California Welfare and Institutions Code

§ 14717.2

WIC § 14717.2 Effective Jul 10, 2023Div. 9 · Part 3 · Ch. 8.9

Statute text

(a)(1) For purposes of this section, “foster child” or “foster children” means a Medi-Cal eligible child or children younger than 21 years of age who have been placed into foster care by a county child welfare agency or a county probation department.

(2)It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that foster children who are placed in community treatment facilities, group homes, or short-term residential therapeutic programs, or who are admitted to children’s crisis residential programs, outside of their county of original jurisdiction, are able to access specialty mental health services in a timely manner, consistent with their individual strengths and needs and the requirements of federal Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) services.

(3)The Legislature finds that because group home placements or short-term residential therapeutic program placements are intended to be short term, and because community treatment facility placements and children’s crisis residential program admissions are intended to be time-limited based on medical necessity, the responsibility for the provision of or arrangement for specialty mental health services for a foster child throughout the short-term or time-limited placement or admission shall remain with the county of original jurisdiction.

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Legislative history

Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 42, Sec. 161. (AB 118) Effective July 10, 2023.