BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 528| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: SB 528 Author: Yee (D) Amended: 5/28/13 Vote: 21 SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 6-0, 4/9/13 AYES: Yee, Berryhill, Emmerson, Evans, Liu, Wright SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 6-1, 4/23/13 AYES: Evans, Walters, Corbett, Jackson, Leno, Monning NOES: Anderson SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 5/1/13 AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Correa, Hancock, Hueso, Jackson, Monning NO VOTE RECORDED: Huff SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-0, 5/23/13 AYES: De León, Walters, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines SUBJECT : Dependents: care and treatment: minor and non-minor dependent parents SOURCE : Children's Law Center John Burton Foundation Public Council The Alliance for Children's Rights DIGEST : This bill adds parenting minor and non-minor CONTINUED SB 528 Page 2 dependents (foster youth) to the list of families who are eligible for subsidized state and federal child care and development services, and makes other changes related to foster youth. ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that, in order to be eligible for federal and state subsidized child care and development services, a family must be a current aid recipient, income eligible, homeless, or one whose children are recipients of protective services or identified as being at risk of being abused, neglected or exploited and a family must need child care for one of the following reasons: 1.The child is a recipient of child protective services, is being, or is at risk of being, neglected, abused or exploited. 2.The parents are engaged in vocational training, employed or seeking employment, seeking permanent housing, or are incapacitated. Existing law establishes priorities for enrollment in federal or state subsidized child development services as follows: 1.First priority is for neglected or abused children who are recipients of child protective services, or children who are at risk of being neglected or abused. 2.Second priority shall be given equally to eligible families regardless of the number of parents in the home, who are income eligible. Within this priority, families with the lowest gross monthly income in relation to family size must be admitted first. If two or more families are in the same priority in relation to income, the family that has a child with exceptional needs to be admitted first. The California Fostering Connections to Success Act extends transitional foster care services to eligible youth between 18 and 21 years of age as follows: 1.Effective January 1, 2012, extends foster care to eligible youth up to their 19th birthday. 2.Effective January 1, 2013, extends foster care to eligible youth up to their 20th birthday. CONTINUED SB 528 Page 3 3.Effective January 1, 2014, extends foster care to eligible youth up to their 21st birthday. An eligible youth is a non-minor dependent who meets at least one of the following five conditions: 1.Is completing high school or an equivalency certificate program. 2.Is enrolled in a postsecondary or vocational educational institution. 3.Is participating in a program designed to promote, or remove barriers to employment. 4.Is employed for at least 80 hours per month. 5.Is incapable of doing one of the above due to a medical condition, and that incapability is supported by case plan information that is brought up-to-date regularly. This bill: 1.Adds to the requirements families must meet in order to be eligible for federal and state subsidized child development services, one in which one or both parents are foster youth or non-minor dependents under 21 years of age. 2.Adds to the requirements families must meet in order to be eligible for foster care, one in which the parents are foster youth or non-minor dependents. 3.Establishes that if two or more families are in the same priority in relation to income, the family that has a child with exceptional needs, or the family in which one or both parents are foster youth or non-minor dependents under 21 years of age, is required to be admitted first to receive federal and state subsidized child development services. Grants priority enrollment for families in which one or both parents are foster youth or non-minor dependents under 21 years of age when slots become available, but shall not displace children who are currently receiving care. 4.Requires, if there is no family of the same priority with a CONTINUED SB 528 Page 4 child with exceptional needs, or a family in which one or both parents are foster youth or non-minor dependents under 21 years of age, the same priority family that has been on the waiting list for the longest time to be admitted first. For purposes of determining order of admission, the grants of public assistance recipients are to be counted as income. 5.Clarifies that nothing in this section should be construed as limiting the rights of dependent children, to consent to, among other things, the diagnosis and treatment of sexual assault, medical care relating to the prevention or treatment of pregnancy, including contraception, abortion, and prenatal care, treatment of infectious, contagious, or communicable diseases, mental health treatment, and treatment for alcohol and drug abuse. 6.Clarifies that, if a dependent child is 12 years of age or older, his/her social worker may inform the child of his/her right as a minor to consent to and receive those health services, as necessary. 7.Permits social workers to provide dependent children with age-appropriate, medically accurate information about sexual development, reproductive health, and prevention of unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections on an ongoing basis. 8.Amends the Welfare and Institutions Code to include that all children in foster care are required to have access to age-appropriate information about reproductive health care, the prevention of unplanned pregnancy, and the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections at 12 years of age or older. 9.States the intent of the Legislature to ensure that complete and accurate data on parenting minor and non-minor dependents and their children are collected, and that the Department of Social Services ensures that the specified information is publicly available on a quarterly basis by county about parenting minor and non-minor dependents and their children. 10.Permits child welfare agencies to provide minor parents and non-minor dependent parents with access to social workers or resource specialists who have received training on the needs CONTINUED SB 528 Page 5 of teenage parents and available resources, as specified. 11.Encourages child welfare agencies to update the case plans for pregnant and parenting dependents within 60 calendar days of the date the agency is informed of a pregnancy. 12.Permits child welfare agencies when updating the case plan, to hold a specialized conference to assist pregnant or parenting foster youth and non-minor dependents as specified, and to inform the case plan. 13.Requires the specialized conference to include the pregnant or parenting minor or non-minor dependent, family members, and other supportive adults, and the specially trained social worker or resource specialist. Permits the specialized conference to include other individuals, as specified. 