BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2454
Author: Quirk-Silva (D)
Amended: 7/1/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/10/14
AYES: Beall, DeSaulnier, Liu, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/24/14
AYES: Jackson, Anderson, Corbett, Lara, Leno, Monning, Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/8/14 (Consent) - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Foster youth: nonminor dependents
SOURCE : Alliance for Childrens Rights
DIGEST : This bill allows 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 petition the court to resume dependency under the
extended foster care foster care (FC) program, as specified.
ANALYSIS :
CONTINUED
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Existing law:
1. Establishes the California Fostering Connections to Success
Act (AB 12, Beall, Chapter 559 Statutes of 2010), which
corresponds with the federal Fostering Connections to Success
Act that provides an option for states to receive federal
financial participation for federally eligible nonminor
dependents or former dependents of the juvenile court who are
between the ages of 18-21 and who satisfy certain conditions.
2. Provides for the voluntary continuation or reentry into the
extended FC program for eligible nonminor dependents and
former dependents when the nonminor youth has signed a
voluntary mutual agreement and meets one or more of the
specified requirements.
3. Permits a former nonminor dependent or delinquent who turned
18 years of age while under the order of a FC program
placement and who is under the age of 21 to petition the
court which found the nonminor to be a dependent or
delinquent child to resume dependency jurisdiction.
4. Pursuant to federal eligibility criteria, establishes that a
youth who reaches adulthood while receiving federal or state
Kin-GAP or AAP is only eligible for the extended FC program
if he/she entered the program after reaching age 16, or at
any age, if the child has a qualifying mental or physical
disability.
5. Requires that termination of kinship guardianship terminates
eligibility for Kin-GAP unless specified conditions apply and
if an alternate guardian or co-guardian is appointed.
6. Permits a nonminor former dependent who previously received
Kin-GAP or AAP, and whose guardian or adoptive parent died,
to petition the court to re-enter extended FC program if the
nonminor meets other criteria for eligibility for the
extended FC program.
This bill:
1. Adds the following to the conditions under which a former
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dependent of the juvenile court between the ages of 18 and 21
years, may petition for a hearing to determine whether to
assume dependency jurisdiction:
A. A nonminor former dependent who received Kin-GAP
after reaching 18 years of age, and whose former
guardian(s) no longer provide ongoing support to, and
no longer receive aid on behalf of, the nonminor; and
B. A nonminor who received AAP after reaching 18 years
of age, and whose adoptive parent(s) no longer provide
ongoing support to, and no longer receive benefits on
behalf of, the nonminor.
2. Specifies additional criteria for requiring the juvenile
court to order a hearing within 15 judicial days of the date
the petition was filed, to include instances when there is a
prima facie showing that the nonminor's guardian(s) or
adoptive parent(s), no longer provide ongoing support to, and
no longer receive payment on behalf of, the nonminor after
he/she reached 18 years of age, but before he/she reached 21
years of age, and it may be in the nonminor's best interest
for the court to assume dependency jurisdiction.
3. Specifies that the court shall assume dependency jurisdiction
over a former dependent or ward, and order his/her placement
and care be under the responsibility of the county child
welfare services department, the probation department, tribe,
consortium of tribes, or tribal organization, if the court
finds that the nonminor's guardian(s) or adoptive parent(s)
have died, or no longer provide ongoing support to, and no
longer receive payment on behalf of, the nonminor, and it is
in the nonminor's best interests for the court to assume
dependency jurisdiction.
Comments
According to the author's office, as foster youth "age out" of
the system, they encounter many challenges to making a
successful transition to fully independent adulthood. The
author's office states that one of the most common challenges is
finding suitable housing after leaving their FC program
placement and that as emancipated and aged-out foster youth make
this transition to adult life, the lack of stable housing
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contributes to poor outcomes such as unemployment, a failure to
pursue educational opportunities, substance abuse, or
incarceration.
The author's office states that between 35% and 45% of foster
youth report that they experienced homelessness within their
first few years of exiting care and that more than a third of
the nation's homeless adults report being in FC program during
their adolescence. The author's office states that in
California 65% of youth leave FC program without a place to
live, that only 40% of eligible emancipated foster youth receive
independent living services, and that nearly 40% of
transitioning youth will be homeless within eighteen months of
discharge.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, 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 FC program.
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.
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SUPPORT : (Verified 8/15/14)
Alliance for Children's Rights (source)
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Youth Connection
Children Now
Children's Advocacy Institute
Children's Rights Project at Public Counsel
Fast Bay Children's Law Offices
National Center for Youth Law
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "This bill
allows these former foster youth to re-enter the foster care
system and receive extended foster care benefits, upon court
approval. 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. This bill remedies this problem by allowing
for the voluntary re-entry into foster care of NMDs [nonminor
dependents] in this situation. 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.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/8/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,
Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande,
Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A.
Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Eggman, Gorell, Gray, Hall, Mansoor, V.
Manuel Pérez, Vacancy
JL:d 8/17/14 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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