Assembly Human Services Committee, Tuesday, March 10, 2026
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Assembly Human Services Committee California State Assembly
Ihren Sitzungen folgenRedner 3
Tribes are best positioned to efficient efficiently deliver services that also support connections to our culture and our community. California has developed its approach to provide these new early intervention and prevention programs, but tribes have largely largely been left out. This is a serious mistake AB fifteen seventy four will fix, Failing to provide funding to do this work for tribes and by only looking to community based organizations and counties, we again fail those children most disproportionately impacted and involved in the child welfare system. Expanding the ability of tribes to provide behavioral health and parenting support services for those families at risk of entering the child welfare system will improve our outcomes for our families, reduce the number of children going into the foster care system, and reduce the pressure on already overburdened county systems. This grant program created by this bill will ensure that that can happen.
Please join me in supporting a b fifteen seventy four. Thank you so much for your time.
Redner 4
you, chairman Lee. Assembly members, my name is Denise Winwright, and I'm a senior staff attorney with the California Tribal Families Coalition. I also belong to the Modesee and Odumaui Bands of the Pit River Tribe. My father was Odumaui. My mother was Modesee.
My mother was also a teenage runaway. At the age of 13, she became pregnant and lost her first child two years afterwards. She ended up coping with this through the method of alcohol. She met my father at 16, and they married at 17 and 18 years old. My siblings and I were born and raised in our ancestral territory.
I am the second attorney to ever come from the Pit River tribe. I am the first attorney to ever come from our homelands. So every day, I represent Indian tribes in ICWA proceedings. And as a tribal member, I see the impacts of child removals and separations as well as the lack of intensive services to reunite families once children have been removed. One of ICWA's promises is to prevent the removal of tribal children from their families.
But even with ICWA in place, tribal children are still entering foster care way more frequently than their non native counterparts. In some counties, native children represent over a third of all foster kids of all kids in foster care. As a state, California has been moving away from funding focused on caring for kids only once they are in the system. California has been focused on more resources to prevent kids from entering foster care. There is no question this is the correct policy shift.
In fact, the Department of Social Services has stated in its prevention plan that a primary purpose of the prevention focus is to reduce the continuing disparate entry of tribal children into foster care. Yet while tribes and tribal organizations are often on the front line providing services and support for Native American children and families, they do not receive funding to do so through any existing funded pro programs run by the state of California despite reducing county workload and costs. AB fifteen seventy four would open the door for this policy shift to include tribes, to allow tribes to target in a culturally relevant and tribally efficient way early prevention services that are needed in that tribal community. Key here is that tribes are smaller, more efficient systems. They know what their citizens need.
They can efficiently and effectively deploy needed services to prevent families entering the system. And allowing tribes to do this themselves decreases the burden on county systems. And we anticipate with this type of support, tribes can have a tremendous impact on reducing the number of children entering foster care. In just one example we wish to highlight, a tribal prevention program that received just a small amount of support from their local county was able to reduce the number of children entering foster care by 98%. Not only will tribally based prevention programs preserve families and reduce the long term social costs in negative outcomes for Indian children, we estimate that it would also save the state of California over $40,000,000 annually in foster care related costs.
With the important benefits for children, family, and tribes this program could make, we ask you to support AB fifteen seventy four. With a b one five seven four, children entering the foster care systems cannot only raise lawyers, but they can also become them too. We ask for your support.
Redner 1
Thank you very much. Seeing as the quorum is now present, madam secretary, could you please call a roll to establish quorum?
Redner 1
Right now that we establish a quorum, we can, move on with the bill soon. Are there any members of the public who's testified in support of the bill? Please come up to the microphone, name, organization.
Redner 6
Apolletreat on behalf of Pachanga, Tejon, and the Calusa tribes, wholeheartedly supporting.
Redner 7
Ann Quirk, policy attorney with Children's Law Center of California, in support.
