Dependency: fentanyl use.

The bill now amends Section 328 of the Welfare and Institutions Code in addition to Section 362, expanding its reach from court orders to also cover social worker investigation duties.

New Section 328(b)(1) requires that when an investigation involves an allegation a parent or guardian has used or is under the influence of fentanyl or other opioids, the social worker must document in the investigation record whether the risk of fentanyl or opioid exposure to the child was specifically assessed, separate from any general substance use assessment.

Section 362(g) was changed from requiring that any controlled substance test panel include fentanyl testing, to requiring a specific judicial finding of 'risk of fentanyl use' before the court must order fentanyl testing. This narrows the automatic inclusion requirement and adds an evidentiary threshold.

New Section 362(g)(2) specifies that a finding of fentanyl risk must be based on evidence, which may include a prior positive test for fentanyl or opioids, or a documented opinion by a licensed medical professional regarding signs of fentanyl or opioid use.

New Section 362(h) requires that when the court finds a risk of fentanyl use, the parent's or guardian's case plan must include: information on secure storage of controlled substances (including lock boxes), access to fentanyl test strips with education, access to naloxone with training for all adult household members, and a referral for an in-home safety assessment to identify drug paraphernalia or residue accessible to the child.

New Section 362(h)(2) clarifies that the case plan requirements do not obligate the social worker to verify compliance as a condition of reunification and do not alter other disposition requirements.

New Section 3 provides that to the extent the act increases costs already borne by local agencies under the 2011 Realignment Legislation, it applies only to the extent the state provides annual funding. New programs above funded levels do not require state subvention.

The fiscal designation changed from 'Fiscal committee: no' and 'State-mandated local program: no' to 'Fiscal committee: yes' and 'State-mandated local program: yes,' reflecting that the new social worker duties create a state-mandated local program requiring fiscal analysis.

The provision naming the bill 'Leo's Law' (former Section 1) was removed entirely. The bill no longer carries that short title.

Subdivision (g) was restructured: previously, if a court ordered any controlled substance testing, fentanyl had to be in the panel automatically. Now, the court must first find a risk of fentanyl use by the parent or guardian, which then triggers a mandatory order for drug testing that includes fentanyl. This shifts from a blanket inclusion rule to a finding-based trigger.

The bill summary paragraph was updated to reflect the new language, though it contains apparent drafting errors with merged old and new phrasing.

Fixed a grammatical error in both the bill summary and statutory text: 'the that test panel' was corrected to 'that test panel'

Restructured section numbering by adding an explicit 'SECTION 1.' heading before the amendment to Welfare and Institutions Code Section 362

Cleaned up the coauthor list formatting, removing a duplicated reference to Senator Umberg

Amendment date updated from March 26, 2026 to April 8, 2026

New coauthors added: Senators Choi, Grove, Jones, and Valladares joined the original list of coauthors.

Line numbers and page numbering were reorganized throughout the bill (page 99 became page 98, line numbers shifted).

A minor typo was introduced in subdivision (g): 'the that test panel' instead of 'the test panel.' No substantive policy change.