BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
BILL NO: AB 212
A
AUTHOR: Beall
B
VERSION: June 21, 2011
HEARING DATE: June 28, 2011
2
FISCAL: Judiciary and Appropriations; 2/3rds
(Urgency) 1
2
CONSULTANT:
Hailey
SUBJECT
California Fostering Connections to Success Act
SUMMARY
Clarifies language of 2010's California Fostering
Connections to Success Act, which enables some young adults
to continue to be placed in foster care.
ABSTRACT
Current law
1) Establishes the California Fostering Connections to
Success Act of 2010 which, among other provisions:
a) Provides for the extension of transitional
foster care to eligible youth up to age
19 in 2012, age 20 in 2013, and upon
appropriation by the Legislature, age 21 in
2014 as a voluntary program for youth who
meet specified work and education
participation criteria; and,
b) Requires changes to the Kin-GAP program in
order to allow for federal
financial participation in the program. (AB
Continued---
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12 (Beall), Chap. 559, Stats. 2010.)
2) Defines a "non-minor dependent" as, on or after January
1, 2012, a current or former foster child between the ages
of 18 and 21 who is in foster care under the responsibility
of the county welfare department, county probation
department, or an Indian tribe and is participating in a
transitional independent living plan. (Welfare &
institutions Code Section 11400. Unless states otherwise,
all further statutory references are to that code.)
3) Provides that a non-minor ages 18-21 shall continue to
receive foster care assistance under certain conditions,
including that the non-minor is otherwise eligible for
AFDC-FC benefits, has signed a mutual agreement, and one or
more of the following conditions exist:
a) The non-minor is working toward their high
school education or an equivalent
credential.
b) The non-minor is enrolled in a postsecondary
institution or vocational
education program.
c) The non-minor is participating in a program
or activity designed to promote or
remove barriers to employment.
d) The non-minor is employed for at least 80
hours per month.
e) The non-minor is incapable of doing any of
the activities described in (a)
through (d) above, due to a medical
condition, and that incapability is
supported by regularly updated information
in the case plan of the non-minor.
(Section 11403.)
4) Defines, on or after January 2, 2012, a "period of
trial independence," as a period of no more than six
months, unless authorized by the juvenile court, during
which the court may terminate and subsequently resume
jurisdiction and Title IV-E foster care benefits to an
otherwise eligible non-minor dependent. (Section 11400;
Section 1356.21 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal
Regulations.)
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 212 (Beall) Page
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5) Requires, in certain circumstances, parents of foster
children to make child support payments upon referral by
the county child welfare department to the local child
support agency. Provides for an exception to be made when
the referral to the local child support agency would
compromise the stability of the child's permanent placement
plan with a relative caregiver receiving Kin-GAP. (Family
Code Section 17552.)
6) Requires the probation department and the child welfare
services department in each county jointly to develop a
written protocol for the coordination of an assessment of a
minor child for consideration by the juvenile court.
7) Requires the Judicial Council to adopt court rules by
January 1, 2012 in order to allow a non-minor dependent to
appear telephonically in juvenile court proceedings related
to a petition to reenter foster care following a trial
period of independence. (Section 388.)
8) Defines a "mutual agreement" as an agreement of consent
for placement in a supervised setting between a minor or
non-minor dependent and the placing agency that, in the
case of a non-minor dependent, documents the continued need
for supervised out-of-home placement and the agreement
between the non-minor and the social worker or probation
officer to work together to facilitate implementation of
the mutually developed supervised placement agreement and
transitional living plan. (Section 11403.)
9) Requires states, under federal law, to develop a
transition plan with foster youth, addressing specified
outcome areas 90 days prior to emancipation, and to include
information about the importance of designating someone to
make health care treatment decisions on behalf of the child
in addition to the option of a health care power of
attorney, health care proxy, or similar document. (Public
Law 110-148, P.L. 110-351.)
This bill
1) Exempts parents from referral by the county child
welfare department to the local child support agency for
the payment of child support on behalf of an adult,
non-minor dependent in foster care.
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2) Requires placement agencies to report known or
suspected abuse or exploitation of a non-minor dependent to
the appropriate licensing agency.
3) Requires that county probation departments and county
child welfare services address how supervision
responsibility will be determined when a non-minor
dependent becomes subject to adult probation supervision.
4) Requires the court, when it finds it necessary to
modify its jurisdiction over a ward who was removed from
his or her parent or guardian and placed in foster care, to
ensure that the original petition is not dismissed until a
new petition has been sustained, and that the modified
order refers to the original removal findings.
