of statewideresidentially based services programs.