BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2454
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Bob Wieckowski, Chair
AB 2454 (Quirk-Silva) - As Amended: April 2, 2014
PROPOSED CONSENT
SUBJECT : NONMINOR DEPENDENTS: FAILED ADOPTION OR GUARDIANSHIP
KEY ISSUE : SHOULD A FORMER FOSTER YOUTH WHO IS UNDER 21, BUT
WHOSE ADOPTION OR GUARDIANSHIP HAS FAILED, BE PERMITTED TO
VOLUNTARILY RE-ENTER EXTENDED FOSTER CARE WITH THE APPROVAL OF
THE JUVENILE COURT?
SYNOPSIS
This bill seeks to ensure successful implementation of the
California Fostering Connection to Success Act (FCSA) of 2010 by
allowing former foster youth, who were receiving Kinship
Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) Program or Adoption
Assistance Payment (AAP) Program assistance after they turned 18
years and whose guardians or adoptive parents have failed to
support them, to voluntarily re-enter extended foster care upon
the approval of the juvenile court. The FCSA provides
transitional foster care support to qualifying foster youths
ages 18-21. Due to the complexity and fundamental improvements
the FCSA made to the state's welfare system, follow up
legislation has been needed since its adoption to help ensure
its successful implementation. This bill continues the
Legislature's 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. This bill
passed the Assembly Human Services Committee unanimously and has
no opposition.
SUMMARY : Permits a former dependent to voluntarily re-enter
extended foster care upon the approval of the juvenile court if
specific requirements are met. Specifically, this bill provides
that a former dependent under 21 years of age can voluntarily
re-enter extended foster care upon the approval of the juvenile
court if the former dependent had been receiving assistance
under Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) Program
or the Adoption Assistance Payment (AAP) Program after he or she
turned 18 years of age, but the guardian or adoptive parent is
AB 2454
Page 2
failing to provide ongoing support for the former dependent.
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.
(AB 12 (Beall), Chap. 559, Stats. 2010.)
2) Defines a "nonminor dependent" (NMD) as a current or
former foster child between the ages of 18 and 21 who is in
foster care and under the responsibility of the county
welfare department, county probation department, or Indian
tribe and is participating in a transitional independent
living plan. (Welfare & Institutions Code Section
11400(v). Unless stated otherwise, all further statutory
references are to the Welfare & Institutions Code.)
3) Provides for the voluntary continuation or reentry into
foster care for NMDs who meet general Aid to Families with
Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) requirements, as
specified. (Section 11403.)
4)Permits re-entry into extended foster care for a NMD whose
guardian or adoptive parent died if the NMD is between the age
of 18 and 21. (Section 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. (Section 11360.)
AB 2454
Page 3
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. (Section
16115.)
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.
COMMENTS : This bill seeks to help former foster youth who were
adopted out of foster care or who had a guardianship established
but who, for whatever reasons, had those relationships fail
after the youth turned 18 but before turning 21. If the youth
had emancipated out of the foster care system, he or she would
be eligible for extended foster care up to the age of 21.
However, as the law currently stands, if that former foster
youth had been adopted or was under a guardianship when he or
she turned 18 and that relationship failed, the youth has no
where to turn for help. This bill allows these former foster
youth to re-enter the foster care system and received extended
foster care benefits, upon court approval.
Affected Programs : The Kin-GAP program is intended to help
improve permanency opportunities for foster youth with relatives
or legal guardians by providing financial support to help enable
the foster youth's relatives to open their home to the youth.
This support is not automatically given. 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. Each family's
situation is unique, therefore the decision regarding a child's
permanent plan must be mutual between the county, the relative,
and the child where age appropriate, in order to ensure that the
chosen alternative will be successful.
California's AAP was created to reduce the number of children in
foster care and help provide stable, secure adoptive homes for
eligible children. The amount of AAP support is based on the
child's needs and family's circumstances, and continue until the
child reaches age 18, unless a mental or physical disability
creates eligibility until the age of 21. The AAP mitigates the
financial difficulty many adoptive parents experience when
meeting the special needs of children who were formerly placed
in California's foster care system.
AB 2454
Page 4
California Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010 : The
California Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010 was
landmark child welfare legislation to opt the state into two
provisions of the federal Fostering Connections to Success and
Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Fostering Connections Act).
Specifically, the FCSA:
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
California's kinship guardianship assistance program for the
first time; and,
2.Provides transitional foster care support to qualifying foster
youth ages 18-21, phased-in over three years, beginning in
2012.
The goal of the FCSA is to assist NMDs in their transition into
adulthood, by providing them with the opportunity to create a
case plan alongside their caseworkers tailored to their
individual needs, which charts the course towards independent
living 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, FCSA 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. It 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 sate law.
To be eligible to continue foster care benefits up to age 21, a
NMD 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
AB 2454
Page 5
Fostering Connections Act, a youth must meet one of five work-
or education-related eligibility criteria.
Foster Care Benefits Eligibility Gap for Kin-GAP and AAP : The
FCSA 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 to Kin-GAP and AAP benefits have created varying
levels of eligibility for these programs related to extended
care. The eligibility for NMDs with a relative guardian is as
follows:
1.Foster youth who entered into Kin-GAP or AAP permanency
arrangement with a relative guardian prior to age 16 have
their benefits terminated at age 18.
2.A developmentally disabled foster youth or foster youth with
mental health needs who entered into a Kin-GAP or AAP
permanency arraignment with a relative at any age can continue
to receive those benefits until age 21.
3.If the foster youth entered into a Kin-GAP or AAP arrangement
after age 16, their benefits can continue until age 21 if the
youth meets the five work- or education-related eligibility
criteria.
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. In addition, the law specifically
allows a former foster youth, whose adoptive parent or guardian
dies before the youth turns 21, to re-enter as a NMD if he or
she meets the specified criteria.
However, this same opportunity was inadvertently left out of
previous FCSA measures for NMDs who have reached permanency
through permanent guardianship or adoption, but whose adoptive
parents or guardians then fail to provide ongoing support while
the youth is 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 problem by
allowing for the voluntary re-entry into foster care of NMDs in
AB 2454
Page 6
this situation.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support :
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Youth Connection
Opposition :
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Leora Gershenzon and Marisa Shea / JUD. /
(916) 319-2334