Bills · 2025-2026 Regular Session
Relating to: notifying a child welfare agency and a parent, guardian, and legal custodian of the presence of a child in a runaway home.
Children Children — Protection and services Family Guardian and ward Harbor Youth
- Introduced, stopped here
- Passes Assembly, not reached
- Passes Senate, not reached
- Governor signs, not reached
- Law, not reached
Unfamiliar terms? Glossary
What this bill does
Plain-language analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, a licensed foster home, group home, or shelter may provide housing or services to a child runaway if both the child and his or her parent, guardian, or legal custodian consent to the provision of housing or services. If the parent, guardian, or legal custodian does not consent, the foster home, group home, or shelter must notify the agency responsible for providing child welfare services of the child’s presence in the home or shelter within 12 hours of the child’s arrival at the home or shelter. After such notification, the agency must notify the parent, guardian, and legal custodian as soon as possible of the child’s presence in that home. Under current law, a hearing is then held to determine whether the child must be returned to the parent, guardian, or legal custodian or is permitted to stay at the foster home, group home, or shelter for up to 20 days.
This bill extends from 12 to 72 hours the time after a child runaway’s arrival that a foster home, group home, or shelter must notify the agency responsible for providing child welfare services of the child’s presence in the home or shelter. Under the bill, an intake worker must only notify the parent, guardian, and legal custodian of the child if it is in the best interest of the child. The bill also specifies that, if it is in the child’s best interest, no later than six hours after the child arrives, the home or shelter must notify the parent, guardian, and legal custodian of the child’s presence. If the parent, guardian, and legal custodian cannot be reached for the purpose of this notification, the home or shelter must attempt to reach them for that purpose at least every six hours until successful.
Under current law, if the child’s parent, guardian, or legal custodian does not consent to the temporary care and housing of the child at the home or shelter, a hearing must be held on the issue within 24 hours of the time that the child entered the home or shelter. The bill changes this deadline to within 24 hours of the time the agency responsible for providing child welfare services is notified that the child entered the home or shelter.