BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                          AB 212 (Beall)
          
          Hearing Date: 08/15/2011        Amended: 08/15/2011
          Consultant: Jolie Onodera       Policy Vote: Human Services 7-0, 
          Judiciary 5-0
          _________________________________________________________________
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY: AB 212, an urgency measure, makes various 
          clarifying and substantive changes to the California Fostering 
          Connections to Success Act of 2010 in order to ensure proper 
          implementation on January 1, 2012. This bill also makes changes 
          to existing state law in order to comply with various provisions 
          of federal law.
          _________________________________________________________________
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2011-12      2012-13       2013-14     Fund
           
          Reimbursement of Kin-GAP          Up to $1,300 annually     
          General
          non-recurring expenses

          Reentry agreement      Unknown; potentially significant 
          state-General
          provisions/written protocols      reimbursable costs

          Restoration of high school        Minor costs; approximately $16 
          annually               General
          completion rule for Kin-GAP
                                                                      
          Expanded abuse/neglect Unknown; non-reimbursable local lawLocal
          reporting requirements enforcement costs offset to a degree
                                 by fine revenue
          _________________________________________________________________
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the 
          Suspense File. 

          Last year, AB 12 (Beall, Chapter 559/2010) was enacted and 
          exercised the federal option under the Fostering Connections to 
          Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law (P.L.) 
          110-351) of extending benefits for youth up to age 21 in the 
          Foster Care, Adoption Assistance, and Kinship Guardianship 






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          Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) programs. AB 12 also aligned the 
          state's existing Kin-GAP program with federal requirements in 
          order to draw down federal funds. This bill, an urgency measure, 
          makes various changes to existing law to ensure the proper 
          implementation of the California Fostering Connections to 
          Success Act of 2010 on January 1, 2012.

          Under P.L. 110-351, guardianship assistance agreements are 
          required to include a provision allowing for the reimbursement 
          of non-recurring costs of obtaining guardianship, which could 
          include legal fees and child care costs. Pursuant to guidance 
          from the federal Administration for Children and Families (ACF), 
          the State must modify the guardianship agreement and have 
          statute in place authorizing payment for such reimbursement. For 
          guardianships established on and after January 1, 2012, this 
          bill requires the reimbursement of non-recurring expenses, as 
          specified. The average monthly number of new Kin-GAP cases was 
          261 in 2010-11. It is unknown at this time how many cases would 
          request reimbursement but assuming the percentage is consistent 
          with the number of adoption cases that request non-recurring 
          expenditure reimbursement of approximately 40 percent, potential 
          costs assuming the maximum reimbursement of $2,000 per case 
          would result in annual costs of up to $1.3 million General Fund. 
          Staff notes that in the absence of this change to existing law, 
          the state would be out of compliance with federal requirements 
          and could be at risk of loss of federal Title IV-E funding.

          This bill revises the reentry provisions for nonminors 
          established in AB 12 in response to guidance received from the 
          ACF. In place of the period of "trial independence" established 
          under AB 12, this bill requires a county welfare or probation 
          department to complete a voluntary reentry agreement with a 
          nonminor reentering care and establish a new eligibility 
          determination based on the completed agreement. Based on a 
          reentry rate of four percent of exiting cases to return, 
          approximately 100 cases per month will be impacted. To the 
          extent additional county administrative time is required to 
          complete a new eligibility determination and assist the nonminor 
          with completion of the voluntary reentry agreement could result 
          in state-reimbursable costs of an unknown but potentially 
          significant amount. Because the federal program is optional, 
          increased workload mandated on local agencies could be 
          considered state-reimbursable. However, if the state fails to 
          comply with federal requirements under the optional program, the 
          state could be at risk of loss of federal funds. As the 







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          assumptions for federally eligible cases in AB 12 were based on 
          placement type, there is no change in the estimated number of 
          federally eligible cases under the revised reentry provisions of 
          this bill.

          This bill clarifies the delinquency provisions established in AB 
          12. Specifically, a new "transition" jurisdiction is created, 
          and provides for a clear process for the courts, child welfare 
          agencies, and probation departments to follow in order to 
          implement the policy principles envisioned in AB 12 for foster 
          youth on probation. The Judicial Council has indicated the new 
          provisions related to transition jurisdiction will not have a 
          fiscal impact beyond what has been imposed on the courts under 
          existing law pursuant to AB 12.

