BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Leland Y. Yee, Chair
BILL NO: AB 985
A
AUTHOR: Cooley
B
VERSION: May 24 2013
HEARING DATE: June 11, 2013
9
FISCAL: Yes
8
5
CONSULTANT: Sara Rogers
SUBJECT
Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program (Kin-GAP)
SUMMARY
This bill permits a youth who reaches adulthood while
receiving federal or state Kin-GAP, and who entered the
respective program prior to reaching the age of 16, to
remain in or enroll in the state funded program until age
21, if certain conditions are met. The bill additionally
contains technical cleanup related to outdated provisions
of the California Fostering Connections to Success Act of
2010.
ABSTRACT
Existing Law
1.Establishes multiple programs of support for dependent or
former dependent children and the families that care for
them. Each of the federally reimbursed programs has a
corollary state-only funded program for children who are
not eligible under Aid to Families with Dependent
Continued---
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Children (AFDC) income eligibility criteria from 1996.
These programs include:
Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster
Care (AFDC-FC); (WIC 11401)
Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program
(Kin-GAP); (WIC 11360; WIC 11385)
Adoption Assistance Program (AAP); (WIC 16115)
Non Relative Legal Guardianship (NRLG); (WIC
11405)
CalWORKs (for non-Title IV-E eligible children
in foster care residing with relatives). (WIC 11250)
1.Establishes the federally subsidized and non-federally
subsidized Kin-GAP programs to provide aid to eligible
dependent children and nonminors who have been residing
for at least six consecutive months in the approved home
of a relative guardian. (WIC 11360; WIC 11385)
2.Defines "kinship guardian" as a person who has been
appointed legal guardian of a dependent child or ward of
the juvenile court and is a relative of the child. (WIC
11362)
3.Defines "relative" as an adult who is related to the
child by blood, adoption, or affinity within the fifth
degree of kinship, as specified. (WIC 11362)
4.Establishes the California Fostering Connections to
Success Act (AB 12, Chapter 559 Statutes of 2010), which
corresponds with the federal Fostering Connections to
Success Act that provides an option for states to receive
federal financial participation for federally-eligible
nonminor dependents or former dependents of the juvenile
court who are between the ages of 18-21 and who satisfy
certain conditions, and provides for state-only extended
benefits for non-federally eligible youth. (WIC 11403)
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5.Pursuant to federal eligibility criteria, provides that a
youth who reaches adulthood while receiving federal or
state Kin-GAP or AAP is only eligible for extended foster
care if he or she entered the program after reaching age
16, or at any age, if the child has a qualifying mental
or physical disability. (WIC 11362; WIC11386; WIC
11403.01)
6.Provides for the voluntary continuation or re-entry into
extended benefits for eligible nonminor dependents and
former dependents when the nonminor youth has signed a
voluntary mutual agreement and meets one or more of the
following requirements:
The nonminor is completing a high school
education or a program leading to an equivalent
credential;
The nonminor is enrolled in a postsecondary or
vocational education program;
The nonminor is participating in a program or
activity designed to promote, or remove barriers to,
employment;
The nonminor is employed at least 80 hours per
month;
The nonminor is incapable of doing any of these
activities due to a medical condition and the
incapacity is supported by regularly updated
information in the case plan of the nonminor
dependent. (WIC 11403 (b))
This bill
1.Permits a youth who reaches adulthood while receiving
federal or state Kin-GAP, and who entered the respective
program prior to reaching the age of 16, to remain in or
enroll in the state funded program until age 21, if the
youth meets the conditions for extended benefits.
2.Requires a county social worker to determine whether a
youth in state or federal Kin-GAP has a mental or
physical disability that warrants continuation of
assistance under the federally subsidized Kin-GAP program
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at the annual redetermination hearing closest to the
child's 18th birthday.
3.Contains technical cleanup language removing outdated
provisions related to the phasing in timelines for the
California Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010.
FISCAL IMPACT
The Assembly Appropriations Committee states that DSS
estimates that when fully implemented 900 youth will remain
eligible for extended benefits at a cost of cost
approximately $7 million ($5 million GF) per year.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
According to the author, relative legal guardians in
California have less access to support for youth beyond the
age of 18 than non-relative guardians. The author states
that California's three benefits programs - Kin-GAP, NRLG
and AAP - support caregivers and allow youth to exit foster
care into permanency. Nonrelative guardians receive
assistance until the youth turns 21 regardless of the age
of the youth when the guardianship is established, yet
support for relative caregivers ends when the youth reaches
18, unless the youth has a disability or was 16 or older
when the guardianship was established. According to the
author, this bill will allow relative caregivers to receive
Kin-GAP benefits until the youth turns 21, regardless of
the age of the youth when the guardianship was established.
Foster youth whose permanency plan is adoption face the
same restrictions as Kin-GAP youth, however the current
version of this bill does not address that program.
California Fostering Connections to Success Act
The California Fostering Connections to Success Act and
subsequent legislation established a statutory framework
for foster youth who reach adulthood while in foster care
to voluntarily remain in foster care up to age 21, upon
meeting certain requirements. The Act corresponded to the
federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-351), which provided
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states with the option to receive federal financial
participation for extended benefits under Title IV-E
AFDC-FC. The state opted to also extend benefits for state
AFDC-FC.
