(a) The department, in consultation with pediatricians, other health care experts, including public health nurses, and experts in and recipients of child welfare services, including parents, shall develop a plan for the ongoing oversight and coordination of health care services for a child in a foster care placement. The plan shall ensure a coordinated strategy to identify and respond to the health care needs of foster children, including mental health and dental needs, consistent with Section 205 of the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-351).

(b) (1) The right of minors and nonminors in foster care to health care and mental health care described in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 16001.9 includes covered gender affirming health care and gender affirming mental health care. This right is subject to existing laws governing consent to health care for minors and nonminors and does not limit, add, or otherwise affect applicable laws governing consent to health care.

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(2) The department shall, in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services and other stakeholders, develop guidance and describe best practices to identify, coordinate, and support foster youth seeking access to gender affirming health care and gender affirming mental health care and shall incorporate current guidance on ensuring access to Medi-Cal services for transgender beneficiaries. This consultation may be incorporated into existing departmental workgroups focused on foster youth rights or on foster youth sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. The department shall issue written guidance by January 1, 2020.

(3) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(A) “Gender affirming health care” means medically necessary health care that respects the gender identity of the patient, as experienced and defined by the patient, and may include, but is not limited to, the following:

(i) Interventions to suppress the development of endogenous secondary sex characteristics.

(ii) Interventions to align the patient’s appearance or physical body with the patient’s gender identity.

(iii) Interventions to alleviate symptoms of clinically significant distress resulting from gender dysphoria, as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition.

(B) “Gender affirming mental health care” means mental health care or behavioral health care that respects the gender identity of the patient, as experienced and defined by the patient, and may include, but is not limited to, developmentally appropriate exploration and integration of identity, reduction of distress, adaptive coping, and strategies to increase family acceptance.

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 385, Sec. 3. (AB 2119) Effective January 1, 2019.)