Section 1562.

(a) The director shall ensure that operators and staffs of community care facilities have appropriate training to provide the care and services for which a license or certificate is issued. The section shall not apply to a facility licensed as an Adult Residential Facility for Persons with Special Health Care Needs pursuant to Article 9 (commencing with Section 1567.50).

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that children in foster care reside in the least restrictive, family-based settings that can meet their needs, and that group homes will be used only for short-term, specialized, and intensive treatment purposes that are consistent with a case plan that is determined by a child's best interests. Accordingly, the Legislature encourages the department to adopt policies, practices, and guidance that ensure that the education, qualification, and training requirements for child care staff in group homes are consistent with the intended role of group homes to provide short-term, specialized, and intensive treatment, with a particular focus on crisis intervention, behavioral stabilization, and other treatment-related goals, as well as the connections between those efforts and work toward permanency for children.

(Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 21, Sec. 5. Effective June 27, 2013.)