BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 2454 (Quirk-Silva) - Foster care: nonminor dependents.
Amended: July 1, 2014 Policy Vote: HS 4-0; JUD 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 2454 would allow a nonminor former dependent
who previously received extended Kinship Guardianship Assistance
Payment (Kin-GAP) or Adoption Assistance Payment (AAP), but
whose guardian or adoptive parent no longer provides ongoing
support to, and no longer receives aid on behalf of, the
nonminor, to petition the court to resume dependency under the
extended foster care (FC) program.
Fiscal Impact: Ongoing increase in state costs in the range of
$78,000 to $103,000 (General Fund*) per year for each nonminor
former dependent that resumes dependency under the extended FC
program. To the extent two cases per year resume dependency
under the extended FC program, cumulative costs would range
between $310,000 and $410,000 annually after two years,
including grant and additional social worker administrative
costs. To the extent a nonminor former dependent would have
otherwise remained in extended Kin-GAP or AAP, estimated costs
would be offset in part by savings from terminated
guardianship/adoptions of $10,000 to $12,000 per case per year.
*Proposition 30 (November 2012) eliminated any potential mandate
funding liability for any new program or higher level of service
mandated on local agencies related to realigned programs,
including child welfare services and foster care. Rather,
legislation enacted after September 30, 2012, that has an
overall effect of increasing the costs already borne by a local
agency for programs or levels of service mandated by realignment
only apply to local agencies to the extent that the state
provides annual funding for the cost increase. Local agencies
are not obligated to provide programs or levels of service
required by legislation above the level for which funding has
been provided.
AB 2454 (Quirk-Silva)
Page 1
Background: The California Fostering Connections to Success Act
of 2010, enacted by AB 12 (Beall/Bass) Chapter 559/2010,
exercised the state option under the federal Fostering
Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008
(Public Law 110-351) of extending benefits for youth up to age
21 in the Foster Care, Adoption Assistance, and Kin-GAP
programs. AB 12 aligned the state's existing Kin-GAP program
with requirements in order to draw down federal funds and
provided for a three-year phase in of extended benefits up to
age 21 that was intended to reduce the upfront costs of program
expansion.
Significant clean-up legislation was pursued through AB 212
(Beall) Chapter 459/2011 and AB 1712 (Beall) Chapter 846/2012 to
address various issues identified subsequent to implementation
of the initial legislation.
Existing law defines "nonminor former dependent or ward" as
either:
A nonminor who reached 18 years of age while subject to
an order for foster care placement, for whom dependency,
delinquency, or transition jurisdiction has been
terminated, and who is still under the general jurisdiction
of the court, or
A nonminor who is over 18 years of age, and, while a
minor, was a dependent child or ward of the juvenile court
when the guardianship was established, as specified, and
the juvenile court dependency or wardship was dismissed
following the establishment of the guardianship.
Existing law provides that a nonminor former dependent is not
eligible for reentry into extended foster care as a nonminor
dependent of the juvenile court, unless the nonminor former
dependent's guardian or adoptive parent has died, and the
nonminor is between the ages of 18 and 21 years.
Proposed Law: This bill would allow a nonminor former dependent
who previously received extended Kin-GAP or AAP, but whose
guardian or adoptive parent no longer provides ongoing support
to, and no longer receives aid on behalf of, the nonminor, to
petition the court to resume dependency under the extended FC
program.
AB 2454 (Quirk-Silva)
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Prior Legislation: AB 12 (Beall/Bass) Chapter 559/2010 enacted
the California Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010, and
authorized the state to exercise the option of extending
benefits in the Foster Care, Kin-GAP, Fed-GAP, and AAP to age 21
for youth who meet specified criteria. AB 12 also provided for
the alignment of the Kin-GAP program with federal requirements
in order to receive federal financial participation.
AB 212 (Beall) Chapter 459/2011, the follow-up legislation to AB
12, made various technical and substantive changes to law in
order to ensure the proper implementation of the California
Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010.
AB 1712 (Beall) Chapter 846/2012 expanded the definition of
"relative" for purposes of both the federal and state-funded
Kin-GAP programs to include guardians who are non-related
extended family members, tribal kin, or current caregivers of
foster children, as specified, and extended eligibility for
non-related legal guardian placements to age 21.
AB 787 (Stone) Chapter 487/2013, among other provisions, allows
re-entry into nonminor dependency for nonminor former dependents
who reached permanency whose guardian died before their 21st
birthday.
AB 985 (Cooley) 2013 would have expanded eligibility for
extended state Kin-GAP benefits to age 21 to youth who attain 18
years of age while receiving federal or state KinGAP benefits
and who entered the program prior to reaching the age of 16,
subject to specified criteria. This bill was held on the
Suspense File of this Committee.
Staff Comments: Authorizing extended foster care benefits for a
nonminor former dependent whose guardian no longer provides
ongoing support to, and no longer receives aid on behalf of, the
nonminor is estimated to result in increased state costs in the
range of $78,000 to $103,000 (General Fund) per case, depending
on the placement type. This estimate is based on a monthly
assistance and administrative cost for a nonminor of $6,464 for
an extended FC placement in a supervised independent living
placement (SILP) and $8,544 for an extended FC placement in a
transitional housing placement-plus (THP-Plus) program. While
the number of cases that will resume dependency under the
provisions of this bill is unknown, to the extent two cases per
AB 2454 (Quirk-Silva)
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year resume dependency under the extended FC program, cumulative
costs would range between $310,000 and $410,000 annually after
two years, including grant and additional social worker
administrative costs. To the extent a nonminor former dependent
would have otherwise remained in extended Kin-GAP or the AAP
program in the absence of this measure, estimated new costs
would be offset in part by savings from terminated
guardianships/adoptions of $10,000 to $12,000 per case per year.
Prior to Fiscal Year (FY) 2011-12, the state and counties
contributed to the non-federal share of child welfare services
and foster care expenditures. AB 118 (Committee on Budget)
Chapter 40/2011 and ABX1 16 Chapter 13/2011 realigned state
funding to the counties through the 2011 Local Revenue Fund
(LRF) for various programs, including child welfare services and
foster care. As a result, beginning in FY 2011-12 and for each
fiscal year thereafter, non-federal funding and expenditures for
foster care and child welfare services activities are funded
through the LRF.
Proposition 30 was passed by the voters in November 2012, and
among other provisions, eliminated any potential mandate funding
liability for any new program or higher level of service
mandated on the counties related to realigned programs,
including child welfare services and foster care. Rather,
legislation enacted after September 30, 2012, that has an
overall effect of increasing the costs already borne by a local
agency for programs or levels of service mandated by realignment
only apply to local agencies to the extent that the state
provides annual funding for the cost increase. Local agencies
are not obligated to provide programs or levels of service
required by legislation above the level for which funding has
been provided.
To the extent it is determined that the provisions of this bill
impose a higher level of service on local agencies or result in
an increase in overall costs already borne by counties for the
provision of child welfare services and foster care, the state
could potentially elect to, but not be required to, provide
funding for the cost increase.
AB 2454 (Quirk-Silva)
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