BILL NUMBER: AB 1766 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 23, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 24, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Nazarian
FEBRUARY 14, 2014
An act to add Section 16523 to the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to foster care.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1766, as amended, Nazarian. Foster youth: transitional housing
pilot project.
Existing law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent
Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide
payments to foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in
foster care. The program is funded by a combination of federal,
state, and county funds, with moneys from the General Fund being
continuously appropriated to pay for the state's share of AFDC-FC
costs.
Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to
adopt regulations to govern county transitional housing placement
programs that provide supervised housing services to persons at least
16 years of age and not more than 18 years of age, with specified
exceptions, who satisfy the requirements of the AFDC-FC program, are
in out-of-home placement, as specified, and are participating in, or
have successfully completed, an independent living program. Existing
law requires that in order for a facility to participate in a
transitional housing placement program, the facility shall obtain
certification from the county department of social services or county
probation department that the facility satisfies certain criteria.
This bill would authorize the County of Los Angeles, in
conjunction with the University of California at Los Angeles
and First Star, Incorporated, or a related , a local
education agency, and a nonprofit child advocacy organization,
to participate in a pilot project to establish the
University-Affiliated First Star High School
Academy, under the administration of the State Department of Social
Services. The bill would require that the academy be licensed as a
transitional housing placement provider, but would specify certain
alternative requirements for the project including, among others,
that the academy serve foster children who are attending high school
and are at least 13 14 years of age.
The bill would require the county to ensure that permanent
placement options, including reunification, adoption, and the
establishment of permanent guardianships, remain the priority
placements for children who are eligible to participate in the
academy. The bill would require the department to prepare a
report evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot project and to
submit it to the Legislature by January 1, 2020. The bill would make
legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a
special statute for the County of Los Angeles.
This bill would provide that the continuous appropriation for the
state's share of the AFDC-DF costs would not be made for purposes of
implementing the bill.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature find and declares all of the following:
(a) Only 50 percent of foster youth graduate from high school.
(b) Only 3 percent of former foster youth graduate from a
four-year college, even though more than 70 percent express a desire
to earn a college degree.
(c) In Los Angeles County, 24 percent of former foster youth will
have experienced homelessness within two years of leaving the foster
care system.
(d) Approximately 60 percent of young women in foster care will
become pregnant by 20 years of age.
(e) Within two years of leaving the foster care system, 64 percent
of young men and 30 percent of young women are incarcerated.
(f) With approximately 5,200 youth aging out of foster care every
year in California, the cost to state and local governments of
homelessness, incarceration, and indigence of former foster youth is
$165 million per year.
(g) The college environment has a holistic effect on students, and
impacts not only the academic but also the psychosocial aspects of
students' development.
(h) Large colleges and universities have specialists in the areas
of medicine, law, psychology, sociology, communication, and education
who can greatly augment the services provided to foster youth by
county child welfare agencies.
(i) The existing First Star UCLA Bruin Guardian Scholar Summer
Academy annually offers four, month-long annual
residential summer programs on the campus of the University
of California, Los Angeles, to foster youth in each of the four
years of their high-school education, with at least one additional
day of instruction per month during the remainder of each year. The
academy consists of daylong scheduled classes, programs, and
activities that provide two to four undergraduate academic credits
each summer session, as well as the social and emotional preparation
necessary to flourish in college and the skills necessary to gain
acceptance into college and successfully transition into adulthood.
(j) Extending the First Star UCLA Bruin Guardian Scholar Summer
Academy to a year-round placement option would allow foster youth to
fully realize the benefits of this college environment.
SEC. 2. Section 16523 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
16523. (a) The department shall implement a pilot project in the
County of Los Angeles, at the option of the county, in conjunction
with the University of California at Los Angeles and First
Star, Incorporated, or a related , a local education
agency, and a nonprofit child advocacy organization, to
establish the University-Affiliated First Star
High School Academy. The academy shall be licensed as a transitional
housing placement provider pursuant to this article and Section
1559.110 of the Health and Safety Code, but shall include all of the
following components:
(1) The academy shall serve foster children who are
attending high school and are at least 13 meet all of
the following requirements:
(A) Currently attending high school.
(B) Have attained 14 years of
age, but who do not exceed the age limit specified
in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 16522.1.
(C) Have been determined by the county to have a very low
possibility of reunifying with their parents or guardians or
achieving a permanent placement.
(2) The academy shall be limited to a program described in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 16522, however,
residential facilities for participants and supervisory adults may
include consist of configurations
including, but that include, but are
not limited to, dormitory, multioccupant, clustered, hub, and other
housing layouts and arrangements as are commonly found in a college
or university environment.
(3) The program staffing ratio of staff member to client shall not
exceed one to three.
(4) Participants in the academy shall attend a local public high
school that is not located on the premises of the academy.
(b) The county shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with
the nonprofit child advocacy organization, local education agency,
and the University of California, regarding the operation of the
academy and the enrollment of academy participants in an appropriate
public high school. The memorandum of understanding shall contain, at
a minimum, all of the following:
(1) A requirement that academy participants attend a public high
school with close geographic proximity to the academy.
(2) A description of the standards for training the staff and
volunteers who will interact with the academy participants.
(b)
(c) The academy shall be reimbursed at 160 percent of
the monthly rate specified in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) of Section 11403.3.
(c)
(d) The department shall prepare a report evaluating
the effectiveness of the pilot project and shall submit the report to
the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature by
January 1, 2020.
(1) This subdivision shall become inoperative on January 1, 2024,
pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
(2) The report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall
be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(e) If the county opts to implement the academy, the county shall
ensure that permanent placement options, including reunification,
adoption, and the establishment of permanent guardianships, remain
the priority placements for children who are eligible to participate
in the academy.
(f) The academy shall meet all other requirements for a
transitional housing placement provider, except those that conflict
with the provisions of this section.
SEC. 3. No appropriation pursuant to Section 15200 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code shall be made for purposes of this act.
SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because of the unique circumstances in the County of Los Angeles with
regard to the existing First Star UCLA Bruin Guardian Scholar Summer
Academy.