Redner 1
Thank you. Alex Salonese on behalf of the Habomato Pomo of Upper Lake in support. Good afternoon, chair Nick Broca on behalf of the Agua Caliente Band of Queer Indians in support. Thank you.
Redner 8
Good afternoon. Alexis Rodriguez with the County Welfare Directors Association in support. Thank you.
Redner 11
Dawn Kepke on behalf of the Tolowa Dine Nation as well as the Child Abuse Prevention Center and California Family Resource Association, all in support. Thank you.
Redner 9
How do you do? My name is Zafarak Barges on behalf of the Santa Rosa Rancheria of Tachi Yokut Indians. We're in support. Thank you. And do we have
Redner 1
any witnesses in opposition to the bill? Any members of the public who should testify in opposition to the bill? Please come to the microphone. Alright. Oh.
K. Seeing none, we'll bring back to committee. Committee members, any questions or comments or motions?
Redner 2
Yeah. Absolutely. I just wanna thank the councilwoman as well as everyone who's been a good partner in this effort. As you heard, there's a shameful legacy that we're trying to address in California, and you all were a part of it last year. The bill was vetoed.
We made some changes to conform to the veto message, and we're really optimistic that this could have a huge impact in many of our communities. With that, I respectfully ask for an I vote.
Redner 1
Thank you so much, Assembly Rogers, for bringing this bill forward. I appreciate you trying again and making sure that all children in California have equal access to the pension funds, especially our youth from tribal backgrounds. I would be happy to also be a coauthor on your bill with you, and this time, hopefully, we'll push it past the veto and get it done. Alright. The bill was moved by similar to Tangipa and seconded by similar to Awari.
Madam secretary, please call the roll on this bill.
Redner 5
File item one, a b one five seven four. The motion is due passed to the assembly appropriations committee. Lee?
Redner 5
Lee, aye. Castillo? Aye. Castillo, aye. Calderon?
Aye. Calderon aye. El Johari? Aye. El Johari aye.
Jackson? Aye. Jackson aye. Tongapah? Tongapah aye.
Redner 1
Alright. Assembly Rogers, I know you have one more bill for us. It is a b 1618. So whenever you're ready, you may begin on that. Aware if you'd like.
Okay. How about yourself?
Redner 2
Alright. Thank you so much. Our second bill is a b sixteen eighteen. As many of you know, the United States Department of Agriculture has, annually conducted a hunger survey. That survey has helped us to better understand, what is happening in our local communities as well as to be able to inform the use of resources, that are scarce.
That survey, has been, discontinued from the federal government as of last September. And so this bill proposes to pick up that slack and to make sure that we don't pretend that hunger is no longer happening because we stopped measuring it. This bill would have the California Department of Social Services maintain that survey going forward in years when the federal government does not do so so that we can still better inform our local communities and talk about poverty the way that we should. With me to present on the bill is Yesenia Robancho, who's the associate director of policy and strategy for end child poverty, as well as Brian Leahy, who is the former director of the California Department of Pesticide Regulations, and he is here with AARP.
Redner 1
Great. Two minutes each witness, please. And just to clarify, as a member, you are taking the committee amendments?
Redner 12
Hello, chair and members. Again, my name is Yesenia Robancha, associate director of policy and strategy at End Child Poverty California. As mentioned in September, the USDA announced it would terminate future data collection for its annual household food security report. This announcement followed president Trump's signing of HR one, which makes the largest cuts in the history of the CalFresh program and is estimated to put nearly 1,000,000 Californian households at risk of losing food benefits. For decades, The US has relied on consistent data to understand hunger in this country.
In the nineteen eighties, the Food Research and Action Center convened academics, advocates, and researchers to create the first comprehensive study of childhood hunger. At that time, it was called the Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project. That work inspired a campaign to establish a national measure of food insufficiency. And in 1995, USDA and the Census Bureau began to include food security questions in their national surveys. In October, the latest report showed 47,400,000 people, including 13,800,000 children, face food insecurity in 2023 in this country.
