The U.S. Department of Education today (February 24) released a review of state laws governing the use of seclusion and restraint in schools. The report follows action by the House Education and Labor Committee on related legislation earlier this month.

A press release on today’s report from House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) can be found here. More coverage from an organization supportive of the House legislation can be found on the web site Disability Scoop.

Breaking news from our friends at the California Alliance of Child and Family Services (see below).  Yesterday’s ruling implements a federal 9th Circuit opinion issued in December.  For updates on this issue, check back on this blog or subscribe to our public policy email list (open to anyone who is interested).

February 24 Update: The San Francisco Chronicle has written a story about this.

Court Orders State to Pay Full Cost of Care of Youth Placed in Group Homes

A federal judge late Monday ordered the California Department of Social Services to increase rates paid for the care of foster children placed in group homes by 32 percent to comply with a ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that said the state must cover the full cost of care, not just part.

Judge Marilyn Hall Patel of the Northern District of California said the state must pay providers the new rate effective December 14, 2009, the date of the Appeals Court’s ruling, in order to meet the requirements of the federal Child Welfare Act.

Full funding of care is expected to cost an additional $242 million annually with responsibility shared by the state, counties and the federal government. The ruling applies to children who are federally eligible as well as those who are not.

Judge Patel said the court will retain jurisdiction over the current program until a new rate system is agreed upon, approved by the court and implemented.

“Judge Patel’s ruling means that kids who need the level of care provided by group homes will finally receive the funding for care they need and deserve,” said Carroll Schroeder, executive director of the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, the plaintiff in the case.

“Foster kids essentially have given the state a $1 billion gift since we first filed this case in 2006, and far more when you include the years of underfunding dating back to the start of the current rates system in 1991.”

The California Alliance is currently collaborating with the department and county child welfare agencies to test and implement a new system of residentially based services designed to return youth to their homes, schools and communities as quickly as possible.

“We’ve always believed that group home care should be reserved for those kids for whom family- or community-based care is not appropriate and should be designed and funded to get them back home as soon as possible,” Schroeder said.

Fully funding group home care will require $77 million in state general funds, $115 from counties and $50 million from the federal government.

California Alliance members have pioneered alternatives to group home care, such as wraparound and intensive treatment foster care, which are less expensive and can be effective for many youth. “We hope to see the use of those alternatives expand,” Schroeder said.

The Alliance has been represented pro bono by William Abrams of the Palo Alto office of the Bingham McCutcheon law firm.