BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1658
Author: Jones-Sawyer (D), and Chau (D), et al.
Amended: 8/4/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/10/14
AYES: Beall, DeSaulnier, Liu, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/28/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Foster care: consumer credit reports
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires when a child in foster care
reaches his/her 16th birthday, and each year thereafter, while
the child is under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, the
county welfare department, county probation department, or, the
Department of Social Services (DSS), to inquire of each of the
three major credit reporting agencies as to whether the child
has any consumer credit history instead of requesting a
"consumer credit disclosure." Requires DSS to provide
information to the appropriate legislative policy committees
regarding the implementation of these provisions, including, but
not limited to, any state and county barriers to obtaining
credit reports as required by the federal Child and Family
Services Improvement and Innovation Act of 2011 (federal Act).
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ANALYSIS : Existing federal law, establishes the federal Act,
which requires that each child in foster care under the
responsibility of the state who has attained 16 years of age
receives without cost a copy of any consumer report pertaining
to the child each year until the child is discharged from care,
and receives assistance in interpreting and resolving any
inaccuracies in the report.
Existing state law requires a county welfare department, county
probation department, or the DSS, to request a consumer credit
disclosure on behalf of a child in a foster care placement in
the county when the child reaches his/her 16th birthday, and
each year thereafter while the child is under the jurisdiction
of the juvenile court.
This bill:
1.Requires, when a child in a foster care placement reaches
his/her 16th birthday, and each year thereafter, while the
child is under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, the
county welfare department, county probation department, or, if
an automated process is available, DSS, to inquire of each of
the three major credit reporting agencies as to whether the
child has any consumer credit history.
2.Requires, if DSS makes the inquiry, for DSS to notify the
county welfare department or county probation department in
the county having jurisdiction over the child of the results
of that inquiry.
3.Requires, pursuant to the federal Child and Family Services
Improvement and Innovation Act of 2011 and the federal Fair
Credit Reporting Act, if an inquiry performed pursuant to
these provisions indicates that a child has a consumer credit
history with any major credit reporting agency, the
responsible county welfare department or county probation
department to request a consumer credit report from that
credit reporting agency.
4.Requires, no later than February 1, 2016, DSS to provide
information to the Assembly Committee on Budget, the Senate
Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, and the appropriate
legislative policy committees regarding the implementation of
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this section, including, but not limited to, any state and
county barriers to obtaining credit reports as required by the
federal Act.
Comments
According to the author's office, the purpose of the bill is to
protect against identity theft and other errors that can
negatively impact the clean credit of foster youth, given that
their personal information touches many hands throughout the
foster care system prior to reaching adulthood.
Credit Records of Minors . Minors generally are prohibited from
opening credit accounts on their own. While in some instances a
minor may have a legitimate credit report as a result of
"piggybacking" on the account of a parent or guardian who has
included the minor as a joint account holder or an authorized
user on one of the parent's accounts, it is rare for a minor to
have a legitimate credit report or history. Increasingly,
minors have been targeted for identity theft which can go
undetected for years, until the minor reaches adulthood and
applies for a credit card or loan. A 2011 study conducted by
Carnegie Mellon University found children are far more likely to
be targeted for identity theft for their unused social security
numbers. The report found that of 42,232 children polled, 10 %,
or 4,311 of them, had their identities stolen. When compared to
the rate of identity theft in adults, children in this study
were 51% more likely to experience identity theft.
Prior Legislation
AB 2985 (Maze, Chapter 387, Statutes of 2006) requires county
welfare departments to request the credit histories of foster
youth at the age of 16 and to assist youth in correcting any
inaccuracies or negative findings. Subsequently, the federal
Act mirrored and expanded the law, requiring each foster youth
age 16 and older receive an annual consumer credit report until
juvenile court jurisdiction is terminated, and requiring the
youth receive assistance in interpreting and resolving any
inaccuracies in his or her credit report. AB 1521 (Liu, Chapter
847, Statutes of 2012) enacted federal compliance with this Act.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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SUPPORT : (Verified 8/12/14)
AFSCME, AFL-CIO
California Asset Building Coalition
California Reinvestment Coalition
Common Sense Media
Family Online Safety Institute
National Association of Social Workers, CA Chapter
Symantec Corporation
Paul Koretz, Los Angeles City Councilmember
Western Center on Law and Poverty
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/28/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández,
Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Perea, John A. Pérez, V.
Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron,
Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Patterson, Vacancy
JL:nl 8/12/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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