In California, 22% of all households and 27% of households with children experience food insecurity. This means that more in that that more than one in five Californians, about eight point eight million, are hungry. Meanwhile, black and Latina households are disproportionately experiencing food insecurity rates. This continuing long standing survey data invisible invisibilizes hunger in America. But let's be clear.
Hiding data does not solve hunger. What it does is remove transparency and accountability at a time when policies are pushing more families toward hunger and poverty. AB sixteen eighteen is a step in the right direction to ensure families experiencing hunger are not made invisible. At a time when access to public data is under attack, California must stand with communities and ensure their experiences are seen and counted. And for these reasons, we urge your eye vote.
Thank you.
Redner 13
Okay. That's that's nice. Good afternoon, chair and members. My name is Brian Leahy, and I'm a volunteer with a volunteer member of AARP's Capital Response Team, speaking on behalf of AARP's 3,200,000 members in California. As a former farmer and legal service attorney, food and food insecurity are issues that I care about deeply.
They are also a national priority for AARP and the AARP Foundation, which is why AARP is proud to cosponsor AB sixteen eighteen. The need to collect reliable data on food insecurity in California has never been more urgent. Food insecurity among older Californians is on the rise. AARP reported that 1,400,000 Californians 50 qualified as food insecure even before the enactment of the one big beautiful bill last year. In 2025, AARP estimated that, further federal policy changes will lead to millions of Californians losing their CalFresh benefits, including nearly one and a half million Californians over the age of 50.
Now that the United States Department of Agriculture has terminated its food insecurity survey, it is imperative that California acts swiftly to implement its own food and security survey. The survey will provide crucial data to the state of California, California's counties and cities, food banks, and community based organizations serving low income Californians so that provided provided targeted services and support for food insecurity Californians. It's well established that you can't manage what you don't measure. Reliable data is the foundation of effective policy and the ability to monitor policy results. So we urge your support for a b sixteen eighteen, and thank you very much.
Redner 1
Thank you. Now do we have any members of the public who wish to sign support of the bill? Please come up to the microphone. Name and organization, please. Good afternoon.
Nick One second. One second. Let's turn on the mic.
Redner 9
Hi. Good afternoon. Nick Lapas with Californians Against Waste, and I've also been asked to express the support of the California Food Recovery Coalition. Thank you. Josh Wright on behalf of the California Association of Food Banks and Western Center Law and Poverty in support.
Redner 2
Josh Gauger with the urban counties of California and the rural county representatives of California in support.
Redner 1
Great. Thank you. Now do we have any witnesses in opposition to the bill? Any members of the public who wish to testify in opposition to the bill? Please come out to the microphone.
Seeing none, we'll come back to the dais of the members. Similar to Tongepa and then similar to Jackson.
Redner 9
Just wanted to be brief and just say, you know, I thank the author for bringing this bill. I think it's a good local control. We should be measuring what you know, especially people in California. I've received benefits, gone to the food banks myself, grew up in that community. And for us to make sure that we're solving it properly, we need the proper measurements.
So thank you. And I move the bill.
Redner 10
Assemblyman Rogers, I wanna congratulate you on yet another fantastic bill. As you know, as we're trying to make sure that our social safety net is even more resilient from the federal government or any other entity, that it's important that we start building the internal infrastructure to be able to make sure that our work continues. And so thank you for this bill, and I look forward to continue to support it.
Redner 2
Yeah. I just I wanna thank everybody for the the support. Yeah. I've been really thinking about, the legislation we work on this year in two buckets. One is obviously a response to what's happening at the federal level, but more importantly is addressing issues that California had before.
And the amount of people that we have living in poverty in the most prosperous state, the most prosperous nation in the history of the world is shameful, and it's something that we should have been taking more time in California to address. We've got a push from the federal government to do it here and and to build some resources around it. And and I'm just grateful for all of you for your support to be able to continue those efforts moving forward.
