Under existing law, minors are authorized to consent to medical and other treatment under certain circumstances, including the diagnosis and treatment of sexual assault, medical care relating to the prevention or treatment of pregnancy, treatment of infectious, contagious, and communicable diseases, mental health treatment, and treatment for alcohol and drug abuse. Under existing law, a child may come within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court and become a dependent child of the court under certain circumstances, including in cases of abuse and neglect. Under existing law, when a minor has been, or has a petition filed with the court to be, adjudged a dependent child of the court, the court may authorize, or order that a social worker may authorize, medical and other care for the minor, as prescribed. Under existing law, a social worker may, without court order, authorize medical and other care for a minor in emergency situations, as specified. This bill would specify that nothing in those provisions shall be construed to limit the rights of dependent children to consent to specified types of medical and other care, including the diagnosis and treatment of sexual assault, medical care relating to the prevention or treatment of pregnancy, treatment of infectious, contagious, and communicable diseases, mental health treatment, and treatment for alcohol and drug abuse. This bill would authorize a dependent child's social worker, if the child is 12 years of age or older, to inform the child of his or her right as a minor to consent to and receive those health services. This bill would authorize social workers to provide dependent children with access to age-appropriate, medically accurate information about sexual development, reproductive health, and prevention of unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Existing law declares the intent of the Legislature to maintain the continuity of the family unit and to support and preserve families headed by minor parents and nonminor dependent parents, as defined, and provides that, to the greatest extent possible, minor parents and their children living in foster care shall be provided with access to services that target supporting, maintaining, and developing the parent-child bond and the dependent parent's ability to provide a permanent and safe home for the child. Under existing law, minor parents are required to be given the ability to attend school, complete homework, and participate in age and developmentally appropriate activities separate from parenting. Existing law requires foster care placements for minor parents and their children to demonstrate a willingness and ability to provide support and assistance to minor parents and their children. This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to ensure that complete and accurate data on parenting minor and nonminor dependents is collected, as specified, and would authorize child welfare agencies to provide minor parents and nonminor dependent parents with access to social workers or resource specialists who have received specified training. The bill would encourage child welfare agencies to update the case plans for pregnant and parenting dependents within 60 calendar days of the date the agency is informed of a pregnancy, and would authorize those agencies to hold a specialized conference, as prescribed, to assist the pregnant or parenting foster youth and nonminor dependents with planning for healthy parenting, among other things. The bill would additionally require nonminor dependent parents to be given the ability to attend school, complete homework, and participate in age and developmentally appropriate activities separate from parenting. This bill would authorize child welfare agencies, local educational agencies, and child care resource and referral agencies to make reasonable and coordinated efforts to ensure that minor parents and nonminor dependent parents who have not completed high school have access to school programs that provide onsite or coordinated child care. This bill would additionally require foster care placements for nonminor dependent parents and their children to demonstrate a willingness and ability to provide support and assistance to nonminor dependent parents and their children. Existing law provides that it is the policy of the state that foster children have specified rights. This bill would instead specify that all minors and nonminors in foster care have those rights. The bill would provide that foster children also have the right, at 12 years of age or older, to receive information regarding specified health care services.
Sponsored bills
This measure would memorialize the President and Congress of the United States to support immigration reform efforts that do not hurt families by eliminating or negatively impacting the F3 and F4 visa categories, or that end the discrimination against same-sex couples. The measure would memorialize the President and Congress to take a comprehensive, bipartisan, and well-reasoned approach to immigration issues that maintains the fair and appropriate priority for family reunification, including same-sex partners.
This measure would urge the United States Congress to pass legislation that reflects the value and intent set forth in the Postal Service Protection Act of 2013, as introduced, in order to ensure the modernization and preservation of the United States Postal Service.
This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to reauthorize the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and to include specified policies and strategies in support of the act.
This measure would urge the United States Congress and the President to establish new entrepreneur and science, technology, engineering, or mathematics-related visa categories for legal immigrants as part of comprehensive federal immigration reform, that would, among other things, create an Entrepreneur's Visa for legal immigrants, provide authorization to adjust the status of not more than 50,000 aliens who have earned a master's degree or a doctorate degree, as specified, to that of aliens conditionally admitted for permanent residence, and eliminate per-country caps for employment-based immigrant visas.
This measure would proclaim the week of August 11 through August 17, 2013, as National Health Center Week.
This measure would declare that the Legislature recognizes the importance of engaging with young people to influence decisions that affect their quality of life and well-being, and that the Student and Youth Bill of Rights serves as a framework to guide and inform the youth of the state in organizing and advocating policy issues on their own behalf.
This measure would recognize the 25th anniversary of Little Saigon.
Existing law sets forth various placement options for children who have been adjudged dependent children of the juvenile court and removed from their homes on the basis of neglect or abuse, as specified, which include placement within the approved home of a nonrelative extended family member. Existing law defines "nonrelative extended family member" as an adult caregiver who has an established familial or mentoring relationship with the child. This bill would expand the definition of a nonrelative extended family member to include an adult caregiver who has an established familial relationship with a relative of the child, as defined.