Legislative Updates

This legislative year, Seneca is supporting: 

AB 1955 (Ward), a bill that prohibits schools from implementing any forced outing policies and requires the California Department of Education to develop resources for parents and caregivers of LGBTQ+ students.

• Signed into law

AB 2173 (Addis), Some current state and federal regulations use the term “emotional disturbance.” This bill allows the use of the term “emotional disability” in place of “emotional disturbance.”

• Signed into law

AB 2224 (Santiago), a bill that expedites the process for youth seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, an immigration classification that allows some youth who have experienced abuse and/or neglect to apply for lawful permanent resident status.

• Signed into law

AB 2508 (McCarty), a bill that allows youth who enter foster care in grades 1-12 to receive a $500 deposit in their Cal KIDS saving account.

• Signed into law

AB 2711 (Ramos), a bill that prohibits students from being suspended or expelled if they disclose their substance use when seeking supports.

• Signed into law

AB 2802 (Maienschein), a bill that allows for gender flexibility in Transitional Housing Programs.

• Signed into law

AB 1470 (Quirk-Silva), a bill that would have standardized Medi-Cal documentation across all counties.

• Vetoed

AB 2544 (Low), a bill that would have addressed current workforce shortages by allowing Short Term Residential Therapeutic Programs (STRTPs) to hire individuals who came from out of state prior to their out-of-state background check being cleared so long as they are not left alone with youth.

• Did not reach the Governor’s desk

AB 2752 (Calderon), a bill that would have enabled more youth in the child welfare system to have unsupervised visits with family members by increasing the requirements for ordering supervised visits.

• Did not reach the Governor’s desk

Senate Bill (294) (Weiner), a bill that would have established an automatic grievance process and automatic Independent Medical Review process when an insurer modifies, delays, or denies authorization for mental health or substance use treatment for an enrollee 26 years old or younger.

• Did not reach the Governor’s desk

Seneca centers our legislative engagement in our Policy Priorities and staff voice. If you have any questions about our policy work or legislative efforts, please reach out to our Policy Advocate, Esperanza, at [email protected]

Seneca & Current LGBTQ+ Policies

Seneca is continuing to monitor current legislative efforts that seek to impact the LGBTQ+ community negatively.

In recent months, several California school districts have adopted Parental Notification policies that will require staff to notify parents and caregivers when their student is exploring their gender identity, ask to use a name or pronoun different than what was assigned at birth, and/or engage in activities or use spaces designed for the opposite sex.

While some school districts have made their Parental Notification policy explicitly about gender and gender identity, other school districts have made Parental Notification about mental health along with the argument that Gender Dysphoria is a diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5^th edition and therefore a student’s gender identity and exploration can be disclosed under Parental Notification policies centered on mental health.

As a result, Seneca has ramped up their local advocacy efforts and is advocating for Parental Notification policies to contain explicit protections for LGBTQ+ students.

Check out our advocacy tool kit to learn more about how you can get involved in this issue.

Legislative Resources

To learn more about California’s legislative and budget cycle, check out the California Budget and Policy Center. You can also look up your California State representatives here. In Washington, you can submit a comment of support for or opposition to a bill by searching the bill number on the Washington State Legislature site; you can also find your state representative there.