BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 985
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 15, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 985 (Cooley) - As Amended: April 4, 2013
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:5 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill extends state Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program
(KinGAP) and Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) benefits from age
18 to age 21 for former foster children who were placed with
relative guardians or who were adopted prior to the age of 16.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Data from the Department of Social Services indicates that
once fully phased in, approximately 5,000 adopted youth will
be eligible to remain in AAP until the age of 21 and over 900
youth in the state KinGAP program will remain eligible.
2)The average monthly AAP grant is approximately $850. Allowing
parents of adopted children to continue to receive a grant
until that child reaches the age of 21 would cost over $50
million (GF) per year.
3)The average monthly state KinGAP grant is almost $650 per
month. Allowing the relative guardians of children to receive
a grant until the child reaches 21 would cost approximately $7
million ($5 million GF) per year.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The intent of this bill is to allow the parents of
adopted children and the guardians of children in the state
KinGAP program to continue to receive benefits for their
children until they reach the age of 21. Under current law,
those parents receive benefits until the child reaches the age
of 18, unless that child entered into a guardianship or was
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adopted after the age of 15.
The author notes, kinship care and adoption are critical
components of the child welfare system. Placements with
caring, supportive relatives can mitigate trauma, promote
better outcomes for youth, and provide children and youth with
connections to permanency. While federal law requires states
to provide preference to relative caregivers when finding a
home for children in foster care, relative guardians and
adoptive parents in California currently receive less support
for children than non-relative guardians or foster parents.
The author believes that these policies create disincentives
to permanence for the individuals most likely to help a youth
achieve a safe, stable and permanent home.
2)The Fostering Connections Act. In October 2008, President Bush
signed H.R. 6893 (P. L. 110 - 351), the Fostering Connections
to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. That act
seeks to improve the lives of children in foster care, provide
greater assistance to relative caregivers and improve
incentives for adoption. Key provisions of the legislation
allow for kinship guardianship assistance, similar to
California's Kin-Gap program and extension of assistance to
foster children up to age 21.
3)California Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010 . AB
12 (Beall & Bass) opted the state into two provisions of the
federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act of 2008 (Fostering Connections Act) (P.L.
110-351). Specifically, the California Fostering Connections
to Success Act:
a) Re-enacted California's existing state and county-funded
KinGAP program to align it with new federal requirements
and allow the state to bring federal financial
participation into our kinship guardian assistance program
for the first time.
b) Provides transitional foster care support to qualifying
foster youth ages 18 to 21, phased-in over three years,
beginning in 2012.
The goal of AB 12 was to assist foster youth, or nonminor
dependents as they are referred to in statute, in their
transition to adulthood by providing them with the opportunity
to create a case plan alongside their case worker tailored to
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their individual needs, which charts the course towards
independence through incremental levels of responsibility. It
is a voluntary program grounded in evidence of how the option
of continued support to age 21 can improve the outcomes faced
by youth who leave the foster care system at age 18, including
high rates of homelessness, incarceration, reliance on public
assistance, teen pregnancy, and low rates of high school and
postsecondary graduation. In terms of AAP, AB 12 matched the
federal law by allowing youth who were adopted from the child
welfare system at the age of 16 or later and who met the same
requirements as nonminor dependents continue to receive an AAP
grant until the age of 21.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081