BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1147
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GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 1147 (Yamada)
As Amended June 30, 2011
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(May 31, 2011) |SENATE: |34-0 |(August 22, 2011) |
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|ASSEMBLY: |77-0 |(August 25, | | | |
| | |2011) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: HUM. S.
SUMMARY : Requires social workers to file a report with the court
for review at periodic status review hearings documenting the
services provided to allow a minor parent in foster care to provide
a safe home for his or her child.
The Senate amendments replace references to the Teen Parents in
Foster Care Act throughout the bill, with the applicable Welfare and
Institutions Code Sections (16002.5 for the Teen Parents in Foster
Care Act and 16004.6 for the whole family foster home statute) for
ease of reference.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY, this bill required the county welfare
department or social worker to include in the supplemental report
documentation of the age and developmentally appropriate services
that were provided to a minor parent to allow him or her to provide
a safe home, consistent with the definition in the Teen Parents in
Foster Care Act of 2004 for review during periodic status review
hearings.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee,
costs associated with this bill are minor and absorbable within
existing resources.
COMMENTS : 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
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youth and their children in safe, stable, and supportive
environments whenever possible. According to the author, while the
Teen Parents in Foster Care Act sought to keep 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 to the foster youth as part of 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 to 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
possible barriers to placement of teen foster parents and their
children.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
No one can question the desirability of minor parents in
foster care receiving whatever help they need to become
good parents, but this bill won't further that goal.
By law, social workers are required to submit updated case
plans to the juvenile court every six months. These
lengthy and detailed plans chronicle every aspect of the
foster child's life, including whatever is needed to
become a good parent.
Placing in statute one more specific plan element, as this
bill does, just adds to the bureaucratic complexity with
really assisting the foster youth to live a better life.
The more time adults in the foster care system spend
writing and reading reports, the less time they have for
the guidance and human caring that make the real
difference.
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Gelber / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
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