Foster care: consumer credit reports.

Existing federal law, the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act of 2011, requires that each child in foster care under the responsibility of the state who has attained 16 years of age receive without cost a copy of any consumer report pertaining to the child each year until the child is discharged from care, and assistance in interpreting and resolving any inaccuracies in the report. Existing law provides for child welfare services, which are public social services directed toward, among other purposes, protecting and promoting the welfare of all children, including those in foster care placement. Existing law declares the policy of the Legislature that all children in foster care be free from abuse. Existing law requires a county welfare department, county probation department, or the State Department of Social Services to request a consumer credit disclosure on behalf of a child in a foster care placement in the county when the child reaches his or her 16th birthday, and each year thereafter while the child is under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, as specified. This bill would instead require a county welfare department, county probation department, or the State Department of Social Services to inquire of each of the 3 major credit reporting agencies as to whether a child described above has any consumer credit history, as specified. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services, if it makes the inquiry, to notify the county welfare department or the county probation department in the county having jurisdiction over the child of the results of that inquiry. The bill would also provide that if an inquiry performed pursuant to these provisions indicates that a child has a consumer credit history with any major credit reporting agency, the responsible county welfare department or county probation department is required to request a consumer credit report from that agency. The bill would also require the State Department of Social Services to provide specified information related to the implementation of these provisions to the Assembly Committee on Budget, the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, and the appropriate legislative policy committees by no later than February 1, 2016. The bill would make other technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.