14.Clarifies that participation in the specialized conference is voluntary on the part of the foster youth or non-minor dependent and assistance in identifying and accessing resources is not dependent on participation in the conference. 15.Permits child welfare agencies, local educational agencies, and child care resource and referral agencies to make reasonable and coordinated efforts to ensure that minor parents and non-minor dependent parents who have not completed high school have access to school programs that provide onsite or coordinated child care, and that minor dependent parents are given priority for subsidized child care. Prior Legislation SB 244 (Wright, 2009), would have granted priority for eligibility of and enrollment for children of foster youth and adopted children ages birth to five if enrolling in a licensed child care program or one offered by a school district or county office of education. SB 244 also addressed priorities for enrollment of dependent children in the California State Preschool Program. SB 244 passed the Assembly Human Services Committee but was not heard by the Assembly Education Committee. AB 769 (Torres, 2009), would have extended priority for enrollment in a state preschool program to children who have a CONTINUED SB 528 Page 6 biological parent who is, or who has been within the previous six months, under the jurisdiction of the delinquency or dependency court. AB 769 was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, whose veto message read: This bill results in significant Proposition 98 General Fund costs pressures. Absent additional funding to support this policy shift, enacting this measure would result in denying access to state funded preschool programs to other low income families who are currently on waiting lists for subsidized care. Moreover, children of those under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court system already may access child care on a priority basis under current law, to the extent that they are at risk of abuse or neglect. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Potential minor General Fund (Proposition 98) cost pressure on existing subsidized state child care demand to the extent children of minor dependent parents are prioritized above other children on the waiting list who are both income eligible and whose parents demonstrate a need for care. (No impact estimated for nonminor dependent parents, as these parents are required to participate in education/work activities and would already be considered a priority group demonstrating need). Significant ongoing state costs (General Fund) potentially in the hundreds of thousands to low millions of dollars for mandated activities on social workers to update case plans, provide age-appropriate health information, provide assistance in accessing resources, hold specialized conferences, and coordinate efforts with LEAs and child care R&R agencies. CONTINUED SB 528 Page 7 Significant ongoing costs potentially in the hundreds of thousands to low millions of dollars (General Fund) for specialized training for social workers and/or recruitment of resource specialists. Annual costs will be dependent on the depth of training and number of social workers and/or resource specialists required to meet the needs of this population. Assuming a minimum of one resource specialist per county at a cost of $50,000 per year will equate to $2.9 million. Potential near-term increase in Medi-Cal services costs to the extent the provisions of this bill result in referrals for additional health services. Potential future cost savings to the extent the provision of preventive services and treatment result in reduced need for additional services prospectively. Unknown, one-time significant programming/automation costs potentially in excess of $1 million (General) to capture data in CWS/CMS specific to dependent parents, their children, their age, ethnic group, placement type, and time in care. Ongoing moderate mandated data reporting costs (General Fund) to counties on parenting minor and nonminor dependents and their children. Potentially significant mandate on LEAs (General Fund) to coordinate efforts to ensure minor dependent parents who have not completed high school have access to school programs that provide onsite or coordinated child care, and are given priority for subsidized child care. Potential substantial future cost savings to the extent the provision of coordinated parenting services to foster youth and earlier provision of information on reproductive health results in improved care for the children of these dependents and reduces the rate of unintended pregnancies and other health-related issues. SUPPORT : (Verified 5/23/13) Children's Law Center (co-source) John Burton Foundation (co source) CONTINUED SB 528 Page 8 Public Council (co-source) The Alliance for Children's Rights (co-source) ACLU Advancement Project Aspiranet Bay Area Youth Centers Bill Wilson Center Black Women for Wellness California Adolescent Health Collaborative California Alternative Payment Program Association California Attorneys for Criminal Justice California Coalition for Youth California Federation of Teachers California Latinas for Reproductive Justice California Public Defenders Association California State PTA California Women's Law Center Children's Advocacy Institute Citizens for Choice Crittenton Services for Children and Families Dependency Legal Group of San Diego East Bay Children's Law Offices EMQ FamiliesFirst Every Child Foundation Family Care Networks, INC Feminist Majority First Place for Youth Five Acres Gavilan College Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley Hillsides Home Start Housing California Larkin Street Youth Services League of Women Voters of California Legal Services for Children LIFETIME Moorpark College Mountain Circle Family Services National Center for Youth Law National Council of Jewish Women New Alternatives, INC NYC Children's Services Optimist Youth Homes and Family Services CONTINUED SB 528 Page 9 Promesa Behavioral Health Redwood Children's Services, Inc. Seneca Family Agencies Twigs to Trees Inc. University of Southern California School of Social Work WestCoast Children's Clinic Western Center on Law & Poverty Youth and Family Programs OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/23/13) California Pro Life Council California Right to Life, Inc. ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "Research from the University of Chicago suggests that extending foster care to age 21 will roughly double the incidence of parenting youth in foster care. Given this, it is important that California's foster care system adapt itself to meet the real needs of parenting youth and their children. This bill seeks to help support foster youth who are pregnant and parenting be successful in their situation and help end the intergenerational cycle within the foster care system. It also aims to inform foster youth about reproductive health in order to avoid problematic situations before they start." ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : California ProLife Council states "One part of SB 528 would force state agencies and workers to create ways for minor parents and non-minor dependents to receive abortions. Many of these children have been abused, neglected and now will have state agencies make items like abortion their focus rather than the needs of those they are charged with." JL:ej 5/28/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED SB 528 Page 10 CONTINUED