(a) The Judicial Council shall convene a committee comprised of stakeholders involved in serving the needs of dependents or wards of the juvenile court, including, but not limited to, judges, probation officers, social workers, youth involved in both the child welfare system and the juvenile justice system, child welfare and juvenile justice attorneys, child welfare and juvenile justice advocates, education officials, and representatives from the State Department of Social Services, county child welfare agencies, and county probation departments. By January 1, 2018, the committee shall develop and report to the Legislature, pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, its recommendations to facilitate and enhance comprehensive data and outcome tracking for the state’s youth involved in both the child welfare system and the juvenile justice system. The committee’s recommendations shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) A common identifier for counties to use to reconcile data across child welfare and juvenile justice systems statewide.
(2) Standardized definitions for terms related to the populations of youth involved in both the child welfare system and the juvenile justice system.
(3) Identified and defined outcomes for counties to track youth involved in both the child welfare system and the juvenile justice system, including, but not limited to, outcomes related to recidivism, health, pregnancy, homelessness, employment, and education.
(4) Established baselines and goals for the identified and defined outcomes specified in paragraph (3).
(5) An assessment as to the costs and benefits associated with requiring all counties to implement the committee’s recommendations.
(6) An assessment of whether a single technology system, including, but not limited to, the State Department of Social Services’ Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS) or the Child Welfare Services-New System (CWS-NS), is needed to track youth in the child welfare system and the juvenile justice system.
(b) The State Department of Social Services shall, on or before January 1, 2019, implement a function within the applicable case management system that will enable county child welfare agencies and county probation departments to identify youth involved in both the child welfare system and the juvenile justice system who are within their counties and shall issue instructions to all counties on how to completely and consistently track the involvement of these youth in both the child welfare system and the juvenile justice system.
(Repealed and added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 637, Sec. 2. (AB 1911) Effective January 1, 2017.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018