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.