BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2454 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 8, 2014 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES Mark Stone, Chair AB 2454 (Quirk-Silva) - As amended: April 2, 2014 SUBJECT : Foster youth: nonminor dependents. SUMMARY : Permits a former nonminor dependent (NMD) who was receiving Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) Program or Adoption Assistance Payment (AAP) Program assistance after they turned 18 years of age and whose guardian(s) or adoptive parent(s) are failing to provide ongoing support for the NMD, as conditioned upon the receipt of Kin-GAP or AAP services, to voluntarily re-enter extended foster care upon the approval of the juvenile court. EXISTING LAW 1)Establishes the California Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010 which, among other provisions: a) Provides for the extension of transitional foster care to eligible youth up to age 21 as a voluntary program for youth who meet specified work and education participation criteria; and, b) Requires changes to the Kin-GAP program in order to allow for federal financial participation in the program. (Chapter 559, Statutes of 2010) 2)Defines a "nonminor dependent" as a current or former foster child between the ages of 18 and 21 who is in foster care under the responsibility of the county welfare department, county probation department, or Indian Tribe and is participating in a transitional independent living plan. (W&I Code 11400(v)) 3)Provides for the voluntary continuation or reentry into foster care for nonminor dependents who meet general Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) requirements and when the nonminor youth has signed a voluntary mutual agreement, as specified. (W&I Code 11403) 4)Permits re-entry into extended foster care for a NMD whose AB 2454 Page 2 guardian or adoptive parent died if the NMD is between the ages of 18 and 21. (W&I Code 11403(c)) 5)Makes Legislative findings and declarations that the continuation of the state-funded Kin-GAP Program is necessary to ensure that wards and dependent children of the juvenile court whose placement in the home of an approved relative that is funded under the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program are equally eligible for the benefits derived from legal permanency with the related guardian and that the state can maximize improvements to federal permanency outcome measures by exiting nonfederally eligible youth to the state's subsidized kinship guardianship program. (W&I Code 11360) 6)Establishes the AAP to recruit, retain and maintain healthy and successful adoptions of youth in the child welfare system by providing supportive benefits on behalf of the adopted child to the adoptive parents. (W&I Code 16115) FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. COMMENTS : Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) Program : The Kin-GAP program was established by SB 1901 (McPherson), Chapter 1055, Statutes of 1998, to provide children exiting dependency into permanency with a relative or legal guardian. It was expanded by AB 1808 (Assembly Budget Committee) Chapter 75, Statutes of 2006 to include probation youth who were exiting delinquency. The intent of the Kin-GAP program is to help improve permanency opportunities for foster youth by providing integral support benefits to help enable the foster youth's relatives to open their home to the youth. The Kin-GAP Program offers a subsidy on behalf of children that is 100% of the basic foster care rate, based upon age. Movement to Kin-GAP is not automatic. The court, with a recommendation from the county social worker or probation officer, has discretion regarding whether termination of court involvement is in the child's best interest. Relative caregiver's participation in Kin-GAP is strictly voluntary, and not mandated by any regulations or statutes. Each family's situation is unique, therefore the decision regarding a child's permanent plan must be mutual between the county, the relative, and child AB 2454 Page 3 where age appropriate, in order to ensure that the chosen alternative will be successful. Adoption Assistance Program : California's AAP was created to reduce the number of children in foster care and help to provide stable, secure adoptive homes for eligible children. The amount of AAP support is based on the child's needs and family's circumstances, with eligibility periodically reassessed. Payments continue until the child reaches age 18, unless a mental or physical disability creates eligibility until the age of 21. For children who are federally eligible, the costs of AAP benefits are shared among the federal government, state, and relevant county. For children who are not federally eligible, the costs are shared by the state and county only. Recognizing that adoptive parents often experience financial difficulty meeting the special needs of children who formerly were placed in California's foster care system, the State Legislature created the AAP to mitigate that financial difficulty in order to provide children in foster care the security and stability of a permanent home through adoption. Children may receive a federally funded subsidy under Title IV-E or a state funded subsidy per state guidelines. To apply for the AAP, adoptive families must submit a completed Request for Adoption Assistance (AAP 1) form, which is provided by their licensed adoption agency. The responsible public agency will determine the child's special needs eligibility for participation in the program. If the child is deemed eligible, the responsible public agency will negotiate a signed adoption assistance agreement, or a deferred adoption assistance agreement will be executed with the adoptive parents, prior to finalization of the adoption. A reassessment of the child's needs and family's circumstances is conducted every two