Child welfare: Indian children.

Existing federal law, the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) , governs the proceedings for determining the placement of an Indian child when that child is removed from the custody of the child's parent or guardian. Existing law states findings and declarations of the Legislature regarding Indian children, including that the state is committed to protecting the essential tribal relations and best interest of an Indian child by promoting practices in accordance with ICWA, and it is in the interest of an Indian child that the child's membership or citizenship in the child's Indian tribe and connection to the tribal community be encouraged and protected, and requires the court to consider those findings in all Indian child custody proceedings. Existing law authorizes the juvenile court to adjudge a child to be a dependent child of the court or a minor to be a ward of the court under specified circumstances, including, among others, if there is a substantial risk that the child will suffer serious physical harm inflicted nonaccidentally. Existing law requires the juvenile court in these proceedings to inquire whether a child is or may be an Indian child, and, if so, ICWA requires, among other things, the notification of the proceedings to the Indian child's tribe. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to adopt rules of court to allow for telephonic or other remote appearance options by an Indian child's tribe in these proceedings. Existing law prohibits telephonic or other computerized remote access for court appearances from being subject to fees. This bill would instead authorize an Indian child's tribe to participate by telephone or other remote appearance options in proceedings in which the ICWA may apply, and would authorize the method of appearance to be determined by the court, as specified. The bill would prohibit fees from being charged for telephonic or other computerized remote access for court appearances established under these provisions. This bill would establish the Cal-ICWA County Accountability System Evaluation (CASE) Program to be administered by the State Department of Social Services to measure a county's compliance with the ICWA and Cal-ICWA among their dependency cases involving an Indian child. The bill would require the department, on or before April 1, 2024, to convene a stakeholder workgroup, and in partnership with that workgroup and in consultation with Indian tribes, develop the case review system under the program, as specified. The bill would, commencing in the 2024–25 fiscal year, require the department to reimburse each county for its proportionate share of the available program funding based on the county's nonfederal share of the cost for out-of-home placement of Indian children, except when a county is determined to be substantially out of compliance with ICWA or Cal-ICWA for 2 consecutive years, as specified. The bill would require counties to report specified information to the department for these purposes, and would require the department to report to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature the data collected under the program and to issue a public report with specified information to be posted on its internet website. The bill would specify that implementation of the program is subject to an appropriation in the Budget Act for the program. By imposing duties on counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.