Child welfare services: Indian tribes.

Existing law authorizes the State Department of Social Services to enter into an agreement with a tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization regarding the care and custody of Indian children and jurisdiction over Indian child custody proceedings, under specified circumstances. Existing law requires an agreement entered into under these provisions, when the agreement is concerning the provision of child welfare services, to ensure that a tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization meets current service delivery standards and provides for a specified tribal matching share of costs. This bill would instead require, upon a tribe's request, the department to enter into those agreements, and would eliminate tribal share of costs requirements for those agreements. The bill would require the agreement to ensure that a tribe, tribal organization, or tribal consortium claims and uses all eligible federal funding available under Title IV-E of the federal Social Security Act, and would require nonfederal costs under those agreements to be borne by the state, except as provided. Under existing law, upon the implementation date of one of the agreements described above, a county that otherwise would be responsible for providing the child welfare services or payments specified in the agreement as being provided by the tribe or other tribal entity, as specified, is no longer subject to that responsibility with respect to children served under the agreement. This bill would delete those provisions. To the extent that deleting the provisions would result in additional county responsibilities with respect to affected children, the 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.