BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 295| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 295 Author: Ammiano (D) Amended: 9/4/09 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/23/09 AYES: Liu, Maldonado, Alquist, Yee NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 12-0, 8/27/09 AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, Denham, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza, Price, Runner, Walters, Wolk, Yee NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 6/2/09 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Children: wrap-around and adoption services SOURCE : City and County of San Francisco County Welfare Directors Association DIGEST : This bill extends the availability of funds appropriated for a pilot program that focuses on pre-adoption and post-adoption activities to June 30, 2010, and extends the date for the Department of Social Services to provide the related information on the pilot program to the Legislature to May 31, 2011. Senate Floor Amendments of 9/4/09 (1) revert to current law language relating to the "pilot project" status of CONTINUED AB 295 Page 2 wrap-around services, and also revert related provisions on evaluation of wrap-around services to current law, (2) strike provisions that allow 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 to remain 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, and (3) strike provisions that allow a child who reaches 16 years of age while receiving wrap-around services eligible to receive Independent Living Program services. ANALYSIS : Existing Law 1.Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to establish a three-year pilot project in four counties, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, and one state district office, to provide 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. 2.Defines preadoption and postadoption services to include recruitment efforts, behavioral health services, peer support groups, training, mediation and other services, including any services or supports necessary to resolve a barrier to adoption. 3.Makes the funds for this pilot project available for three years. 4.Requires a report to the Legislature by November 30, 2010, on the results of this adoption-services pilot program. 5.Establishes the intent of the Legislature that all counties be authorized to provide children with alternatives to group home through development of family-based services programs, including "wrap-around" services. CONTINUED AB 295 Page 3 6.Defines children eligible for wrap-around services to include dependents, wards or children voluntarily placed into foster or out-of-home care who are or would be placed in a group home at a rate classification level of 10 or higher. 7.Establishes reimbursement rates for wrap-around services. 8.Requires each county providing wrap-around services to evaluate its pilot project and prepare interim and final evaluations to share with the Legislature and DSS. 9.Specifies the amount or proportion of funding to be provided to each participating entity and that those funds shall be available for expenditure for three years. This bill: 1.Allows the expenditure of preadoption and postadoption pilot program funds until June 30, 2010. 2.Extends until May 31, 2011, the due date for a report to the Legislature on the results of the preadoption and postadoption pilot program. Comments The three-year pilot was created by AB 1808 (Assembly Budget Committee), Chapter 75, Statutes of 2006, a budget trailer bill related to human services. The focus of the pilot is support for adoptions of foster children ages nine years age and older who have been in foster care at least 18 months and who live in group homes or with foster families who are not related to them. The participating counties are San Francisco, Los Angeles, Alameda, and Kern, along with the department's adoptions district office in Sacramento. According to the author's office, extending the expenditure date reflects the delay in the initial implementation of the pilot projects. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No CONTINUED AB 295 Page 4 Fiscal Impact (in thousands) Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund Extends expenditure $1,300 $0 $0 General* deadline Code clean-up $0 $0 $0 General Expands Independent $14 $27 $27 General** Living Program eligibility Expands Medi-Cal Unknown, likely minor costs General/ eligibility Federal *If the deadline is not extended, $1.3 million will revert back to the General Fund. **Cost pressure. SUPPORT : (Verified 8/28/09) City and County of San Francisco (co-source) County Welfare Directors Association (co-source) Alameda County Board of Supervisors American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO Aspiranet California Alliance of Child and Family Services California Communities United Institute California Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Directors California Mental Health Directors Association California Society of Clinical Social Work California State Association of Counties Family Builders Family Law Section, State Bar of California Juvenile Court Judges of California National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter CONTINUED AB 295 Page 5 State Public Affairs Committee of the Junior Leagues of California OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/28/09) Department of Finance ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, "AB 295 reaffirms California's commitment to fostering permanency and maintaining lifelong connections for at-risk and troubled youth. Legislation is needed to clean-up existing codes, to extend the deadline by which already appropriated Older Foster Youth Adoption (OYA) funds must be spent, and when reports to the Legislature must be submitted on the effectiveness of the OYA program." ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance opposes this bill because (1) it creates a potentially significant General Fund cost by expanding eligibility for the Independent Living Program and potential for Medi-Cal beneficiaries; (2) it could increase administrative requirements on local entities in an effort to promote the provision of wrap-around services; and (3) certain provisions relating to lifting the pilot status of wrap-around services appear premature given that the program evaluation requirements have yet to be completed. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass NO VOTE RECORDED: Bill Berryhill, Block CONTINUED AB 295 Page 6 CTW/JJA:cm 9/10/09 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED