Foster care: social worker turnover workgroup.

Existing law provides for the foster care system, which is overseen by the State Department of Social Services and administered by county welfare departments. Existing law generally provides for children placed in foster care to be assigned a social worker who meets regularly with the foster child and performs specified services on behalf of the child. This bill would require the department to convene a workgroup to examine the negative effects of high turnover of foster family agency social workers on foster youth and children and to identify measures to reduce foster family agency social worker turnover in order to improve permanency outcomes for foster youth and children. The bill would require that the working group include representatives from specified state agencies and stakeholders. The bill would require the department to submit specific recommendations to the Legislature on or before December 31, 2022.