BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2454
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 30, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 2454 (Quirk-Silva) - As Amended: April 2, 2014
Policy Committee: JudiciaryVote:10
- 0
Human Services 7
- 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
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 failing to provide ongoing support for the
former dependent.
FISCAL EFFECT
Potential state costs for extended foster care and adoption
assistance benefits for former nonminor dependents (NMDs) whose
guardian, relative, or adoptive parent fail to provide ongoing
support until the NMD's 21st birthday. Annual costs would be in
the range of $12,000 to $36,000 (GF) per case, depending on the
placement type. Department of Social Services anticipates very
few cases.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The author notes that the California Fostering
Connections to Success Act (FCSA) of 2010 was landmark child
welfare legislation. However, due to its substantial size and
complexity, follow-up legislation has been needed since its
adoption to help ensure its successful implementation. Since
its passage, the state has adopted AB 212 (Beall, 2011), 2011,
AB 1712 (Beall, 2012), and AB 787 (Stone, 2013) to ensure the
AB 2454
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FCSA is properly implemented to provide necessary and integral
support services to foster youth as they prepare and
transition into adulthood.
This bill continues the Legislature's efforts to ensure the
FCSA is properly implemented by seeking 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, 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
nowhere 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.
2)The Fostering Connections Act. In October 2008, President Bush
signed H.R. 6893 (P. L. 110 - 351), the Fostering Connections
to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. That act
seeks to improve the lives of children in foster care, provide
greater assistance to relative caregivers and improve
incentives for adoption. Key provisions of the legislation
allow for kinship guardianship assistance, similar to
California's Kin-Gap program, and extension of assistance to
foster children up to age 21.
3)The California Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010 .
AB 12 (Beall & Bass) opted the state into two provisions of
the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act of 2008 (Fostering Connections Act).
Specifically, the FCSA:
a) 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.
b) Provides transitional foster care support to qualifying
foster youth ages 18-21, phased-in over three years,
beginning in 2012.
The goal of AB 12 was to assist foster youth, or nonminor
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dependents (NMD) as they are referred to in statute, 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.
1)Nonminor Dependents . Under current law the court can resume
jurisdiction of a former NMD 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. In addition, the law allows a former foster
youth, whose adoptive parent or guardian dies before the youth
turns 21, to re-enter as a non-minor dependent NMD if he or
she meets the specified criteria.
This bill provides this same opportunity 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 this situation.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081