          Existing law provides that whenever a youth comes within the 
          jurisdictional description of both dependency and delinquency, 
          the county probation department and the child welfare services 
          department must determine what status is in the youth's best 
          interest pursuant to a jointly developed written protocol. This 
          bill would require the jointly developed protocol to contain 
          specified processes, including a process for determining which 
          agency and court shall supervise a child whose jurisdiction is 
          modified from delinquency to dependency or transition 
          jurisdiction, and a process that specifically addresses the 
          manner in which supervision responsibility is determined when a 
          nonminor becomes subject to adult probation supervision. To the 
          extent the requirements for the written protocols exceed those 
          under existing law could result in increased state-reimbursable 
          costs to county probation and child welfare departments of an 
          unknown amount.

          AB 12 inadvertently deleted the high school completion rule for 
          foster youth placed with relative caregivers prior to age 16 and 
          for guardianships ordered in probate court. This bill provides 
          for the continuation of benefits for a youth aged 18 who is 
          attending high school or the equivalent and is reasonably 
          expected to complete the program prior to his or her 19th 
          birthday. DSS has indicated the caseload impact associated with 
          these provisions is estimated to be only two cases annually, 
          therefore, the fiscal impact is estimated to be minor. 

          This bill would expand existing requirements upon placement 
          agencies under the California Community Care Facilities Act to 
          report incidents of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a 







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          nonminor dependent by a licensed caregiver to the appropriate 
          licensing agency. Violation of the Act is a misdemeanor. By 
          expanding the definition of an existing crime, this provision 
          will result in non-reimbursable local costs for enforcement. 

          This bill also provides for changes to existing law in order to 
          be in compliance with the federal requirements under the 
          Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, the Promoting Safe and 
          Stable Families (PSSF) Amendments of 2001, and the Child and 
          Family Services Improvement Act of 2006. The PSSF program 
          provides grant funds to states to support child welfare services 
          program efforts to promote stability and permanency for at-risk 
          children within families. This bill revises statute to reflect 
          the allowable allocation of PSSF funds among service categories 
          within PSSF and the allowable allocation for administrative 
          expenses. As the proposed amendments will bring statute in line 
          with current practices, there is no fiscal impact resulting from 
          this change. DSS receives approximately $35.5 million in PSSF 
          funds annually. In the absence of the specified changes to 
          current law, California could be at risk of federal penalties 
          and loss of federal funds.

          This bill further amends current law to comply with federal 
          requirements under P.L. 110-351 and the Patient Protection and 
          Affordable Care Act of 2010 by adding the power of attorney for 
          health care and information regarding the advance health care 
          directive form to the information provided to a foster youth 
          during the 90-day period prior to emancipation. The provision of 
          these additional documents is not estimated to result in any 
          significant fiscal impact. Consistent with other federal 
          compliance amendments in this bill, the state could be at risk 
          of federal penalties or loss of federal funds in the absence of 
          these changes to existing law.

          Existing law requires DSS to allocate 70 percent of the amount 
          payable to placements of nonminors under the Transitional 
          Housing Program (THP)-Plus Foster Care (FC) program, with the 
          remaining 30 percent to be available to serve the caseload of 
          youth under the THP-Plus program, as specified. This bill would 
          direct counties that opt to participate in the THP-Plus and 
          THP-Plus FC programs to establish a goal of allocating 70 
          percent under the THP-Plus FC program. However, if a county can 
          demonstrate there is insufficient demand in either of the 
          programs to achieve the targeted percentage allocations, the 
          county may reallocate funds between the two programs to meet the 







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          existing demand. Further, this bill requires the DSS to develop 
          a mechanism to determine how counties opting out of the THP-Plus 
          program are to receive funding based on the operation of 
          THP-Plus FC only. DSS indicates there would be no net change in 
          overall funding as a result of these changes to existing law.
          
          Prior Legislation. AB 12 (Beall) Chapter 559/2010 authorizes the 
          state to exercise the federal option of extending benefits in 
          the foster care, Kin-GAP, Fed-GAP, and Adoption Assistance 
          program to age 21 for youth who meet specified criteria. AB 12 
          also provided for the alignment of the Kin-GAP program with 
          federal requirements in order to receive federal financial 
          participation.