BILL NUMBER: AB 295	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 4, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 1, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 9, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ammiano

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2009

    An act to amend Sections 16124, 18250, 18251, 18253,
18253.5, 18254, 18255, 18256, and 18256.5 of, and to amend the
heading of Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 18250) of Part 6 of
Division 9 of, and to add Section 18258 to, the Welfare and
Institutions Code,   An act to amend Section 16124 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code,  relating to public social
services.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 295, as amended, Ammiano. Children:  wrap-around and
 adoption services. 
   (1) Existing 
    Existing  law requires, upon appropriation by the
Legislature of funds for this purpose, that the State Department of
Social Services establish a 3-year project in 4 counties, including
San Francisco and Los Angeles Counties, and one state district
office, and further requires that funding to those counties from
appropriations in the annual Budget Act be used to provide funding
for preadoption and postadoption services to ensure the successful
adoption of a targeted population of children who have been in foster
care 18 months or more. Existing law requires the department to work
with counties to develop requirements for the project, and to
provide information on the results of the project to the Legislature,
by November 30, 2010.
   This bill would extend the availability of funds appropriated for
the specified adoption activities to June 30, 2010, and would also
extend the date for the department to provide the related information
to the Legislature to May 31, 2011. 
   (2) Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services
administers a pilot project that authorizes a county to develop and
implement a plan for providing wrap-around services designed to
enable children who would otherwise be placed in a group home setting
to remain in the least restrictive, most family-like setting
possible. The pilot project imposes training requirements for staff
in participating counties. These provisions require each
participating county to conduct an evaluation to determine the
cost-effectiveness and treatment effectiveness of specified outcomes,
including academic performance, and to file periodic reports
containing prescribed information with the appropriate committees of
the Legislature and the department for the purpose of assessing the
effectiveness of the pilot program.  
   This bill would remove the designation of this program as a pilot
project and make conforming changes.  
   This bill would delete the requirement that the evaluation
conducted by a participating county consider the cost-effectiveness
and treatment effectiveness of the outcome of academic performance,
and would, instead, require it to consider the outcome of stability
in the least restrictive school placement.  
   This bill would require that the periodic reports filed by a
participating county also include consideration of the impact of
wrap-around services on improving performance in applicable
California Child and Family Service Review System outcome indicators,
such as safety, permanency, and child well-being.  

   (3) Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is
administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under
which health care services are provided to qualified low-income
persons.  
   Existing law creates the Aid to Families with Dependent
Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which a combination of
federal, state, and county funds are used to provide reimbursement to
families and facilities providing foster care to eligible children.
 
   Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to
administer the Adoption Assistance Program, under which aid is
provided to persons adopting children, based on the needs of those
children.  
   Existing federal law establishes the Independent Living Program
for foster youth to be administered by counties with federal and
state funds.  
   This bill would require that a child that is otherwise
categorically eligible for Medi-Cal benefits without a share of cost
due to being a recipient of benefits under the AFDC-FC program or the
Adoption Assistance Program shall remain eligible for Medi-Cal
benefits for the time specified in the child's individualized
services plan established pursuant to the Wrap-Around Services
Program, as prescribed.  
   This bill would also require that a child who reaches 16 years of
age while receiving wrap-around services be eligible to request and
receive independent living services pursuant to the Independent
Living Program. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 16124 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   16124.  (a) (1) Upon the appropriation of funds by the Legislature
for the purposes set forth in this section, the State Department of
Social Services shall establish a project in four counties and one
state district office of the department to provide preadoption and
postadoption services to ensure the successful adoption of children
and youth who have been in foster care 18 months or more, are at
least nine years of age, and are placed in an unrelated foster home
or in a group home.
   (2) The participating entities shall include the following:
   (A) City and County of San Francisco.
   (B) County of Los Angeles.
   (C) Two additional counties and one state district office, based
on criteria developed by the department in consultation with the
County Welfare Directors Association, which shall demonstrate
geographic diversity.
   (3) A county that elects to apply for funding pursuant to this
section shall submit an application to the department no later than a
date determined by the department to ensure timely allocation of
funds. The department shall review the applications received, and
select the eligible counties in accordance with this section.
   (b) Each entity identified pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) shall receive funding to provide preadoption and
postadoption services to the adoptive parents and the targeted
population identified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).
   (1) Preadoption and postadoption services for the child and each
family may include, but shall not be limited to, all of the
following:
   (A) Individualized or other recruitment efforts.
   (B) Postadoption services, including respite care.
   (C) Behavioral health services.
   (D) Peer support groups.
   (E) Information and referral services.
   (F) Other locally designed services, as appropriate.
   (G) Relative search efforts.
   (H) Training of adoptive parents, foster youth, or mentoring
families.
   (I) Mediation services.
   (J) Facilitation of siblings in the same placement.
   (K) Facilitation of postadoption contact.
   (L) Engaging youth in permanency decisionmaking.
   (M) Any service or support necessary to resolve any identified
barrier to adoption.
   (2) The services specified in paragraph (1) may be provided
directly by the county, contracted for by the county, or provided
through reimbursement to the family, as approved by the county.
   (c) The amount of funding provided in the appropriation of funds
provided by the annual Budget Act to each county participating in the
project shall be allocated as follows:
   (1) Seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) to the City
and County of San Francisco.
   (2) One million two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($1,250,000) to
the County of Los Angeles.
   (3) A total of two million dollars ($2,000,000), to be awarded to
the two additional counties and the district office selected pursuant
to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a), minus any
funds subtracted by the department for the purpose of administering
the project. The amount of funds provided to the department for
administration of the project, including the costs of collecting and
analyzing data pursuant to subdivision (h) and developing the
information pursuant to subdivision (i), shall not exceed three
hundred thousand dollars ($300,000).
   (4) If the appropriated amount in the annual Budget Act differs
from the total amount specified above, then the funds shall be
distributed in the same proportion as the amounts listed in
paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive.
   (d) Funds shall be allocated to the counties pursuant to
subdivision (c) no later than January 1 of each year, and shall
remain available for expenditure until June 30, 2010.
   (e) (1) The department shall seek approval for any federal
matching funds that may be available to supplement the project.
   (2) The implementation of the project shall not be dependent upon
the receipt of federal funding.
   (3) Project funds shall supplement, and not supplant, existing
federal, state, and local funds, and shall be used only in accordance
with the terms and conditions of the project.
   (4) No expenditure made for services specified in subdivision (b)
may be made to the extent that it renders the family ineligible for
federal adoption assistance.
   (f) The project shall be implemented only upon the adoption of a
resolution adopted by each county board of supervisors.
   (g) The department shall work with the counties to develop the
requirements for the project, including the number of families that
may participate in the project, given the available resources, and
guidelines for data collection, as required by subdivision (h).
   (h) (1) The department shall work with the participating county
and the state district office to analyze the effects of the project.
   (2) Measures assessed by the state and counties shall include, but
shall not be limited to, the following:
   (A) The extent to which the adoptions of the targeted population
identified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) increased as a result
of the project.
   (B) The number of families and children served by the project.
   (C) The type and amount of preadoption and postadoption services
that were provided to children and families under the project.
   (i) The department shall provide information to the Legislature on
the results of the project by May 31, 2011.
   (j) Adoption programs in the project counties shall be encouraged
to create public-private partnerships with private adoption agencies
to maximize their success in improving permanent outcomes for older
foster youth. All matter omitted in this version of the bill appears
in the bill as amended in Assembly, June 1, 2009 (JR11)