BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1252| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- UNFINISHED BUSINESS Bill No: SB 1252 Author: Torres (D) Amended: 6/11/14 Vote: 21 SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 4-0, 4/22/14 AYES: Liu, Berryhill, DeSaulnier, Hancock NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/23/14 AYES: De León, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg SENATE FLOOR : 37-0, 5/29/14 AYES: Anderson, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Knight, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nielsen, Padilla, Pavley, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Vidak, Walters, Wolk, Wyland NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, Wright, Yee ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-1, 8/27/14 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Former foster youth: transitional housing program SOURCE : Foster Youth Investment Coalition (co-source) John Burton Foundation DIGEST : This bill authorizes a county, at its option, to extend the Transitional Housing Placement Program-Plus (THP-Plus) to former foster youth not more than 25 years of age, CONTINUED SB 1252 Page 2 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 education. Assembly Amendments remove references to vocational education. ANALYSIS : Existing Law: 1.Provides that a current foster youth aged 16 to 18 is eligible for placement in a program certified by the Department of Social Services (DSS) as a Transitional Housing Placement Program (THPP). 2.Provides that a nonminor dependent, as defined, ise eligible for placement in a program certified by DSS as a Transitional Housing Placement-Plus Foster Care Program (THP+FC). 3.Provides that a former foster youth ages 18 to 24 who has exited from the foster care system on or after his/her 18th birthday may elect to participate in THP-Plus for a total of 24 months. 4.Requires payments on behalf of an eligible person to be made to licensed transitional housing placement providers. 5.Establishes the California Fostering Connections to Success Act (AB 12, Beall and Bass, 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, and provides for state-only extended benefits for non-federally eligible youth. 6.Establishes multiple programs of support for dependent or formerly dependent children and the families that care for them. Each of the federally reimbursed programs has a corollary state-only funded program for children who are not eligible under Aid to Families with Dependent Children income eligibility criteria from 1996, as specified. CONTINUED SB 1252 Page 3 This bill permits a county, at its option, to extend the services provided to former foster youth under the THP-Plus who are not more than 25 years of age, and for a total of 36 months, whether or not consecutive, if the former foster youth, as specified, meets either of the following criteria: Is completing secondary education or a program leading to an equivalent credential. Is enrolled in an institution that provides postsecondary vocational education. Background Extended foster care (AB 12) . As of January 1, 2014, any youth who turned 18 while under the order of foster care placement is eligible to participate in extended foster care until the age of 21 if the youth meets one of the following requirements: Is completing high school or an equivalent program; Is enrolled in college, community college or a vocational educational program at least half time; Is employed (paid) at least 80 hours a month; Is participating in a program or activity designed to remove barriers to employment; or Is unable to meet the above requirements due to a medical condition as verified by a health practitioner. Additionally, some youth who turn 18 in guardianship under the Kinship Guardian Assistance Program or under the Adoption Assistance Program are eligible for extended foster care (if the youth was 16 or older at the time of guardianship or has a disability). Youth who are not eligible for extended foster care may be eligible for CalWORKs. Post-secondary educational attainment for former foster youth . A 2013 report also published by the Stuart Foundation entitled "At Greater Risk: California Foster Youth and the Path from High School to College," states that foster youth confront multiple risk factors for low educational attainment including CONTINUED SB 1252 Page 4 disabilities, language barriers, emotional trauma, lower educational attainment in high school, and less of a support system due to disrupted social connections. The report states that foster youth are among the most vulnerable young Californians, are more likely to attend schools with low performance rankings according to the Academic Performance Index, and that about one quarter of foster youth had a disability in contrast to one-tenth of the general population. Additionally, the report states that relative to the general student population, foster youth performed poorly on the California Standards Test in English-Language arts, with nearly a quarter scoring far below basic level on the test and another 27% scoring in the next lowest category, below basic. The report concludes that these and other findings point to the "overarching importance of providing foster youth with the support they need to complete high school as well as enroll and succeed in college at the same rates as other students." Comments According to the author's office, foster youth encounter multiple challenges to completing a college education. One of the ways that the state has been supportive of eliminating barriers to succeeding in higher education is helping youth transition in stable, independent, living situations, including the Transitional Housing Program. Additionally, the author's office cites a recent analysis by the Institute for Evidence-Based Change and the University of California Berkeley Center for Social Services Research which 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. The author's office additionally cites reports published by the Stuart Foundation that 70% of foster youth expressed interest in attending college in some capacity, but that only 10% enrolled, while it is projected that only 3% would graduate with a degree. Prior Legislation AB 427 (Hertzberg, Chapter 125, Statutes of 2001) extends the scope of the class of children who may be provided transitional CONTINUED SB 1252 Page 5 housing. AB 2774 (Assembly Human Services Committee, Chapter 873, Statutes of 1998) extends implementation of the transitional housing placement program from a three county pilot to all counties. AB 1198 (Bates, Chapter 799, Statues of 1993) creates the THPP for foster youth 17 years of age or older and in their last year of high school. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee: 1.Minor and absorbable costs to DSS 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 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 $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. SUPPORT : (Verified 8/27/14) Foster Youth Investment Coalition (co-source) John Burton Foundation (co-source) Alameda County Foster Youth Alliance Aspiranet C.A.S.A. of San Bernardino County California Alliance of Child and Family Services CONTINUED SB 1252 Page 6 California Court Appointed Special Advocates Association California Police Chiefs Association California Youth Empowerment Network City of Fontana, Mayor Pro Tem, John Roberts Family Care Network First Place for Youth Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program Project Accessing Careers through Education National Association of Social Workers Outreach Nation Seeds of Hope Outreach Resource and Family Development Young Visionaries Youth Leadership Academy ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-1, 08/27/14 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins NOES: Donnelly NO VOTE RECORDED: Harkey, Vacancy JL:k 8/27/14 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED