Existing law provides for the implementation, by counties and foster family agencies, of the resource family approval process, which is a unified, family-friendly, and child-centered approval process that replaces the multiple processes for licensing foster family homes, approving relatives and nonrelative extended family members as foster care providers, and approving adoptive families. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to establish and facilitate a pilot program in up to 5 counties that voluntarily apply and are selected by the department, to increase placement stability for foster youth and facilitate greater resource family retention through the provision of strengths-based, skills-based, trauma-informed coaching. The bill would specify that the pilot program is not intended to supplant any existing obligation on counties to provide core services, or to duplicate services already available to foster children in the community. The bill would set forth the pilot program responsibilities of the department and the participating counties, and would require the department, by June 30, 2020, to consult with relevant stakeholders and to consider the stakeholders' recommendations to the department regarding certain parameters of the pilot program, as specified. The bill would require a county that elects to participate in the pilot program to conduct at least one evaluation of the program's impact and effectiveness on increasing placement stability for foster youth and retaining resource families in accordance with, and upon issuance of guidance from, the department, and to submit the evaluation to the department no later than December 31, 2022. The bill would require the department to report the information provided by the counties to the Legislature, as prescribed. The bill would require the pilot program to be implemented only if the Legislature appropriates sufficient funding. The provisions of the bill would be repealed on January 1, 2023.
Sponsored bills
Existing law requires, as of July 1, 2014, every state agency that requests on any written form or written publication, or through its internet website, whether a person is a veteran, to request that information in a specified manner. This bill would delete the above-described provisions and instead would require each state agency, among other things, to include questions on its intake forms to determine whether an applicant is affiliated with the United States Armed Forces. The bill would require the state agency, through the intake form, to request permission from that person to transmit their contact information to the Department of Veterans Affairs so that the person may be notified of potential eligibility to receive state and federal veterans benefits. The bill would require each state agency to electronically transmit to the Department of Veterans Affairs specified information regarding each applicant who has identified that they or a family member has served in the United States Armed Forces and has consented to be contacted about military, veterans, family member, or survivor benefits.
This measure would recognize September 2020 as Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month and encourage the Legislature to appropriate funds for research, treatment, and monitoring of sickle cell disease, and for related education and outreach.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income persons receive health care benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law establishes a schedule of benefits under the Medi-Cal program and provides for various services, including various behavioral and mental health services. Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) , an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, establishes the continuously appropriated Mental Health Services Fund to fund various county mental health programs. The act also requires funds to be reserved for the costs of the State Department of Health Care Services, the California Behavioral Health Planning Council, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) , the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, the State Department of Public Health, and any other state agency to implement all duties pursuant to certain programs provided for by the act, subject to appropriation in the annual Budget Act. The act provides that it may be amended by the Legislature by a 23 vote of each house as long as the amendment is consistent with, and furthers the intent of, the act, and that the Legislature may also clarify procedures and terms of the act by majority vote. This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to establish, no later than July 1, 2020, a statewide peer support specialist certification program, as a part of the state's comprehensive mental health and substance use disorder delivery system and the Medi-Cal program. The certification program's components would include, among others, defining responsibilities, practice guidelines, and supervision standards, determining curriculum and core competencies, specifying training and continuing education requirements, establishing a code of ethics, and determining a certification revocation process. The bill would require an applicant for the certification as a peer support specialist to meet specified requirements, including successful completion of the curriculum and training requirements. This bill would require the department to consult with OSHPD and other stakeholders in implementing the certification program, including requiring quarterly stakeholder meetings. The bill would authorize the department to use funding provided through the MHSA, upon appropriation, to develop and administer the certification program, and would authorize the use of these MHSA funds to serve as the state's share of funding to claim federal financial participation under the Medicaid program. This bill would authorize the department to establish a certification fee schedule and to require remittance of fees as contained in the schedule, for the purpose of supporting the department's activities associated with the ongoing administration of the certification program. This bill would require the department to amend the Medicaid state plan to include a certified peer support specialist as a provider type for purposes of the Medi-Cal program and to include peer support specialist services as a distinct service type for purposes of the Medi-Cal program. The bill would require Medi-Cal reimbursement for peer support specialist services to be implemented only if, and to the extent that, federal financial participation is available and the department obtains all necessary federal approvals. The bill also would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific its provisions by means of informal notices, plan letters, plan or provider bulletins, or similar instructions, without taking regulatory action, until regulations are adopted. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations by July 1, 2022, and, commencing July 1, 2020, would require the department to provide semiannual status reports to the Legislature until regulations have been adopted. This bill would declare that it clarifies terms and procedures under the Mental Health Services Act.
