(a) The department shall develop, following consultation with foster family agency providers, the County Welfare Directors Association of California, the Chief Probation Officers of California, the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California, the State Department of Health Care Services, former foster youth, child advocacy organizations, and stakeholders, performance standards and outcome measures for determining the effectiveness of the care and supervision, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 11460, provided to children in out-of-home family based care placements pursuant to Sections 11460 and 11463 and Chapter 6.3 (commencing with Section 18360) of Part 6. These standards shall be designed to measure outcomes for the client and the performance of programs in areas over which the service provider or a county acting in the capacity of, or is licensed as, a service provider has meaningful managerial or administrative influence.
(1) These standards and outcome measures shall include, but are not limited to, the effectiveness of services provided by each program, and the extent to which the services provided by the programs assist in obtaining the child welfare case plan objectives for achieving the desired outcomes in safety, permanency, and well-being for the child.
(2) In addition, when the provider has identified as part of its program for licensing, ratesetting, or county placement purposes, or has included as a part of a child’s case plan by mutual agreement between the program and the placing agency, specific mental health, education, medical, and other child-related services, the performance standards and outcome measures may also measure the effectiveness of those services.
(b) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), these performance standards and outcome measures shall be set forth in written directives until regulations are adopted.
(c) The department shall develop and implement a technical assistance and support plan, in consultation with stakeholders identified in subdivision (a), that utilizes the performance standards and outcome measures to identify and assist low performing service providers.
(d) The department shall coordinate with other state agencies, and may execute agreements as necessary, to obtain data necessary to fulfill the requirements of this section.
(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 732, Sec. 93. (AB 404) Effective January 1, 2018.)