BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 787 (Stone) - Foster care.
Amended: June 14, 2013 Policy Vote: HS 6-0, JUD 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 19, 2013
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 787 would make various changes to the
California Fostering Connections to Success Act (the Act) to
ensure the continued implementation of the Act, as specified.
Fiscal Impact:
Potential minor state costs for extended foster care and
adoption assistance benefits for former nonminor dependents
(NMDs) whose guardian, relative, or adoptive parent passed
away prior to the NMD's 21st birthday. Annual benefit and
case management costs would be in the range of $15,000 to
$40,000 (General Fund) per case, depending on the placement
type.
Potentially significant ongoing state costs in the hundreds
of thousands to low millions of dollars (General Fund) for
probation NMDs placed by probation officers into approved
placements not currently authorized under existing law.
Increased county administrative costs of about $35,000
(General Fund) per year for county assessments conducted 90
days prior to a youth's 18th birthday. This estimate assumes
a 45-minute assessment at a cost of $57 per youth for 600
youth turning 18 per year.
Ongoing county cost savings of $2.3 million (2011 Local
Revenue Fund) for the removal of case management
requirements for NMD placements with nonrelated legal
guardians (NRLGs). This estimate assumes an average of 425
NMDs would not require case management services at a cost of
$450 per case per month.
Background: The California Fostering Connections to Success Act
of 2010, enacted by AB 12 (Beall/Bass) Chapter 559/2010,
exercised the state option under the federal Fostering
Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008
(Public Law 110-351) of extending benefits for youth up to age
21 in the Foster Care, Adoption Assistance, and Kinship
AB 787 (Stone)
Page 1
Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) programs. AB 12
aligned the state's existing Kin-GAP program with requirements
in order to draw down federal funds and provided for a
three-year phase in of extended benefits up to age 21 that was
intended to reduce the upfront costs of program expansion.
Significant clean-up legislation was pursued through AB 212
(Beall) Chapter 459/2011 and AB 1712 (Beall) Chapter 846/2012 to
address various issues identified subsequent to implementation
of the initial legislation. This bill makes additional changes
to ensure the continued successful implementation of the Act.
Proposed Law: This bill would make the following changes to the
Act, as follows:
Authorizes re-entry into extended foster care and adoption
assistance for former NMDs who reached permanency but whose
guardian, relative, or adoptive parent passed away prior to
the NMD's 21st birthday.
Revises foster care disposition statute to authorize
probation officers to place NMDs into approved transitional
services placements.
Provides a definition of "transition dependent" to allow
these youth subject to the court's transition jurisdiction
to be eligible for extended foster care benefits.
Removes state case management requirements prospectively
for nonminors placed with NRLGs to align statute with case
management requirements under federal Title IV-E eligible
NRLG requirements.
Clarifies the juvenile court's authority and the process
required to terminate dependency for a NMD but maintain
jurisdiction over the youth as a nonminor.
Requires counties to assess a youth in a voluntary
placement agreement 90 days prior to the youth's 18th
birthday to determine whether a petition for foster care
should be filed with the court.
Makes other clarifying and technical changes.
Related Legislation: AB 985 (Cooley) 2013 would extend
eligibility for extended state Kin-GAP benefits to age 21 to
youth who attain 18 years of age while receiving federal or
state Kin-GAP benefits and who entered the program prior to
reaching the age of 16, subject to specified criteria. This bill
is currently on this committee's Suspense File.
Prior Legislation: AB 12 (Beall/Bass) Chapter 559/2010 enacted
the California Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010, and
AB 787 (Stone)
Page 2
authorized the state to exercise the option of extending
benefits in the Foster Care, Kin-GAP, Fed-GAP, and AAP 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.
AB 212 (Beall) Chapter 459/2011, the follow-up legislation to AB
12, made various technical and substantive changes to law in
order to ensure the proper implementation of the California
Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010.
AB 1712 (Beall) Chapter 846/2012 expanded the definition of
"relative" for purposes of both the federal and state-funded
Kin-GAP programs to include guardians who are non-related
extended family members, tribal kin, or current caregivers of
foster children, as specified, and extended eligibility for
non-related legal guardian placements to age 21.
Staff Comments: Authorizing extended foster care and adoption
assistance benefits for former NMDs whose guardian, relative, or
adoptive parent passed away prior to the NMD's 21st birthday is
estimated to result in minor annual benefit and case management
costs in the range of $15,000 to $40,000 (General Fund) per
case, depending on the placement type.
By expanding the placement options of probation NMDs to include
the extended foster care placement types of supervised
independent living placements (SILPs) and transitional housing
placement (THP-Plus) placements, the provisions of this bill
could result in potentially significant ongoing state costs in
the hundreds of thousands to low millions of dollars (General
Fund) for probation NMDs placed by probation officers into
approved placements not currently authorized under existing law.
According to the Department of Social Services, the THP-Plus
placement average cost per case is $3,000 per month and the SILP
placement average cost per case is $835 per month. For every 100
probation NMDs that enter into voluntary agreements for
continued placement and care that otherwise would not have
occurred, annual costs could range from $1 million to $3.6
million (General Fund).
This bill would require counties to assess a youth in a
voluntary placement agreement 90 days prior to the youth's 18th
birthday to determine whether a petition for foster care should
be filed with the court. This activity is estimated to result in
AB 787 (Stone)
Page 3
increased county administrative costs of about $35,000 (General
Fund) per year for county assessments based on a 45-minute
assessment at a cost of $57 per youth for 600 youth turning 18
years old per year.
Removing the state case management requirements prospectively
for nonminors placed with NRLGs to align statute with case
management requirements under federal Title IV-E requirements is
estimated to result in ongoing county cost savings of $2.3
million (2011 Local Revenue Fund). This estimate assumes an
average of 425 NMDs would not require case management services
at a cost of $450 per case per month.
Prior to Fiscal Year (FY) 2011-12, the state and counties
contributed to the non-federal share of foster care and child
welfare services expenditures. AB 118 (Committee on Budget)
Chapter 40/2011 and ABX1 16 Chapter 13/2011 realigned state
funding to the counties through the 2011 Local Revenue Fund
(LRF) for various programs, including but not limited to foster
care and child welfare services. As a result, beginning in FY
2011-12 and for each fiscal year thereafter, non-federal funding
and expenditures for foster care and child welfare services
activities are funded through the 2011 LRF.
Proposition 30, passed by the voters in November 2012, among
other provisions, eliminated any potential mandate funding
liability for any new program or higher level of service
provided by counties related to the realigned programs. Although
the provisions of this bill create a mandate on local agencies,
any increased costs would not appear to be subject to
reimbursement by the state. Rather, Proposition 30 specifies
that for legislation enacted after September 30, 2012, that has
an overall effect of increasing the costs already borne by a
local agency for realigned programs, the provisions shall apply
to local agencies only to the extent that the state provides
annual funding for the cost increase. As the ongoing county
administrative cost savings ($2.3 million) may not cover the
additional costs associated with this measure, the provisions of
this bill may apply only to the extent that the state provides
annual funding for the potential cost increase.