BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1147 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 11, 2011 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 1147 (Yamada) - As Amended: April 4, 2011 Policy Committee: Human ServicesVote:6 - 0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: Yes SUMMARY This bill requires that a foster youth's supplemental report to the court specifically include age and developmentally appropriate services that were provided to the youth if he or she is a minor parent in order to ensure that the youth can provide a safe home for his or her child/children. FISCAL EFFECT Data on parenting teens in foster care who are living with their children is not readily available. Exit data suggests that 11% of the 18 and 19-year-old foster youth that emancipated from foster care in 2010 were parenting teens. Presumably fewer youth between the ages of 15 and 17 are parents. Therefore, if 5% of 15-to-20-year-old foster youth are parents and living with their children, it could cost up to $300,000 ($180,000 GF) per year for the workload associated with social workers including the required information in the semiannual supplemental report. COMMENTS 1)Purpose . The purpose of this bill is to provide dependency court judges with the information they need to ensure that parenting foster youth are receiving the services they need and are guaranteed under the Teen Parents in Foster Care Act to prepare them to provide a safe home for their children once they leave foster care. 2)The Teen Parents in Foster Care Act . 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 AB 1147 Page 2 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. 3)Related Legislation . SB 1178 (Kuehl, Statutes of 2004 established the Teen Parents in Foster Care Act. SB 500 (Kuehl, Statutes of 2005 created the "whole family foster home," placement which provides foster care for teen parents and their dependent or nondependent children. Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 319-2081