BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
12 (Beall)
Hearing Date: 08/09/2010 Amended: 08/02/2010
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: H. Svcs 3-0;
Judiciary 4-0
_________________________________________________________________
____
BILL SUMMARY: AB 12 would replace California's CalWORKs Kinship
Guardian Assistance Program (Kin-GAP) with a new, similar,
federal Kin-GAP (Fed-GAP) program, as specified. This bill would
also extend foster care, Fed-GAP, and the Adoptions Assistance
Program (AAP) to age 21 for youth who meet specified criteria.
This bill makes changes to various statutes governing aspects of
foster care and related services, related to the implementation
of these changes.
_________________________________________________________________
____
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12
2012-13 Fund
Fed-GAP replaces Kin-GAP
<$30,000> General*
Foster care, Fed-GAP, AAP Unknown; likely millions. Low tens
of millions, General
extension to age 21 at full
implementation Federal
Local
Court proceedings Likely minor, ongoing
workload General**
*Assuming other funds could be used toward TANF maintenance of
effort.
**Trial Courts Trust Fund
_________________________________________________________________
____
STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
This bill seeks to enact provisions in state law of the federal
Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act
(Public Law 110-351) affecting two areas of foster care. This
bill would make changes to Kin-GAP that would create substantial
General Fund savings by drawing down federal funds, and would
expand foster care, AAP, and Fed-GAP to age 21 which would incur
substantial new General Fund costs.
SB 1901 (McPherson, Chapter 1055, Statutes of 1998) established
California's Kin-GAP program to provide financial assistance for
children who, after being adjudged dependent children of the
juvenile court, are placed in legal guardianship with a
relative. The program is intended to incentivize relative
caregivers to become permanent guardians by continuing a level
of state financial support that would have been received by the
caregiver through foster care, without the minor remaining in
dependency status. However, unlike foster care or AAP, there
historically have been no federal funds available for relative
guardianships and the program is fully state-funded.
In October, 2008, the federal government enacted the Fostering
Connections Act, which offers states the opportunity to opt-in
to new federal funding streams if they choose to provide various
new services to foster youth. There is specific federal funding
available
Page 2
AB 12 (Beall)
to states for providing benefits to relative guardians (as in
Kin-GAP) and federal funding for expanding foster care from age
18 to age 21.
This bill would re-create Kin-GAP as program eligible for the
first federal funding stream,
And help to alleviate the General Fund (GF) support of the
existing program. This bill would allow California to draw down
federal funds to offset half of the cost of the Kin-GAP program.
Kin-GAP is part of the CalWORKs program, and its state and
county expenditures count towards the maintenance of effort
(MOE) requirement imposed on the state as a condition of
receiving federal funds for its CalWORKs program. Each year
California receives $3.7 billion in federal TANF block grant
funds. In addition to the federal funding, California is
required to spend $2.9 billion in state GF to meet the MOE
requirement. The majority of these funds are used for the
CalWORKs program, including Kin-GAP. However, federal law
permits the expenditure of TANF funds on a variety of programs
and activities.
Implementing Fed-GAP will draw down 50% federal funds for the
program, based on the caseload. This bill would convert existing
Kin-GAP cases to the new Fed-GAP program over a 12 month period,
and new qualifying cases would be enrolled directly into
Fed-GAP. Staggering caseload conversion would stagger the GF
savings, as well as the administrative costs of converting
cases. At full implementation of the existing caseload (and
additional cases during the transition period), savings would
likely be nearly $30,000,000 GF.
This bill would also authorize foster care, AAP, and Fed-GAP
extensions for certain youth, who would be considered "nonminor
dependents". This bill defines a nonminor dependent as a current
or former dependent child or ward of the juvenile court who
satisfies all of the following criteria: 1) is between the ages
of 18-21; 2) is in foster care; and 3) is participating in a
transitional independent living case plan pursuant to federal
law. Nonminor dependents would be eligible to remain in foster
care by choice, and receive services until age 21 if they meet
one of the five federally-created criteria. The nonminor
dependent is: 1) completing secondary education or a program
leading to an equivalent credential; 2) enrolled in an
institution which provides postsecondary or vocational
education; 3) participating in a program or activity designed to
promote, or remove barriers to employment; 4) is employed for at
least 80 hours per month; or 5) is incapable of the
above-described activities due to a medical condition.
The costs of extending foster care services and grant payments
to nonminor dependents, as specified, will be driven by the
caseload. These provisions create a new entitlement program; by
creating a new class of individuals eligible for services, there
is a cost for every individual who chooses to participate in the
program.
Approximately 5,000 dependents and wards of the juvenile court
age out of dependency each year. The number of minors in foster
care is declining, and the number aging out is declining as
well. By age and placement, these 18-year-olds would be eligible
for extended foster care, if they met additional requirements.
The number of 18 to 21-year old foster (or former foster) youth
who would meet one of the five school and work-
Page 3
AB 12 (Beall)
related eligibility criteria is unclear; though, it is likely
that more of them will if it is a condition for extended foster
care.
The number of foster youth who would participate is further
reduced by individual choice; the youth must choose to remain a
nonminor dependent. There are several reasons why a foster youth
might not choose to extend dependency, including: a desire to be
independent from the foster care system, participation in
CalWORKs because the youth is also a parent, choosing to pursue
SSI benefits (if eligible), joining the military, etc. It is
likely that a substantial portion of youth will choose not to
participate, at least initially. (This bill would allow youth to
change their minds and re-enter at a later point). The single
largest cost variable is likely to be the actual caseload
served. It is likely that as the program becomes more
established, outreach efforts will be made and more foster youth
will choose to extend dependency.
Costs will also be determined by the nonminor dependent's living
placement while receiving extended care. A Foster Family Home
placement typically receives a monthly grant of $754, as would
Supervised Independent Living. Other placements are more
expensive, such as Transitional Housing Placement Plus ($2,400).
A Group Home placement would be the most expensive option - new
group home rates can be over $7,000 a month - but will probably
be the least common placement because it is one of the most
restrictive, and most 18 to 21-year-olds are unlikely to opt in
to such a living situation. Foster care grants are typically
funded by a mix of GF, federal funds, and county funds. To the
extent that participation in this program decreases dependency
on other state aid (as well as incarceration), there will be
some amount offsetting savings.
In addition to grant funding, there will be state costs to
implement these provisions, including additional Department of
Social Services oversight. Counties will incur additional costs
for case administration (of which state and federal funds pay a
large portion). If half of the population that ages out of
foster care in a given year participates in this extension
(about 2,500 youth), and based on a social worker caseload of 30
foster youth, 83 new social workers would be required.
The savings in Kin-GAP that would be achieved by this bill, are
not dependent on extending foster care services. In the absence
of the extension, those funds could revert to the General Fund
if other funds were found for meeting TANF MOE, or could be used
for other CalWORKs-related programming.