(a) (1) Every child adjudged a dependent child of the juvenile court shall be entitled to participate in age-appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, and social activities, including, but not limited to, access to computer technology and the Internet. A state or local regulation or policy shall not prevent, or create barriers to, participation in those activities. Each state and local entity shall ensure that private agencies that provide foster care services to dependent children have policies consistent with this section and that those agencies promote and protect the ability of dependent children to participate in age-appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, and social activities, including, but not limited to, access to computer technology and the Internet. A short-term residential therapeutic program or a group home administrator, a facility manager, or his or her responsible designee, and a caregiver, as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 362.04, shall use a reasonable and prudent parent standard in determining whether to give permission for a child residing in foster care to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, and social activities, including, but not limited to, access to computer technology and the Internet. A short-term residential therapeutic program or a group home administrator, a facility manager, or his or her responsible designee, and a caregiver shall take reasonable steps to determine the appropriateness of the activity in consideration of the child’s age, maturity, and developmental level.

(2) Training for caregivers shall include knowledge and skills relating to the reasonable and prudent parent standard for the participation of the child in age or developmentally appropriate activities, consistent with this section and Section 671(a)(24) of Title 42 of the United States Code.

(b) A short-term residential therapeutic program or a group home administrator, a facility manager, or his or her responsible designee, is encouraged to consult with social work or treatment staff members who are most familiar with the child at the group home in applying and using the reasonable and prudent parent standard.

(c) (1) “Reasonable and prudent parent” or “reasonable and prudent parent standard” means the standard characterized by careful and sensible parental decisions that maintain the health, safety, and best interests of a child while at the same time encouraging the emotional and developmental growth of the child, that a caregiver shall use when determining whether to allow a child in foster care under the responsibility of the state to participate in age or developmentally appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and social activities.

(2) The term “age or developmentally appropriate” means both of the following:

(A) Activities or items that are generally accepted as suitable for children of the same chronological age or level of maturity or that are determined to be developmentally appropriate for a child, based on the development of cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral capacities that are typical for an age or age group.

(B) In the case of a specific child, activities or items that are suitable for the child based on the developmental stages attained by the child with respect to the cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral capacities of the child.

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 997, Sec. 1. (AB 2448) Effective January 1, 2019.)