April 14, 2022

CSAC has recently taken support positions on a number of bills within the human services policy area. These bills would support foster children and youth, increase information sharing between county agencies, and further the ability of counties to provide services to older adults.

AB 1618 (Aguiar-Curry) – This legislation would renew and expand the Healthy Brain Initiative grant program that provides funding for local initiatives to educate the public regarding dementia, establish partnerships to engage stakeholders in community interventions, and provide training for the caregiving workforce. Currently, six counties are funded and this bill would increase that number to at least ten. AB 1618 is sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association.

AB 2262 (Calderon) – This measure would establish an alternative In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) reassessment process for recipients who have stable needs and whose IHSS hours change very little from year to year. This will allow county social workers to dedicate more time to those program recipients with more complex needs, reduce barriers to care for IHSS recipients, and allow county social workers to meet increased demand within limited funding for administrative work. This bill is sponsored by the County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) and Justice in Aging.

AB 2579 (Bennett) – This bill would require counties to implement model practices for intensive family finding and support for foster children to the extent that funding is provided for this purpose. This intensive family finding includes finding relatives, non-related extended family members, and other family-like adult connections for foster children and candidates for foster care. CWDA is the sponsor of AB 2579. 

SB 1054 (Ochoa Bogh) – This measure would allow county multidisciplinary teams from Adult Protective Services and Child Welfare Services to share relevant information across programs during investigations. There are situations where households have been identified by both programs and this sharing of information would allow for better protection of those at risk of abuse and neglect. The bill is sponsored by CWDA and Riverside County.

SB 1090 (Hurtado) – The Family Urgent Response System (FURS) was enacted in 2019 and is a coordinated statewide, regional, and county system that provides immediate support to de-escalation and behavioral support interventions for foster youth and their caregivers in times of need. SB 1090 would clarify that youth who are the subject of a petition, voluntary agreement, or who have been emancipated would also be eligible for these services. The bill is sponsored by CWDA and Children Now.

SB 1342 (Bates) – This bill would authorize counties to create aging multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) to allow for information sharing among entities providing services to older adults. Modeled off of the homelessness MDTs authorized by 2017 legislation, these aging services MDTs would improve service delivery, increase coordination, and support integrated case management. SB 1342 is sponsored by Orange County.