Juveniles: incarcerated parent: visitation.

Assembly Member Quirk-Silva's legislation mandates regular in-person visitation between incarcerated parents and their children in foster care, establishing new requirements for county jails and child welfare agencies to facilitate these connections. The bill requires courts to include specific visitation provisions in foster care placement orders when a parent is held in county jail, ensuring that incarcerated parents can maintain contact with their dependent children unless such visits would be detrimental to the child's well-being.

Under the proposed changes, county jails must make incarcerated parents available for scheduled visits, while child welfare agencies must coordinate with jails to maintain consistent visitation schedules and remove logistical barriers. When in-person visits prove unfeasible due to safety or logistical concerns, the legislation requires jails to provide video conferencing or phone communication alternatives. Both agencies must document all scheduled visits, including explanations for any cancellations or delays, and submit this documentation at dependency hearings.

The bill creates additional obligations for child welfare agencies, including written notification to incarcerated parents about their visitation rights and instructions for participating in dependency proceedings. It also permits licensed community-based organizations to facilitate visits between incarcerated parents and their children. These new requirements constitute a state-mandated local program, with provisions for state reimbursement of associated costs as determined by the Commission on State Mandates.