5) Makes changes to replace the "trial independence" with
"voluntary re-entry placement agreement" and to define
re-entry using federal guidance to states; voluntary
placement agreements after attaining age 18 can be signed
by the young adult as his or her own guardian
6) Recasts the way wards can opt in to foster care beyond
their 18th birthday without having to prolong their
delinquent status.
7) Conforms delinquency statutes related to the
termination of parental rights to include the required
guardianship study found in parallel dependency statutes.
8) Makes the technical changes necessary to ensure that
youth in probate guardianships can continue in care while
completing high school.
9) Restores the transitional housing placement program to
one serving only minors (or high school students up to age
19).
10) Clarifies that participation in activities meant to
address a medical condition does not disqualify an
individual from a group home placement after age 19.
11) Clarifies the definition of the transitional
independent living case plan as a non-minor dependent's
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case plan, updated every six months, describing the goals
and objections of the non-minor's transition to independent
living; the plan will describe collaborative efforts
between the youth and the social worker, probation officer,
or Indian tribe; the plan will detail the youth's
supervised placement and his or her plan for securing
permanent connections to caring adults.
12) Deletes references to a partial payment directly to
youths in supervised independent living placements.
13) Distinguishes between the case plan update and mutual
agreement terms required for a non-minor dependent under
the supervision of the child welfare agency and a non-minor
Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) or
Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) recipient.
14) Restores, after January 1, 2012, the ability for an
otherwise eligible youth placed with a relative guardian
prior to age 16, to continue receiving Kinship Guardian
Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) program assistance after age
18, until the youth reaches age 19, provided the youth is
reasonably likely to receive their high school diploma or
equivalent degree before age 19.
15) Makes various changes to cite and cross-reference
correct code sections.
16) Adds an urgency clause.
FISCAL IMPACT
The Assembly Appropriations Committee finds that costs
associated with this legislation are minor and absorbable
within existing resources.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Author's purpose
Last year's AB 12 (Beall and Bass) Chapter 559, Statutes of
2010, provided the statutory framework for young adults
meeting certain conditions to remain in foster care for up
to three years after their 18th birthday. Despite two
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years' work by nine sponsor organizations and two authors,
AB 12 included some errors that require correction and
passages that require clarification in order to be
implemented. This bill provides those statutory
corrections and clarifications, says its author.
For example, AB 12 inadvertently removed the high school
completion rule for those youth placed in Kin-GAP before
the age of 16, which makes them ineligible for extended
foster care benefits pursuant to federal law. Absent this
clarification, beginning January 1, 2012, youth placed in
Kin-GAP prior to age 16 will not be granted the ability to
continue to receive Kin-GAP assistance up to age 19 if the
youth is finishing his or her high school education,
pursuant to existing law. AB 212 corrects this omission by
restoring the high school completion rule for this group of
youth in Kin-GAP placements with the addition of a new WIC
Section 11403.01.
General benefits of foster care for young adults
Mark Courtney of the University of Washington has completed
a five-year longitudinal study that surveys youth from
three states -- Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin -- to compare
the outcomes for youth forced to exit foster care at age 18
with outcomes in Illinois, where foster youth may receive
support to age 21. Continued support results in improved
outcomes. Specifically, youth who remain in foster care
after age 18 are more than twice as likely to be working
towards completion of a high school diploma, three times
more likely to be enrolled in college, 65 percent less
likely to have been arrested, and less than half as likely
to be incarcerated than those who exited foster care at age
18.
( http://www.chapinhall.org/research/report/midwest-evaluatio
n-adult-functioning-former-foster-youth )
Assembly votes
Floor 75-0
Appropriations17-0
Judiciary 9-0
Human Services 6-0
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 212 (Beall) Page
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POSITIONS
Support: Alliance for Children's Rights (sponsor)
California Alliance of Child and Family
Services (sponsor)
California Youth Connection (sponsor)
Children's Law Center of Los Angeles
(sponsor)
County Welfare Directors Association of
California (sponsor)
John Burton Foundation for Children Without
Homes (sponsor)
Service Employees International Union
(sponsor)
Advancement Project
Aspiranet
California Coalition for Youth
California Probation Parole and Correctional
Association
California State Association of Counties
City and County of San Francisco
County of San Bernardino
Family Law Section of the State Bar
Judicial Council
Junior League of Napa-Sonoma
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
National Association of Social Workers,
California Chapter
Oppose: None received
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