Additionally, the federal Act permitted states to receive
federal reimbursement for the Kin-GAP program, which serves
youth who exit the juvenile dependency system to achieve
permanency in the home of a relative, nonrelative extended
family member (NREFM), or tribal member caregiver. Under
the federal Act, Title IV-E eligible Kin-GAP guardians
receive a subsidy that is equal to the basic foster care
rate. Prior to the federal Act, this program was state-only
funded. Relative, NREFM or tribal member legal guardians
caring for children who are not Title IV-E eligible remain
in the state-only program.
However, under the federal Act, foster youth who enter
Kin-GAP are eligible for extended foster care benefits only
if the youth was over the age of 16 at the time that a
Kin-GAP agreement was negotiated. Similarly, the Adoption
Assistance Program (AAP) serving foster youth who become
adopted provides a federally funded subsidy for Title IV-E
eligible families or a state-funded subsidy for families
not eligible for Title IV-E. As is the case for Kin-GAP,
youth are eligible for extended foster care benefits only
if they entered the AAP program after turning 16. The
state-only programs mirror these eligibility restrictions.
State law permits nonminor former dependents placed in the
homes of NREFMs or tribal member legal guardians prior to
age 16 to receive extended foster care under the Non
Relative Legal Guardianship (NRLG) program, while children
placed in the homes of relatives or adoptive families
remain ineligible if their placements were formalized prior
to age 16.
The author cites a recently published literature review
which found that kin caregivers, "[o]n average, are less
affluent, less educated, more likely to be single and older
than non-kin care providers." The report further suggests
that "kin caregivers may need more basic assistance in
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obtaining adequate income, housing and health care to
properly care for the child.<1>"
Additionally, a recent report published by Princeton
University looking at kinship care policies concluded that,
"kinship foster caregivers tend to be older and have lower
incomes, poorer health and less education than non-kin
foster parents.<2>" The report stated that "many experts
suggest that these placements are less disruptive for
children than placement with non-kin" and that studies of
children's experiences in care suggest that the vast
majority of children feel "loved" by their kin caregivers
and "happy" with their living arrangements."
This bill removes the discrepancy between kin care and
traditional foster care benefits by expanding eligibility
for extended foster care for this population of Kin-GAP
youth, regardless of the age at which the child entered the
program. Because federal eligibility restrictions have not
been expanded, all youth included under this bill would be
enrolled in the state-only program, if they are not
already. The bill also seeks to ensure that youth who are
eligible for extended benefits under the federal program
due to a mental or physical disability are identified as
such prior to reaching age 18 in order to maximize federal
subsidies.
COMMENTS
The prior version of this bill also would have applied the
eligibility expansion to AAP in addition to Kin-GAP, but
-------------------------
<1> The Northern California Regional Training Academy.
http://academy.extensiondlc.net/file.php/1/resources/LR-Kins
hip.pdf
<2> Rob Geen. The Future of Children. Vol. 14, No. 1,
Children, Families, and Foster Care (Winter, 2004), pp.
130-149 Published by: Princeton University
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the AAP provisions were removed by the Assembly
Appropriations Committee in light of a $50 million cost
estimate. This may lead to a disincentive for some families
to formally adopt a child and instead remain legal
guardians. Advocates note that this disincentive currently
exists for both Kin-GAP and AAP and that by removing the
disincentive for Kin-GAP youth, whose relative caregivers
are often lower income than adoptive families, this bill
will assist many of the neediest youth and their families.
Prior Legislation
AB 12 (Beall and Bass) Chapter 559, Statutes of 2010,
established the California Fostering Connections to Success
Act, which extended transitional foster care services to
eligible youth between ages 18 and 21 and required
California to seek federal financial participation for the
Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program (Kin-GAP).
AB 212 (Beall) Chapter 459, Statutes of 2011, made
technical and clarifying changes to the California
Fostering Connections to Success Act (AB 12).
AB 1712 (Beall) Chapter 846, Statutes of 2012, expanded the
definition of relative caregiver to include nonrelative
extended family members and tribal members and made other
technical and clarifying changes to the California
Fostering Connections to Success Act (AB 12).
PRIOR VOTES
Assembly Floor: 75-1
Assembly Appropriations: 16-1
Assembly Human Services: 5-0
POSITIONS
Support: The Alliance for Children's Rights
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(Co-Sponsor)
John Burton Foundation for Child without
Homes (Co-Sponsor)
California Federation of Teachers
CASA of San Bernardino County
CASA of Santa Cruz
Child Development Institute
County Welfare Directors Association
East Bay Children's Law Offices
Goodman & Bhutani, LLP
Grandparents as Parents
John Gogian Family Foundation
KINCARES
Kinship Center
Mendocino Coast Child Abuse Prevention
Council
National Association of Social Workers
The Kinship Support Group for Palomar YMCA
The San Francisco CASA Program
Woodland Community College
Yuba Sutter Foster Parent Association
10 Individuals
Oppose: None received
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