BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
295 (Ammiano)
Hearing Date: 08/17/2009 Amended: 06/01/2009
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Human
Services 4-1
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 295 extends the availability of funds for a
specified pre-adoption and post-adoption services project until
June 30, 2010, and changes the date to May 31, 2011 that
information on the results of the project must be provided to
the Legislature by the Department of Social Services (DSS).
This bill also amends 18250 of the Welfare and Institutions code
to remove all references to "pilot project" status of
county-authorized wrap-around services, striking "pilot
projects" and replacing the phrase with the designation of
"wrap-around services program."
This bill makes changes in the evaluation required of each
county's wrap-around services program. It replaces "academic
performance" with "stability in the least restrictive school
placement," and includes applicable indicators from the state's
child and family service review system, such as safety,
permanency, and child well-being in the evaluation.
This bill provides that a child who is categorically eligible
for Medi-Cal benefits with no share of cost based on the receipt
of Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC)
or adoption assistance benefits remains eligible for Medi-Cal
for the time specified in the child's individualized services
plan even if the child has been returned to the parental home.
This bill makes a child who reaches 16 years of age while
receiving wrap-around services eligible to receive Independent
Living Program (ILP) services.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
Extends expenditure deadline $1,300 $0
$0 General *
Code clean-up $0
$0 $0 General
Expands ILP eligibility $14
$27 $27 General **
Expands Medi-Cal eligibility Unknown, likely minor
costs General
Federal
*If the deadline is not extended, $1.3 million will revert back
to the General Fund.
** Cost pressure.
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Page 2
AB 295 (Ammiano)
As of December 31, 2009, there was approximately $1.3 million of
unencumbered and unspent pilot project money allocated to the
specified pre-adoption and post-adoption services project. This
bill extends the deadline to expend those funds. Without
additional authority granted by the legislature, $1.3 million
(or whatever sum is remaining) will revert back to the General
Fund.
This bill also renames a different program, the wrap-around
services pilot project, the "Wrap-Around Services Program." This
cost-neutral program is authorized in counties, and 39 counties
participate in it. It was originally a pilot project, but has
since become an ongoing program. This change conforms statute to
current practice.
This bill increases ILP eligibility. ILP is a
county-administered resource for youth in foster care, intended
to give them skills for living independently upon aging out of
the foster care system. While services vary by county, ILP
programs typically teach youth skills ranging from writing
checks to applying for jobs and college. They also provide youth
with information about education, training, housing, and other
services that are available in their community. Eligibility is
extended to youth who were or are in foster care at any time
from their 16th to their 19th birthday, or youth who were or are
between the ages of 16 and 18 years of age and participating in
the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program (Kin-GAP).
Youth are eligible for ILP services up to the day before their
21st birthday. This bill expands eligibility to include any
youth who reahed his/her 16th birthday while receiving
wrap-around services. This includes youths who are living with
their parents, relatives, other guardians, or were adopted.
Because the ILP's funding is grant-based, rather than per-child
based, it is a relatively stable amount (about $35 million for
2008-09 in state and federal funds) that will not increase
because of increased eligibility for services. The likely result
is diminished service for all eligible youth. The number of
newly eligible youth provided in this bill is likely very small,
(the calculation on page assumes only 1% of the youth in this
program will be both uniquely eligible because of the program
and will actually take advantage of services) but increasing
eligibility creates an additional cost pressure on ILP services.
The approximate cost of ILP services is $900 per recipient,
annually.
This bill expands Medi-Cal eligibility in statute by continuing
automatic eligibility of children receiving Wrap-Around
Services, even those who are returned to their family home and
whose family income might otherwise make them ineligible for
Medi-Cal. In practice, the increase of eligibility would likely
be minor because the vast majority of youth receiving
Wrap-Around Services are eligible for Medi-Cal because of their
out-of-home placements and/or family income.