Guardianships.

(1) Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, under which a minor may be adjudged to be a dependent of the court if the minor has been abused or neglected, as specified. Existing law authorizes a juvenile court, if the court finds that a child is abused or neglected, and the parent has advised the court that the parent is not interested in family maintenance or family reunification services, in addition to or in lieu of adjudicating the child a dependent child of the court, to order a legal guardianship and appoint a legal guardian, as specified. This bill would require the parent to execute a written waiver of family maintenance or family reunification services prior to the court ordering a legal guardianship and appointing a legal guardian under the circumstances described above. Under the bill, if the parent designates a specific person to be the child's guardian, the child, or the child's legal counsel, as specified, does not object to that person's appointment, and the court finds that the proposed guardian agrees to the appointment as the child's guardian, as well as all rights and responsibilities of being a legal guardian, the court would be required to appoint the proposed guardian, unless it finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the person's appointment would be contrary to the best interests of the child. (2) Existing law requires a social worker who has cause to believe that a child has been abused or neglected to immediately conduct an investigation to determine whether child welfare services should be offered to the family and whether proceedings in the juvenile court should be commenced. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to submit a report to the Legislature that includes specified data regarding the number of children in the care and custody of all county placing agencies pursuant to a voluntary placement agreement and the number of child welfare agency investigations that resulted in a written plan for care of a child outside the home of the parent that is not a voluntary placement agreement. The bill would require the report to be submitted to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2025, or 15 months after the date the department notifies the Legislature that the Child Welfare Services – California Automated Response and Engagement System (CWS-CARES) can perform the necessary automation to implement these new data fields.