republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20232024/sb-578.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Juvenile court: dependents: removal."
description: "Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge children to be dependents of the court under certain circumstances, including when the child suffered or there is a substantial risk that the child will suffer serious physical harm, or a parent fails to provide the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment. Existing law establishes the grounds for removal of a dependent child from the custody of the child's parents or guardian. Existing law requires the court, at the initial petition hearing, to examine the child's parents, guardians, Indian custodian, or other persons having relevant knowledge and hear the relevant evidence, and order the release of the child from custody unless a prima facie showing has been made that the child comes within the court's jurisdiction, the court finds that continuance in the parent's or guardian's home is contrary to the child's welfare, and any of a number of circumstances exist. Existing law requires the social worker to report to the court on the reasons why the child has been removed from the parent's, guardian's, or Indian custodian's physical custody, the need, if any, for continued detention, and the available services and the referral methods to those services that could facilitate the return of the child to the custody of the child's parents, among other things."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20232024"
identifier: "SB 578"
citation: "California SB 578 (20232024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Juvenile court", "dependents", "removal"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ashby"]
version_count: 9
action_count: 33
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2023-02-15"
last_action: "2023-10-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/01ea5986-1dec-45dd-a601-86825799c074"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB578"
source_hash: "798ad76db4774b18aaf30061e3ead9620fa96ca0d04aaededcfc6d297dc7a4fa"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California SB 578 (20232024) — Juvenile court: dependents: removal.

Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge children to be dependents of the court under certain circumstances, including when the child suffered or there is a substantial risk that the child will suffer serious physical harm, or a parent fails to provide the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment. Existing law establishes the grounds for removal of a dependent child from the custody of the child's parents or guardian. Existing law requires the court, at the initial petition hearing, to examine the child's parents, guardians, Indian custodian, or other persons having relevant knowledge and hear the relevant evidence, and order the release of the child from custody unless a prima facie showing has been made that the child comes within the court's jurisdiction, the court finds that continuance in the parent's or guardian's home is contrary to the child's welfare, and any of a number of circumstances exist. Existing law requires the social worker to report to the court on the reasons why the child has been removed from the parent's, guardian's, or Indian custodian's physical custody, the need, if any, for continued detention, and the available services and the referral methods to those services that could facilitate the return of the child to the custody of the child's parents, among other things.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/15/23 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB578&version=20230SB57899INT)
2. **03/29/23 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB578&version=20230SB57898AMD)
3. **04/13/23 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB578&version=20230SB57897AMD)
4. **07/13/23 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB578&version=20230SB57896AMD)
5. **09/01/23 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB578&version=20230SB57895AMD)
6. **09/07/23 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB578&version=20230SB57894AMD)
7. **10/08/23 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB578&version=20230SB57892CHP)
8. **SB578** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB578)
9. **09/19/23 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB578&version=20230SB57893ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Human Services] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended. — **15–0** (pass) · lower
- Unfinished Business SB578 Ashby et al. Concurrence — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Human Services] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **10–0** (pass) · upper
- Special Consent SB578 Ashby et al. — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 578 Ashby Senate Third Reading By Reyes — **77–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Ashby — primary (person)
- Cortese — principal coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-02-15** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2023-02-16** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 18.
- **2023-02-22** Referred to Coms. on JUD. and HUMAN S. `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-29** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-30** Set for hearing April 11.
- **2023-04-12** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on HUMAN S. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 10. Noes 0. Page 687.) (April 11). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-04-13** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on HUMAN S. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-04-20** Set for hearing April 24.
- **2023-04-25** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 5. Noes 0. Page 877.) (April 24). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2023-05-01** Set for hearing May 8.
- **2023-05-08** May 8 hearing: Placed on APPR suspense file.
- **2023-05-12** Set for hearing May 18.
- **2023-05-18** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 1175.) (May 18). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-18** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-05-23** Ordered to special consent calendar.
- **2023-05-25** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 1302.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-05-25** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2023-06-08** Referred to Coms. on JUD. and HUM. S. `referral-committee`
- **2023-06-20** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on HUM. S. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (June 20). Re-referred to Com. on HUM. S. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2023-07-12** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (July 11). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-07-13** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-08-23** August 23 set for first hearing. Placed on suspense file.
- **2023-09-01** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (September 1). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-09-01** Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-09-05** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-09-07** Read third time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-09-07** Ordered to third reading.
- **2023-09-13** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 3461.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-09-13** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2023-09-14** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 2846.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-09-21** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2023-10-08** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2023-10-08** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 618, Statutes of 2023. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/01ea5986-1dec-45dd-a601-86825799c074`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).