BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1252
Page A
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1252 (Torres)
As Amended June 11, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :37-0
HUMAN SERVICES 6-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-1
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|Ayes:|Stone, Maienschein, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Ammiano, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Ian Calderon, Garcia, | |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, |
| |Lowenthal | |Gomez, Holden, Jones, |
| | | |Linder, Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Lowenthal |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Donnelly |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Authorizes a county child welfare agency (CWA) to, at
its option, extend transitional housing services to a former
foster youth who is over 21 years of age but not more than 25
years of age, and for a total of 36 cumulative months, if the
former foster youth is completing secondary education or is
enrolled in an institution that provides postsecondary or
vocational education.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Minor and absorbable costs to the Department of Social
Services to update program requirements.
2)Unknown, potentially significant costs to counties that choose
to provide this optional service. It is unknown what
percentage of youth would be offered and utilize the extension
in Transitional Housing Program-Plus (THP-Plus) services.
However, annual costs to provide THP-Plus services to 10% of
the 2,000 youth being served annually would be in the range of
$5.4 million assuming a monthly THP-Plus provider rate of
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$2,258 (weighted average cost across the three housing
models).
3)Proposition 30, passed by the voters in November 2012,
provided that legislation enacted after September 30, 2012,
that increases the costs already borne by a local agency for
programs or levels of service mandated by the 2011 realignment
legislation only applies to local agencies if the state
provides annual funding for the cost increase. This bill
contains no state funding for the extension of services.
COMMENTS :
California Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010: AB 12
(Beall) Chapter 559, Statutes of 2010, 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)Reenacted California's existing state and county-funded
Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program (Kin-GAP)
program to align it with new federal requirements and allow
the state to bring federal financial participation into our
kinship guardian 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 "nonminor
dependents" as they are referred to in statute, in their
transition to adulthood by providing them with the opportunity
to create a case plan alongside their case worker tailored to
their individual needs, which charts the course towards
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.
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Transitional Housing for Current and Former Foster Youth: In
California, three transitional housing placement options have
been established for current and former foster youth including
the Transitional Housing Placement Program (THPP) for current
minor foster youth or wards ages 16 to 17, Transitional Housing
Placement Plus Foster Care Program (THP+FC) for current nonminor
dependent foster youth ages 18 to 20, and THP-Plus for former
foster youth ages 21 to 23. These placement options are
licensed by the California Department of Social Services, and
providers may offer THPP or THP+FC, or both options.
Transitional Housing Placement Program: Licensed THPP providers
receive monthly reimbursement rates to provide transitional
housing and a safe living environment for 16 and 17 year old
minor wards or dependents and to enable the minor foster youth
to develop independent living skills as they approach adulthood.
The program provides supportive services based on a minor's
transitional independent living plan (TILP) and the Needs and
Services plan as developed by the provider. Participants are
permitted to live alone or with roommates in apartments,
condominiums, or single family dwellings. However, program
providers are required to employ social work staff and to ensure
that a social worker is available on call 24-hrs a day to
respond to emergencies. Additionally participants are supported
by county social workers, and ILP coordinators.
Transitional Housing Placement Plus Foster Care: The THP+FC
program is a new foster care placement option that was
established through the enactment of extended foster care and
provides transitional housing to nonminor dependents aged 18 to
20 (up to age 21). Similarly to THPP, licensed THP+FC providers
offer safe housing for nonminor dependents and assistance in
developing the skills needed for transitioning to independent
living and supportive services are provided based on their TILP
and Needs and Services plan. There are three housing models
provided for in this program including a "single site" apartment
complex where all participants live, a "remote site" of leased
rental units within a larger housing development, and "host
families" where the participant resides with the previous foster
family or another family or adult. According to a recent report
published by the John Burton Foundation<1>, in FY 2012-13,
average monthly rates for THP+FC were $2,797 for the single site
---------------------------
<1> THP-Plus/THP+FC Annual Report and Policy Brief for Fiscal
Year 2012-13.
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model, $2,797 for the remote site model and $2,225 for the host
family model. As of June 30, 2013, there were 273 youth in
placement and licensed programs in 21 counties.
Transitional Housing Program-Plus: The THP-Plus is an optional
county-based program in which county-certified providers offer
transitional housing to former foster youth and wards that
emancipated from foster care at or after age 18. Former foster
youth in this program are eligible for housing for up to 24
months until they reach age 24. There are three housing models
provided for in this program including a "single site" apartment
complex where all participants live, a "scattered site" of
leased apartments throughout the community, and "host families"
where the participant resides with the previous foster family or
another family or adult. Unlike THP+FC, THP-Plus does not
require staff to reside on site with the youth.
Need for the bill: Stating the need for the bill, the author
writes:
A recent analysis by the Institute for Evidence-Based
Change (IEBC) and the University of California,
Berkeley's Center for Social Services Research (CSSR)
found that foster youth graduate from high school,
enroll in community college, and persist in community
college for a second year at lower rates than, not
only students in the general population, but also
other disadvantaged students. Additionally, according
to a report by the Stuart Foundation, "Foster Youth
Education Outcomes in Four California Counties", 70%
of the 55,218 youth enrolled in foster care the
previous year expressed interest in enrolling in
higher education and academics, but only 10% actually
attended college in some capacity. Further, of the
10% who did enroll it was projected that only three
percent of those youth would realize their goals of
graduating with a degree, translating into only 116
youth of the overall population graduating from
college.
Analysis Prepared by : Chris Reefe / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
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