(a) The department shall develop three-year pilot projects in Alameda County, San Bernardino County, and Ventura County, at the option of each county, to create an integrated and coordinated case management system for delivery of services to CalWORKs families who face multiple barriers to employment. This pilot program shall permit the exchange of information and records between members of a multidisciplinary services team for the purpose of coordinating services relevant to the prevention, identification, and treatment of the family’s barriers to employment. Information shared between members of the multidisciplinary services team shall be maintained in a manner to ensure maximum protection of the family’s privacy. Information shall not be shared between the team or otherwise disclosed, except as otherwise authorized by law, once an individual and his or her family no longer receive CalWORKs benefits or services.
(b) For purposes of this section and Sections 11325.91 to 11325.96, inclusive:
(1) “Multidisciplinary service team” or “team” means a team of two or more persons trained and qualified to provide one or more of the services listed in paragraph (2) who are assigned the responsibility, within an integrated welfare system, for identifying the educational, health, and social service needs of a member of an assistance unit, and for developing a plan to address those needs. Team members may include any of the following:
(A) Representatives of public employment services agencies under contract with the CalWORKs program.
(B) Psychiatrists, psychologists, or other trained counseling personnel involved in mental health treatment.
(C) Providers of substance abuse treatment.
(D) Medical personnel with sufficient training to provide health services.
(E) Any public or private school teacher, administrative officer, supervisor of child welfare and attendance, or certificated public personnel employee.
(F) Representatives of a domestic violence shelter.
(G) Probation officers.
(H) Social workers with experience or training in child abuse or abuse of elder or dependent adults.
(I) Representatives from public housing agencies.
(J) Other team members may be added if necessary and if approved by the client if the team member agrees to abide by the confidentiality requirements in Section 11325.93.
(2) “Integrated welfare system” means programs established by the state or by the pilot project county governments to provide two or more of the following services to households in which recipients of benefits under this chapter reside:
(A) Child welfare services.
(B) Employment services.
(C) Health care services.
(D) Mental health services.
(E) Substance abuse prevention and treatment.
(F) Child abuse prevention, identification, and treatment.
(G) Elder or dependent adult abuse prevention, identification, and treatment.
(H) Public housing services.
(I) Domestic violence counseling services.
(J) Juvenile probation services. However, representatives of juvenile probation may provide information to other team members, but may not receive information, records, or copies of records, from other team members.
(K) Educational services for children and adults.
(L) Nutrition services.
(M) Child care and development services.
(N) Learning disability evaluation.
(3) “Targeted population” means long-term welfare-dependent families with multiple barriers to employment, including, but not limited to, substance abuse, mental illness, child abuse and neglect, and domestic violence.
(Added by Stats. 1999, Ch. 919, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2000.)