BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2454
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2454 (Quirk-Silva)
As Amended July 1, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |73-0 |(May 8, 2014) |SENATE: |36-0 |(August 21, |
| | | | | |2014) |
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Original Committee Reference: HUM. S.
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.
The Senate amendments make conforming and technical changes to a
related provision.
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), 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.
(Welfare and Institutions (W&I) Code Section 11400(v))
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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 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
ages of 18 and 21. (W&I Code 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. (W&I Code Section 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 Section 16115)
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill: Permited a former
nonminor dependent (NMD) who was receiving Kin-GAP Program or
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.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
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 (General Fund) per case,
depending on the placement type. Department of Social Services
anticipates very few cases.
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COMMENTS :
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 (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.
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.
California Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010: AB 12,
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) (Public Law 110-351). Specifically,
the California Fostering Connections to Success Act:
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
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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.
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), Chapter 459, Statutes of 2011, AB 1712 (Beall), Chapter
846, Statutes of 2012, and AB 787 (Stone), Chapter 487, Statutes
of 2013. Like its predecessors, 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.
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 W&I Code Section 388 to
allow for the voluntary re-entry of NMDs into foster care
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through the request of the NMD and agreement by the court that
it is in the NMDs' best interest to re-enter foster care.
Analysis Prepared by : Chris Reefe / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
FN: 0005218