BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2454 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 2454 (Quirk-Silva) As Amended July 1, 2014 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |73-0 |(May 8, 2014) |SENATE: |36-0 |(August 21, | | | | | | |2014) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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)) AB 2454 Page 2 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. AB 2454 Page 3 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 AB 2454 Page 4 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 AB 2454 Page 5 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