BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
597 (Liu)
Hearing Date: 04/27/2009 Amended: 03/31/2009
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Human
Services 3-2
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 597 makes changes in state law relative to
child welfare services to conform to Public Law 110-3511, to
take advantage of potential additional federal funding available
through that law, and to clarify the application of federal law
in the state. This bill:
1) Expands the definition of "care and supervision," for use in
determining payments to foster care providers, to include
travel costs for educational purposes.
2) Requires DSS to develop a plan for the ongoing oversight and
coordination of health care services for a child in foster care,
and to do so in consultation with pediatricians, health care
experts, experts in and recipients of child welfare services,
and with the advice of the state's child welfare council.
3) Requires DSS and licensed adoptive agencies to provide
information regarding the federal adoption tax credit to any
individual adopting or considering adopting a child in
foster care.
4) Requires DSS to apply for a federal matching grant, called a
family connection grant, for the purpose of helping children who
are in foster care or at risk of entering foster care to
reconnect with family members.
5) Requires, to the extent supported by federal grant funds,
that training programs include Kin-GAP caregiver and child
welfare agencies.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
Provision 1 unknown, potentially substantial costs
Provision 4 $125
$125* $250* General
*If the grants, which require a state match, continue for more
than one year.
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
This broad foster care bill, leaves much of the implementation
of its provisions up to the interpretation of DSS, and possibly
the courts. There are many fiscal considerations, but the lack
of specificity raises more questions than assigning exact costs.
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SB 597 (Liu)
Provision 1: Under current law, foster care service providers
are paid an AFDC-FC rate for services they provide, which takes
into account a number of expenses the child is likely to incur.
The new federal law expands federal participation to include
"reasonable travel for the child to remain in the school in
which the child is enrolled at the time of placement." This bill
expands the states definition of "care and supervision" for the
purposes of establishing the AFDC-FC rate, to include "costs of
travel for educational purposes," without limiting cost to
reasonably transportation to and from the school the child was
previously enrolled in, or specifying the expenses that would
qualify.
Provision 4 requires DSS to apply for a federal Family
Connection grant in any of the four areas allowed under the new
federal law. This bill leaves the decision of which grant, and
the length of the grant (they are offered for 1-3 years) to DSS.
In addition to increased workload for the grant application and
development of a new program to be funded by the grant, these
grants must have a state match at 25% for the first two years
and 50% for the third year. If the grant is more than $200,000,
the match for this provision alone would qualify this bill for
referral to the Suspense File. Because the total grant amount
available is $15 million, and the number is limited to 30 grants
per year, it is likely that grants will be at least $500,000,
requiring a state match of at least $125,000 in the first year.
Because many aspects of this bill are vague, and require DSS to
develop new programs and protocols for implementation, an exact
cost is impossible to determine.