Redner 1
Thank you so much, Rogers. I couldn't put it better than you just did. It's really a shame that we have to expend our own resources, whereas the federal government has let us access data beforehand so that we can actually work on food insecurity. But it is true you can't manage it, manage something you don't measure. So I am recommending an I with amendments on this.
The bill was moved by a similar to Tangipa, and it is seconded by Second. By a similar to Jackson. Madam secretary, please call the roll.
Redner 5
File item three, a b one six one eight. The motion is due pass as amended to the assembly appropriations committee. Lee?
Redner 5
Lee, I. Castillo? Calderon? Aye. Calderon I.
El Johari? Aye. El Johari I. Jackson? Aye.
Jackson I. Tonga Pa? Aye. Tonga Pa I.
Redner 1
Five to zero. That bills out. Thank you. Now, Assemblyman Carrillo, I know you've been waiting patiently for file item number 41688. So you may come up to the desk with your witnesses when you're ready.
You may begin whenever you're ready.
Redner 14
Thank you, mister chair. And members, thank you for allowing me to present assembly bill sixteen eighty eight. First, I would like to thank the committee for their work on this bill, and I will be accepting the committee's amendments. AB sixteen nine sixteen eighty eight is a measure that will provide a greater degree of transparency, accountability for attorneys and guardians of dependents in the California foster care system. Currently, in cases of suspicion of abuse or neglect, only the attorneys of children suspected of being abused directly are the only parties alerted of these allegations.
This creates a gap in reporting, allowing other youth in the same foster placement to potentially be subject to the same abuse or neglect. For context, Children's Bureau reports that some 68,000 children move in and out of the California foster care system annually, with more than half of the foster youth being housed in Southern California. Within Los Angeles County, general neglect made up to thirty nine point two percent of referrals to foster home, with nineteen point four percent being at risk due to their sibling being abused and fifteen point six percent being physically abused. In 2020 a 2022 study, it was found that one hundred and sixty nine children in California were victims of abuse or maltreatment by their foster parents. Nationally, six children passed away due to abuse or maltreatment from their foster parents.
As it stands, there is no legal requirement to provide notice to the parents or attorneys of other children in the same placement that their client or child is being housed in a foster location where abuse has occurred. And due to this, too many children are falling through the cracks of our state's foster system because of this oversight and the child welfare reporting process. That is why I'm here today to introduce a b sixteen eighty eight to protect our most vulnerable populations of children that must traverse and navigate the complexities of foster care system and aid their guardians that depend on them for support. In order to continue protecting foster youth throughout California, we must ensure that there are effective interventions to close the holes in our safe state safety net in reporting allegations of child abuse or neglecting foster homes. This piece of legislation will be a critical step forward to ensure that those that will come after us are careful in a safe and secure environment.
Joining me to testify in support and answer technical questions is Ann Kirk with the Children's Law Center.
Redner 7
Good afternoon, chair Lee and members of the committee. I am Ann Quirk, policy attorney with Children's Law Center of sec of California. We're the dependency attorneys for children in the dependency system in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Placer Counties. As the attorney of the child in California, we hold a special position. We are both the lawyer and the CAPTA GAL.
Or in simple terms, our job is to make sure everyone knows what our client wants and to advocate for their safety and protection. For this reason, we are proud to cosponsor AB sixteen eighty eight, which addresses a critical gap in child safety within the child welfare system. As mentioned under current law, if there's a reasonable suspicion of abuse or neglect within foster care, the attorney for the child is is notified. AB sixteen eighty eight adds two additional important safeguards. Notice is also given to the attorney for the parents so we can all work together and quickly get that child what they need.
And because most placements have more than one child in them and those children will have different social workers, different attorneys may even be from different counties, notice is given to the attorneys for the other children in the placement as well. The child's privacy is protected so no details are shared, but it alerts those attorneys to go check-in with their client and ensure they are safe. Foster care should provide safety, not cause more harm. AB sixteen eighty eight helps ensure that attorneys have the info they need information they need to act swiftly and protect vulnerable children. We we thank assembly member Carrillo for this authoring this important bill, and we respectfully request your aye vote.
