16527. (Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 716, Sec. 1.)

(a) The department shall establish a statewide hotline as the primary entry point for the Family Urgent Response System, which shall be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to respond to calls from a caregiver or current or former foster child or youth during moments of instability. Both of the following shall be available through this hotline:

(1) Hotline workers who are trained in techniques for deescalation and conflict resolution telephone response specifically for children or youth impacted by trauma.

(2) Referrals to a county-based mobile response system, established pursuant to Section 16529, for further support and in-person response. Referrals shall occur as follows:

(A) A warm handoff whereby the hotline worker establishes direct and live connection through a three-way call that includes the caregiver, child or youth, and county contact. The caregiver, child, or youth may decline the three-way contact with the county contact if they feel their situation has been resolved at the time of the call.

(B) If a direct communication cannot be established pursuant to subparagraph (A), a referral directly to the community- or county-based service and a followup call to ensure that a connection to the caregiver, child, or youth occurs.

(C) The hotline worker shall contact the caregiver and the child or youth within 24 hours after the initial call required under subparagraph (A) or (B) to offer additional support, if needed.

(b) The statewide hotline shall maintain contact information for all county-based mobile response systems, based on information provided by counties, for referrals to local services, including, but not limited to, county-based mobile response and stabilization teams.

(c) The department shall ensure that deidentified, aggregated data are collected regarding individuals served through the statewide hotline and county-based mobile response systems and shall publish a report on the department’s internet website by January 1, 2022, and annually by January 1 thereafter, in consultation with stakeholders, including, but not limited to, the County Welfare Directors Association of California, the Chief Probation Officers of California, and the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California. The data shall be collected using automated procedures or other matching methods mutually agreed upon by the state and county agencies, including, but not limited to, the statewide child welfare automation management system, and shall include all of the following information:

(1) The number of caregivers served through the hotline, separated by placement type and status as a current or former foster caregiver.

(2) The number of current and former foster children or youth served through the hotline, separated by county agency type, current or former foster care status, age, gender, race, and whether the call was made by the caregiver or the child or youth.

(3) The disposition of each call, including, but not limited to, whether mobile response and stabilization services were provided or a referral was made to other services.

(4) County-based outcome data, including, but not limited to, placement stability, return into foster care, movement from child welfare to juvenile justice, and timeliness to permanency.

(5) The number of calls received by a county-based mobile response system, including calls received through the statewide hotline and portal.

(d) The department may meet the requirements of this section through contract with an entity with demonstrated experience in working with populations of children or youth who have suffered trauma and with capacity to provide a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week response that includes mediation, relationship preservation for the caregiver and the child or youth, and a family-centered and developmentally appropriate approach with the caregiver and the child or youth.

(e) The department, in consultation with stakeholders, including current and former foster youth and caregivers, shall do all of the following:

(1) Develop methods and materials for informing all caregivers and current or former foster children or youth about the statewide hotline, including a dissemination plan for those materials, which shall include, at a minimum, making those materials publicly available through the department’s internet website.

(2) Establish protocols for triage and response.

(3) Establish minimum education and training requirements for hotline workers.

(4) Consider expanding the statewide hotline to include communication through electronic means, including, but not limited to, text messaging or email.

(f) (1) The statewide hotline shall be operational no sooner than January 1, 2021, and on the same date as the county mobile response system created pursuant to this chapter.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the statewide hotline may operate sooner than January 1, 2021, or prior to the date that each county has created a county mobile response system, upon notification from each county to the department that the county satisfies one of the following requirements:

(A) Has established a county mobile response system created pursuant to this chapter.

(B) Has an alternative method to accept and respond to referrals from the statewide hotline pending the establishment of the county mobile response system.