California Code, Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC § 16001

(a) The State Department of Social Services shall provide technical assistance to encourage and facilitate the county placement agency's evaluation of placement needs and the development of needed placement resources and programs. County placement agencies shall, on a regular basis, conduct an evaluation of the county's placement resources and programs in relation to the needs of children and nonminor dependents placed in out-of-home care. County placement agencies shall examine the adequacy of existing placement resources and programs and identify the type of additional placement resources and programs needed. The county placement agency shall specifically examine both of the following:

(b) The department shall also support the development and operation of a consortia of county placement agencies on a regional basis for the purpose of developing specialized programs serving a multicounty area.

(c) The reason for each out-of-county and out-of-state placement shall be included in the statewide child welfare information system, and the State Department of Social Services shall utilize that data to evaluate out-of-county and out-of-state placements and to assist in the identification of resource and placement needs.

(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that the State Department of Social Services review the out-of-state placement of children to determine the reason for out-of-state placement. The department shall make the information available to the Legislature upon request.