BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1147 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 26, 2011 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES Jim Beall Jr., Chair AB 1147 (Yamada) - As Amended: April 4, 2011 SUBJECT : Dependent children: status reports SUMMARY : Requires, if a youth in foster care is a teen parent, a report of the specific age and developmentally appropriate services the minor parent received in order to provide a safe home for his or her child while in foster care consistent with the Teen Parents in Foster Care Act of 2004, to be filed with the court and discussed as part of the foster youth's periodic status review hearings. EXISTING LAW 1)Establishes a system of child welfare services for abused and neglected children. 2)Provides that the child of a dependent minor in foster care cannot be involuntarily separated from his or her parent unless the court orders dependency of the child and orders removal. 3)Establishes special payment rates that take into account the circumstance of a minor parent and her child living together in a foster-care home or facility. 4)Establishes the Teen Parents in Foster Care Act of 2004, which, among other things: a) States the intent of the Legislature that the courts and other responsible agencies shall make diligent and active efforts to maintain relationships between minor parents and their children, including placement together of the minor parent and child in as family-like a setting as possible, unless it is determined that the placement together poses a risk to the child; b) Directs responsible agencies, to the greatest extent possible, provide services to the dependent minor parents and their children that support, maintain, and develop the parent-child bond and the minor parent's ability to provide AB 1147 Page 2 a safe home; c) Directs child welfare agencies to identify and support whole family placements, defined as a licensed or approved foster home specifically recruited and trained to assist a dependent parent in developing the skills needed to provide a safe, stable, and permanent home for his or her dependent or nondependent child; and d) Defines a "minor parent" as a dependent child who is also a parent. 5)Requires a periodic review of the foster child's case, at least every 6 months, to include a supplemental report to the court prepared by the social worker and outlining various topics, including whether the county has considered child protective services and family maintenance for the foster child and considerations related to placement with siblings and education rights holders. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : Teen pregnancy among foster youth: Teens in foster care are more likely than their peers to become parents. While the exact numbers of California youth who become parents while in foster care is unknown, a study by the University of Chicago found that, at least 30% of female foster youth in Illinois had been pregnant more than once, with nearly 90% of those pregnancies resulting in live birth, and that nearly a quarter of those young mothers had at least two children. Overall, the trend continues and by age 21, 71% of young women who had been in foster care had been pregnant compared with only 34% of their peers, and half of young men who had been in foster care reported having gotten a female pregnant, compared with 19% of their peers. The reasons for the higher rates of teen pregnancy among foster youth vary by individual case, but a 2009 report by the Public Health Institute's Center for Research on Adolescent Health and Development titled, "Sexual Health Needs of California's Foster and Transitioning Youth" found that among the unique challenges faced by foster youth are: an acceptance of early pregnancy in their families of origin or among their peers; a stronger AB 1147 Page 3 longing for love and a sense of belonging compared with their non-foster peers; and becoming pregnant in order to hold onto a partner. Another challenge cited by the report was that frequent school and placement changes simply mean that many foster youth may not receive sex education, and foster parents or social workers may be reluctant to bridge the conversation. Given that foster youth are often without the support and stability they need to thrive, it is perhaps not surprising, but certainly problematic therefore, that foster youth are also more likely to have their own children removed from them and placed into foster care. Among the Illinois teen parents in foster care, 22% had been investigated for child abuse or neglect, and 11% had a child placed in foster care. Teen Parents in Foster Care Act: California has consistently affirmed a policy of working to keep teen parents in foster care with their children unless their child is at risk of child abuse or neglect. The Teen Parents in Foster Care Act passed in 2004 asserted the intent of the Legislature to provide teen parents in foster care with the supports and services required to keep foster youth and their children in safe, stable, and supportive environments whenever possible. Subsequent to this bill, state law was changed to better align state and federal funding incentives and provide teen parent foster youth with greater placement options, such as the whole family foster home placement-both for those teen parents placed with a nondependent child, and for those who are placed with a dependent child during the family reunification process. According to the author, while the Teen Parents in Foster Care Act set forth the policy in child welfare of keeping dependent youth's families intact, it did not include a means to measure and evaluate the success or barriers to placement of teen foster parents with their children. This bill would require, for teen parents in foster care, an accounting of the age and developmentally appropriate services provided offered to the foster youth to be added to the supplemental report filed by the social worker with the court for each periodic status review hearing. According to the author, addition of this information in the supplemental report will ensure the court will have the ability to compare the services provided to the youth with those recommended in the minor parent's case plan, and to identify and discuss possible AB 1147 Page 4 barriers to placement of teen foster parents and their children. It is the author's expectation that this will allow the court to evaluate whether the child welfare agency is supporting the minor parent and their child and affording them every opportunity to keep their family in tact without jeopardizing the safety of the minor parent's child. The California Bar Associations, a sponsor of this bill writes in support: Welfare and Institutions Code Section 366.1 currently requires social workers to prepare periodic reports on child protective services provided to specified individuals, including teen parents in foster care. ÝThis bill] would specify that in cases involving teen parents in foster care, the reports include information on what age and developmental-appropriate services were provided to the minor parent to provide a permanent and safe home for the child, consistent with the Teen Parents in Foster Care Act? A key goal of the Teen Parents in Foster Care Act was to ensure that minor parents be given adequate resources, support, and guidance to be able to successfully parent their children. ÝThis bill] would simply utilize an existing reporting mechanism to monitor the allocation of those resources. In this way, the bill provides for the collection of necessary and valuable information with a minimal investment of time, energy or money. Prior Legislation: SB 1178 (Kuehl) Chapter 841, Statutes of 2004 established the Teen Parents in Foster Care Act. SB 500 (Kuehl) Chapter 630, Statutes of 2005 created the "whole family foster home," placement which provides foster care for teen parents and their dependent or nondependent children. SB 720 (Kuehl) Chapter 475, Statutes of 2007 clarified provisions of SB 500. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support AB 1147 Page 5 Conference of California Bar Associations (CCBA) Family Law Section Executive Committee Women Lawyers of Sacramento Opposition None on file. Analysis Prepared by : Michelle Doty Cabrera / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089