AB 2441

AB2441:v99#DOCUMENT

Bill Start

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2441

An act to add Article 7 (commencing with Section 18974) to Chapter 11 of Part 6 of Division 9 of, and to repeal Section 18974.1 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to children.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2441, as introduced, Celeste Rodriguez. Community Supporting Innovation Pilot Program.

Existing law establishes the Office of Child Abuse Prevention in the State Department of Social Services. Existing law requires the office to use certain funds to undertake specified activities, including, among other things, supporting coordination and sharing of best practices implemented by family resource centers with other agencies, when the best practices reflect strategies and outcomes that were achieved and supported by evidence-informed programs and data.

This bill would require the Office of Child Abuse Prevention to establish the Community Supporting Innovation Pilot Program to assess and demonstrate the effectiveness of community-based organizations, including family resource centers, serving as resource and referral avenues and alternative support pathways for families with complex needs or multiple stressors, or who are navigating significant barriers, but whose children are not at substantial risk of suffering serious physical harm or illness. The bill would require organizations wishing to participate in the pilot program to submit an application that demonstrates that the organization meets certain criteria, including, among others things, that the organization has the commitment of at least one partnering school district, hospital, clinic, or law enforcement agency that will refer potentially eligible families to the organization. The bill would require the office to select 25 organizations to receive grants to operate community pathway teams and provide related training. The bill would require a community pathway pilot site to receive referrals of the families described above and provide assistance to referred families navigating services related to basic needs, childcare access, behavioral health coordination, financial stability, benefits continuity, and other supports that stabilize families and reduce unnecessary involvement in the child welfare system. The bill would require the an evaluation of the pilot program and require the office, based on that evaluation, to submit a report to the Legislature no later than July 1, 2030, that provides recommendations for statewide implementation.

This bill would also require the office to establish an internal unit of least 3 staff positions to oversee the pilot and would authorize the office to contract with a nonprofit organization to undertake certain tasks related to the pilot program, such as developing and implementing outreach materials.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

Article 7 (commencing with Section 18974) is added to Chapter 11 of Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

Article 7. Community Supporting Innovation Pilot Program

18974.

(a) The Office of Child Abuse Prevention shall establish the Community Supporting Innovation Pilot Program to assess and demonstrate the effectiveness of community-based organizations, including, but not limited to, family resource centers, serving as resource and referral avenues and alternative support pathways for families with complex needs or multiple stressors, or who are navigating significant barriers, but whose children are not at substantial risk of suffering serious physical harm or illness.

(b) The pilot program established pursuant to subdivision (a) shall, at a minimum, include all of the following components:

(1) An application from community-based organizations wishing to participate. In order to participate, a community-based organization shall be required to satisfy all of the following and demonstrate that satisfaction in the application:

(A) At the time of application, provide the services described in subdivision (g) of Section 18951.

(B) Have the commitment of at least one partnering school district, hospital, clinic, or law enforcement agency that will refer potentially eligible families to the community-based organization.

(C) Have received a statement of support for the community-based organization’s participation in the pilot program from the county child welfare agency in each county in which the organization operates.

(D) Comply with all additional requirements for community-based organizations that will be participating in the pilot program that are imposed by the Office of Child Abuse Prevention, relating to all of the following:

(i) Eligibility and needs assessment.

(ii) Family support planning.

(iii) Community and cultural responsiveness.

(iv) Safety monitoring.

(v) Participating in California’s closed-loop, enhanced referral database.

(vi) County partnership.

(vii) Staff training and capacity building.

(viii) Pilot program evaluation.

(2) The selection of 25 community-based organizations by the Office of Child Abuse Prevention, or its designee, to receive grants to operate community pathway teams and provide related training.

(A) When selecting community-based organizations to participate in the pilot program, the Office of Child Abuse Prevention shall ensure the selection is geographically and demographically diverse and located throughout California.

(B) A community pathway pilot site shall be required to comply with all of the following:

(i) Receive referrals from schools, hospitals, clinics, and law enforcement agencies of families with children for whom a mandated reporter would not be required to make a report pursuant to Section 11166 of the Penal Code, but that have complex needs or multiple stressors, or who are navigating significant barriers, including, but not limited to, families suffering from poverty and families impacted by mental health, substance use issues, significant illness, or death of one of its members.

(ii) Provide assistance to referred families navigating services related to basic needs, childcare access, behavioral health coordination, financial stability, benefits continuity, and other supports that stabilize families and reduce unnecessary involvement in the child welfare system.

(iii) Participate in a closed-loop referral system to track referrals and document family progress after being connected to services without referral to the child welfare system.

(C) The training provided by the community-based organization shall include training, support, and incentives for mandated reporters, as defined in Section 11165.7 of the Penal Code, from the entity or entities described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1).

(3) (A) An evaluation of the pilot program to assess the effectiveness of community-based alternatives to involvement in the child welfare system.

(B) Utilization of a standardized, evidence-informed protective factors assessment tool, or similar assessment tool, and shall collect data elements and outcomes. When collecting data, a participating community-based organization shall not use the child welfare data system.

(C) The Office of Child Abuse Prevention shall identify uniform data elements to be collected by participating community-based organizations and shall not require a participating community-based organization to provide any personally identifying information relating to families served by a community pathway unit. The Office of Child Abuse Prevention shall also evaluate all of the following:

(i) Work plans developed for alternative referrals with partnering agencies.

(ii) Engagement of participating families in supportive services.

(iii) Changes in results of the evidence-informed protective factors assessment tool, or similar assessment tool, used by participating community-based organizations.

(iv) Rates of referral of participating families to a child welfare agency.

(c) The Office of Child Abuse Prevention shall establish an internal unit of at least three staff positions to oversee implementation and consistency of the pilot program and alignment with other initiatives of the State Department of Social Services, including, but not limited to, family first prevention services and systems of care.

(d) The Office of Child Abuse Prevention may contract with a nonprofit organization to do some or all of the following:

(1) Develop and implement outreach materials, notice of funding opportunity, and communications to solicit community-based organizations to participate in the pilot program.

(2) Contracting and accounting for the participating community-based organizations.

(3) Compliance monitoring and assistance.

(4) Data collection, review, and reporting.

(5) Training, certification, and implementation support for data reporting, program standards, and other identified tools for quality service provision at community pathway teams.

(6) Peer learning and office hours opportunities for participating community-based organizations.

(7) Developing and implementing processes and structures for consistent data collection.

(8) Independent evaluation of the pilot program.

(9) Dissemination of project information and learning.

18974.1.

(a) Based on the results of the evaluation conducted pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 18974, the Office of Child Abuse Prevention shall prepare a report to the Legislature and provide recommendations for statewide implementation of a community-supporting framework no later than July 1, 2030.

(b) (1) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(2) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this section is repealed on January 1, 2031.