Redner 1
And thank you very much. Now do we have members of the public who wish to testify in support of the bill? Please come to microphone now. Are there any witnesses in opposition to the bill? Please come up.
Any members of public wish to sign opposition to the bill? Also seeing none, I'll bring it back to the committee for any comments, questions, motions. Vice chair Castillo, you wanna make a comment, you said? Okay.
Redner 6
I, am a therapist. I'm sure you know, a dual licensed therapist. I used to work for the county, with severe persistent. I worked with a lot of kids who were in foster care. I happened to work with little kids as well.
And as a mandated reporter, there were plenty of times where I had to make an a new report because of the home, because of a child in that home that now abused these new children in the home. And I can tell you how many times nothing was done regarding that. And I'm like, why am I a mandated reporter if nothing gets done? And I just feel like there does need to be more more eyes on that. You know?
There does need to be a change for that because it's not okay for kids to be placed in placement and then be abused worse than what they were in in their home. You know? Or they didn't come from abuse. Maybe the parent was on, you know, substances and, you know, what happened, then they go and get sexually abused in a new home. So I strongly support this.
I thank you for this bill. And if you don't mind, I would like to actually sign on to it with you.
Redner 14
I wanna thank you for sharing your experience. It's obviously very valuable what what your experience brings to this issue. We will make sure that office gets with your office, and then we can communicate with the committee to make sure that happens. Thank you.
Redner 10
I wanna echo the assembly member sentiments. You know, through college, I back when in the old group home system, I worked at a level 12 group home. And for those in the helping professions, we commonly say, hurt people hurt people. And that is true for our young people as well. And as a matter of fact, there's a common occurrence.
There's a lot of alpha dog mentality in these facilities, and force is often used on on their peers. And so you're right. We should make sure that we figure out and continuing to find ways to ensure that as many people are notified when a child has become abused, even if it's from one of their peers in the same facility. So well done. Looking forward to supporting the bill.
Redner 1
Alright. Thank you very much. Any other members, questions, comments? Can. Alright.
I think, vice chair Castillo beat you to it. Alright. I'll invite the author to to close.
Redner 14
I wanna thank you, mister chair, and the rest of the committee, for their support. This bill will strengthen protections for foster children by creating more transparency in notifying relevant parties of substantial allegations of abuse or neglect, ensuring that children are protected, I respectfully ask for your live vote. Thank you.
Redner 1
Thank you. This bill has been properly moved and seconded by somebody talking about and somebody Castillo. I appreciate you bringing this bill forward and working on this bill with us and my committee staff. Madam secretary, please call the roll.
Redner 5
File item four, a b one six eight eight. The motion is due pass as amended to the assembly public safety committee. Lee?
Redner 5
Lee, aye. Castillo? Aye. Castillo, aye. Calderon?
Calderon, aye. El Johari? Aye. El Johari, aye. Jackson?
Aye. Jackson, aye. Tonga pa? Aye. Tonga pa, aye.
Redner 1
Alright. Members, we only have the consent calendar to move. So if I could get a motion on the consent calendar. Moved by assembler Alwari, seconded by assembler Calderon For the consent calendar, madam secretary, please read the bills on the consent calendar.
Redner 5
On the consent calendar, Lee. Aye. Lee I. Castillo. Aye.
Castillo I. Calderon. Aye. Calderon I. El Juari.
Aye. El Juari I. Jackson. Aye. Jackson I.
Tongipa. Aye. Tongipa I.
Redner 1
Thank you, madam secretary. Yes. And then, madam secretary, you may call the roll for absent members to add on, but that is all business for today.
Redner 5
File item three, AB1618. The current vote is five to zero. Castillo? Aye. Castillo aye.
Final vote, six to
Redner 1
zero. Thank you. Alright. Thank you, members. Business before the assembly human services committee is now complete.
The hearing is now adjourned.
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