BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1147
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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