SB 873 Summary

• Superior courts (including juvenile, probate, and family court divisions) are authorized to make judicial findings necessary for children to petition for special immigrant juvenile status under federal law, with confidentiality protections and record-sealing procedures.

• Interpreters in civil court proceedings are authorized for children whose parents request special immigrant juvenile status findings, and civil court interpreters may be provided at no cost to litigants in these proceedings.

• State Department of Social Services must contract with qualified nonprofit legal services organizations to provide legal representation to unaccompanied undocumented minors in federal immigration proceedings and related state court actions.

• Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Option Program is expanded to equalize payments to relative caregivers for children ineligible for AFDC-FC, with $30 million annual General Fund appropriation; care and placement responsibility assigned to county welfare or probation departments.

• Temporary managers and receivers for community care and residential care facilities for the elderly can now obtain monetary judgments in civil court for unpaid costs, with judgment creditor priority liens on licensee assets, replacing prior automatic lien procedures.