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AB-2180 The Children of Incarcerated Parents and Caregivers Task Force.(2021-2022)

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Date Published: 03/16/2022 09:00 PM
AB2180:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 16, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2180

Introduced by Assembly Member Wicks

February 15, 2022

An act to add and repeal Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 16595) to of Part 4 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to child welfare.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2180, as amended, Wicks. The Children of Incarcerated Parents and Caregivers Task Force.
Existing law establishes a system of statewide child welfare services, administered by the State Department of Social Services and county child welfare agencies, with the intent that all children are entitled to be safe and free from abuse and neglect. Existing law defines “child welfare services” for these purposes to mean public social services that are directed toward the accomplishment of various purposes, including protecting and promoting the welfare of all children, including disabled, homeless, dependent, or neglected children. Existing law requires social workers to make reasonable efforts to collect and update necessary data regarding a child’s incarcerated parent or parents, and encourages the Department of Justice, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, county welfare departments, and county sheriffs to develop protocols for facilitating the exchange of information regarding the location and sentencing of the incarcerated parent or parents of a minor child who is in dependency care.
This bill would establish the Task Force on the Children of Incarcerated Parents and Caregivers. The bill would require the task force to be convened as a committee of the California Child Welfare Council and would require the council to select no more than 20 people representing various groups as members of the task force. The bill would require the task force to submit a report to specified entities, including, among others, the California Child Welfare Council and the Legislature, no later than December 1, 2023, and would require the report to include specified components, including specific policy and fiscal recommendations. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2025.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 (a) In the United States, over 5 million children have experienced parental incarceration at some point. National tough-on-crime and war-on-drugs policies also have had devastating impacts in California.
(b) An estimated 90,000 children in California have a parent or caregiver incarcerated.
(c) Research has shown that “the stressor of incarceration proliferates to have reverberating mental health consequences for those connected to the incarcerated, via pathways such as destabilized family economic wellbeing or impaired relationships between family members” (Turney, Stress Proliferation Across Generations? Examining the Relationship Between Parental Incarceration and Childhood Health (2014) 55 Journal of Health and Social Behavior 3 pages 302-319). “Children whose parents have been arrested and incarcerated face unique difficulties” (Simmons, Children of Incarcerated Parents (2000) p. 3).
(d) From 2003–2009, the California Research Bureau studied the impacts of parental incarceration with specific emphasis on incarcerated women and issued reports that resulted in policy reforms, including, but not limited to, parental arrests in the presence of children and access to phone calls to arrange for childcare during bookings.
(e) In 2019, the Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty state legislative task force, issued recommendations to the Legislature on how to significantly reduce child and family poverty in the state and included recommendations to increase place-based coordinated services for children as well as increased contact visits between children and parents. At the same time, the state has also increased awareness of and funding for adverse childhood experiences (ACE) screening. Parental incarceration and its impacts significantly increase a child’s ACE score and overall risk of toxic stress.
(f) There is no state entity responsible for serving children of incarcerated parents or ensuring their well-being. To reach the most vulnerable children and families, California must specifically examine and address the needs of children impacted by parent or caregiver incarceration.

SEC. 2.

 Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 16595) is added to Part 4 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
CHAPTER  8. The Children of Incarcerated Parents and Caregivers Task Force

16595.
 (a) For the purposes of this chapter, “incarcerated parents and caregivers” includes all individuals who, prior to or following incarceration, are primarily or secondarily responsible for the health and well-being of a child, transitional age transitional-age youth, or dependent adult who is less than 25 years of age.

16596.
 (a) There is hereby established the Task Force on the Children of Incarcerated Parents and Caregivers, hereinafter referred to as the COIP Task Force. The COIP Task Force shall be convened as a committee of the California Child Welfare Council.
(b) The COIP Task Force shall consist of no more than 20 members and shall include members of the California Child Welfare Council, individuals who currently have or have had a parent or caregiver incarcerated during their childhood, tribal representatives, representatives from the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, stakeholders that focus on children of incarcerated parents or caregivers, family and child well-being, representatives from the California Health and Human Services Agency and departments within the agency, justice agencies, state and local community organizations that work with and advocate for children and families, formerly justice involved justice-involved individuals, and researchers with subject-matter expertise in criminal justice and familial incarceration. Members of the COIP Task Force shall be selected by the California Child Welfare Council.
(c) To the extent funding is available, the California Child Welfare Council shall assist the COIP Task Force in carrying out its duties. The California Health and Human Services Agency may use its existing resources to pay for the costs associated with the COIP Task Force. Notwithstanding any other law, the California Child Welfare Council may accept and, subject to appropriation, expend nongovernmental sources of funding to pay for the costs associated with the COIP Task Force.
(d) The COIP Task Force shall submit a report to the California Child Welfare Council, the office of the Governor, the Chief Justice of California, the Attorney General, and the Legislature. The report shall be completed and submitted no later than December 1, 2023, and shall include all of the following:
(1) An examination of the unique needs of children of incarcerated parents and caregivers, which include, but are not limited to, the child’s need for all of the following:
(A) To be kept informed and protected from additional trauma at the time of parental arrest.
(B) To be heard and respected by decisionmakers when decisions are made about the child.
(C) To be considered when decisions are made about the child’s parent.
(D) To be cared for in the absence of the child’s parent in a way that prioritizes the child’s physical, mental, and emotional needs.
(E) To speak with, see, and touch the incarcerated parent or caregiver.
(F) To be provided coordinated support through local services and programs geared toward the needs of children with an incarcerated parent or caregiver.
(G) To not be judged, labeled, or blamed for the parent’s incarceration.
(H) To have a lifelong relationship with the incarcerated parent or caregiver.
(2) Specific policy and fiscal recommendations to the Legislature, including potential amendments to state law, that consider the needs and service priorities for children of incarcerated parents and caregivers.
(3) Near-term and long-term benchmarks that can be used to track the state’s progress toward meeting the needs of, and providing services for, children of incarcerated parents and caregivers.
(e) A report submitted to the Legislature pursuant to subdivision (d) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

16597.
 This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2025, and as of that date is repealed.