BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2495
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 26, 2006

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                   Judy Chu, Chair

                    AB 2495 (Bass) - As Amended:  April 18, 2006 

          Policy Committee:                              Human  
          ServicesVote:6 - 1

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              Yes

           SUMMARY  

          This bill would provide benefits to children and families in the  
          Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program (KinGAP) that are  
          currently only available for foster children and children in the  
          Adoptions Assistance Program (AAP).

          Specifically, this bill: 

          1)Increases benefits to include:

             a)   The specialized care increment the child would be  
               entitled to under the foster care program or in the AAP  
               program.

             b)   A $100 a year supplemental clothing allowance to which  
               the child would be entitled to under foster care.

          2)Requires county welfare departments to provide each child in  
            KinGAP and his or her guardian with information regarding the  
            availability of independent living services when the child is  
            approaching his or her 16th birthday.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          The net savings from this bill will total approximately $2.5  
          million ($1.55 million federal, $250,000 GF, $700,000 county).  
          Specifically, this bill could:

          1)Increase grant costs for the existing KinGAP caseload by up to  
            $15 million ($7.5 million GF, $7.5 million county).









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          2)Increase KinGAP costs by approximately $1.5 million ($500,000  
            federal, $1 million GF) by providing a clothing allowance to  
            current KinGAP children.

          3)Remove children from the child welfare services program saving  
            approximately $19 million ($9 million federal, $7 million GF,  
            $3 million county).

          Assuming that about 15 percent of the foster children living  
          with relatives move to permanency through KinGAP, approximately  
          $28 million in annual grant expenditures would shift from the  
          foster care program to the KinGAP program. The funding for  
          KinGAP is different from the funding for foster care. Therefore,  
          this shift would have the following impact on the funding  
          sources:

          1)The state General Fund share of KinGAP is less than the foster  
            care share. Therefore, it would save $1.5 million in GF for  
            grants for these children.

          2)The county share for KinGAP is significantly less than the  
            foster care share, thus saving the counties $5.5 million for  
            these grants.

          3)The federal funding source for KinGAP is the state's Temporary  
            Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, as opposed  
            to the federal funding for foster care, which is open-ended  
            Title IV-E entitlement funding.  Shifting these children would  
            save the federal government $9 million in Title IV-E funding  
            and cost the state $16 million in TANF block grant funding.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Background.   Currently, children that find a permanent home  
            with a relative through the KinGAP program are not allowed to  
            receive the annual supplemental clothing allowance they would  
            receive in the foster care program. In addition, children in  
            foster care who are eligible for specialized care increases to  
            their foster care grants due to special needs are not eligible  
            for permanency through the KinGAP program unless a social  
            worker determines that the services provided through the grant  
            increase are no longer necessary.  

             This is in contrast to children that find permanency through  
            adoption. Those children and their adoptive parents continue  








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            to receive a grant equal to the foster family home grant with  
            the specialized care increment that the children would have  
            received in foster care.  This increased grant is provided as  
            a way to promote permanency for children that are considered  
            "hard to place" in the foster care system. In theory,  
            providing a larger monthly grant allows parents to adopt  
            children that might otherwise languish in the foster care  
            system until they age-out.

            This bill seeks to allow the same incentives to relatives that  
            are willing to provide permanent homes to foster children  
            through legal guardianship. 

           2)Specialized Care Increment  .  Children in foster care  
            placements are potentially eligible for a specialized care  
            increment (SCI) to meet the additional daily care needs of a  
            foster care child who has a health and/or behavior problem.   
            This added payment is in addition to the basic foster care  
            rate, which ranges from $425 to $597 in foster family homes.   
            The SCI is paid with federal Title IV-E, state and county  
            funding, and varies by county.  Currently, 55 counties have  
            specialized care systems.  Some pay a flat rate, others pay a  
            rate based on local plans.  According to the County Welfare  
            Directors Association (CWDA), the average rate is $300-$400,  
            and can be as little as $140 or as much as $695.   
            Approximately 10-15% of relatives receiving a foster care  
            grant also receive an SCI payment.

           3)Clothing Allowance  .  Since 2000-01, foster care providers have  
            been entitled to a supplemental clothing allowance of $100 per  
            year, subject to the availability of funds, to help offset the  
            cost of foster children's clothing.  Counties do not pay a  
            share of this payment.  Annual costs for 2006-07 as proposed  
            in the Governor's budget are $6.2 million, $2.4 million in  
            federal funds and $3.8 million in state costs.  

           4)Federal TANF Block Grant.   Each year California receives $3.7  
            billion in federal TANF block grant funds. The majority of  
            these funds are used for the California Work Opportunity and  
            Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program.  However, federal  
            law permits the expenditure of TANF funds on a variety of  
            programs and activities. 
                         
            TANF funds can be spent for any purpose permitted under the  
            old Aid to Families with Dependent Children program or a  








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            portion of the funds may be transferred to the Title XX Social  
            Services Block Grant and then expended in accordance with the  
            federal rules pertaining to Title XX. 

            This flexibility has allowed the Legislature to attempt to  
            strike a balance between using the funds to support families  
            in the CalWORKs program and using them to offset the state GF  
            in other programs, in order to partially address the state's  
            budget deficit.

            Unexpended TANF funds can be carried over indefinitely into  
            future years. Traditionally, California has been able to carry  
            forward several hundred million dollars in TANF funding, which  
            is used to fund the CalWORKs program or to offset General Fund  
            in other parts of the state budget.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081