This measure would urge specified state departments and the Attorney General to use their authority to ensure that health care service plans and health insurers subject to their authority comply with the federal Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.
Existing law, as part of the hazardous waste control laws, requires a facility handling hazardous waste to apply for and obtain a hazardous waste facilities permit from the Department of Toxic Substances Control. Existing law requires a person who applies for, or requests, among other things, a hazardous waste facilities permit or a renewal of an existing hazardous waste facilities permit, to enter into a written agreement with the department to reimburse the department for the costs incurred by the department in processing the application or responding to the request, as provided. Existing law requires that agreement to provide for at least 25% of the reimbursement to be made in advance of the processing of the application or the response to the request. This bill would exempt from that requirement relating to advanced reimbursement an agreement entered into by a facility owned by a federal agency.
Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to import into the state for commercial purposes, to possess with intent to sell, or to sell within the state, the dead body, or a part or product thereof, of a polar bear, leopard, ocelot, tiger, cheetah, jaguar, sable antelope, wolf, zebra, whale, cobra, python, sea turtle, colobus monkey, kangaroo, vicuna, sea otter, free-roaming feral horse, dolphin or porpoise, Spanish lynx, or elephant. Existing law, commencing January 1, 2020, makes it a misdemeanor to import into the state for commercial purposes, to possess with intent to sell, or to sell within the state, the dead body, or a part or product thereof, of a crocodile or alligator. Existing law makes a violation of this prohibition punishable by a fine of not less than $1,000, not to exceed $5,000, or imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed 6 months, or by both that fine and imprisonment. This bill, commencing January 1, 2022, would make it a misdemeanor to import into the state for commercial purposes, to possess with intent to sell, or to sell within the state, the dead body or other part or product of an iguana, skink, caiman, hippopotamus, or a Teju, Ring, or Nile lizard. By creating a new crime, 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.
Existing law establishes the Office of Emergency Services within the office of the Governor and under the supervision of the Director of Emergency Services and makes the Office of Emergency Services responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or manmade disasters and emergencies. This bill would establish the California State Nonprofit Security Grant Program under the administration of the director to improve the physical security of nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of violent attacks or hate crimes due to ideology, beliefs, or mission, as specified. The bill would make the operation of the program contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act for these purposes. The bill would repeal those provisions on January 1, 2025. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, subject to exceptions, prohibits a person from making more than one application to purchase a handgun within any 30-day period. A violation of that prohibition is a crime. Existing law prohibits a firearms dealer from delivering a handgun to a person whenever the dealer is notified by the Department of Justice that within the preceding 30-day period the purchaser has made another application to purchase a handgun that does not fall within an exception to the 30-day prohibition. A violation of that delivery prohibition by the dealer is a crime. This bill would, effective July 1, 2021, make the 30-day prohibition and the dealer delivery prohibition described above also applicable to semiautomatic centerfire rifles. Existing law prohibits a licensed firearm dealer from selling a firearm to a person under 21 years of age. Existing law provides an exemption to this prohibition for the sale of a firearm, other than a handgun, to a person 18 years of age or older who has a valid hunting license, is a law enforcement officer, as specified, or is an honorably discharged member of the Armed Forces. Existing law makes a violation of this prohibition a crime. This bill would prohibit the sale of a semiautomatic centerfire rifle to any person under the age of 21, except a law enforcement officer or active duty member of the Armed Forces, as specified. The bill would state that its provisions are severable. By expanding the scope of existing crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 26835 of the Penal Code proposed by AB 645 and SB 172 to be operative only if this bill and AB 645, SB 172, or both are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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.