years. The amount of financial assistance is based upon the special needs of the child and circumstances of the family. California Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010 : AB 12 (Beall & Bass) Chapter 559, Statutes of 2010, was a landmark piece of child welfare legislation in California opting 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: AB 2454 Page 4 1)Re-enacted California's existing state- and county-funded Kin-GAP program to align it with new federal requirements and allow the state to bring federal financial participation into our kinship guardianship assistance program for the first time; and, 2)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 is to assist foster youth, or NMDs in their transition to adulthood, by providing them with the opportunity to create a case plan alongside their case workers tailored to 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 counter the dismal outcomes faced by youth who are forced to 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 essence, AB 12 language seeks to mirror the type of continued guidance and assistance most young adults receive from their parents and families in their late teens and early twenties. Following this paradigm, AB 12 provides nonminors with the option to petition to reenter care if they opt out of extended care and want to return before age 21, provided they meet the eligibility criteria set forth in federal and state law. In order to be eligible to continue foster care benefits up to age 21, a nonminor dependent must: continue under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court; sign a mutual agreement which commits both the nonminor and the placing agency to certain responsibilities; reside in an approved, supervised placement; work alongside his or her caseworker to prepare and participate in the transitional independent living case plan; and have his or her status reviewed every six months. In addition, pursuant to the federal Fostering Connections Act, a youth must meet one of the following five work- or education-related eligibility criteria: 1)Is completing secondary education or a program leading to an equivalent credential; AB 2454 Page 5 2)Is enrolled in an institution which provides postsecondary or vocational education; 3)Is participating in a program or activity designed to promote or remove barriers to employment; 4)Is employed for at least 80 hours per month; or 5)Is incapable of doing any of the activities described above due to a medical condition. Foster care benefits eligibility gap for Kin-GAP and AAP : The state's Fostering Connections to Success Act brought Kin-GAP and AAP benefit eligibility into alignment with federal eligibility expansions. However, over the past three years, several policy changes intended to expand eligibility for Kin-GAP and AAP benefits have created varying levels of eligibility as follows: Relative Guardian Foster youth who entered into a Kin-GAP or AAP permanency arrangement with a relative guardian prior to age 16 have their benefits terminated at age 18. A developmentally disabled foster youth or foster youth with mental health needs who entered into a Kin-GAP or AAP permanency arrangement with a relative at any age can continue to receive those benefits until age 21. However, if the foster youth entered into a Kin-GAP or AAP arrangement after 16, their benefits can continue until age 21 if the youth meets the five work- or education-related eligibility criteria indicated above. Need for this bill : The California Fostering Connections to Success Act (FCSA) of 2010 was landmark child welfare legislation. However, it was also substantial in size, amounting to 207 pages at the time of adoption. Due to the complexity and fundamental improvements this act made to the state's welfare system, follow up legislation has been needed since its adoption to help ensure its successful implementation. Since its passage, the Legislature has passed and the state has adopted three successive measures to this effect; AB 212 (Beall) in 2011, AB 1712 (Beall) in 2012, and AB 787 (Stone) in 2013. Like its predecessors, this bill continues the Legislature's AB 2454 Page 6 efforts to ensure the FCSA is properly implemented to provide necessary and integral support services to foster youth as they prepare and transition into adulthood. Re-entry for former NMDs: Current law provides opportunities for the court to resume jurisdiction of a former nonminor dependent or ward of the court for specified reasons. In these cases, a youth who was receiving foster care services when they turned 18 may opt to re-enter foster care so that he or she may remain in a healthy and safe environment and draw down services to help him or her transition into adulthood. However, this same opportunity was inadvertently left out of previous FCSA measures for NMDs who had reached permanency through permanent guardianship or adoption, but whose adoptive parents or guardians have failed to provide ongoing support while the youth was between the age of 18 and 21. Although rare, this has resulted in some NMDs being left without the parent or guardian who had committed to providing for their health, safety and wellbeing, but also without the ability to voluntarily re-enter foster care. This bill remedies this by amending Section 388 of the Welfare and Institutions Code to allow for the voluntary re-entry of NMDs into foster care through the request of the NMD and agreement by the court that it is in the NMDs' best interest to re-enter foster care. DOUBLE REFERRAL . This bill has been double-referred. Should this bill pass out of this committee, it will be referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee. AB 2454 Page 7 REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support None on file. Opposition None on file. Analysis Prepared by : Chris Reefe / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089