Amended in Assembly June 25, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 17

Introduced by Assembly Member Lopez

May 22, 2015

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 17—Relative to the Foster Care Tax Credit Act.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AJR 17, as amended, Lopez. Foster Care Tax Credit Act.

This measure would urge the President and the Congress of the United States to enact Senate Bill 664, known as the Foster Care Tax Credit Act, which would provide tax relief to begin delete short term end delete begin insert short-term end insert foster parents by helping to cover the actual costs of caring for a foster child.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Foster parents make a positive and tremendous
difference in the lives of so many vulnerable children by opening
their hearts and begin delete homes. However, it is a constant challenge to
recruit and retain end delete begin insert homes, and yet California faces constant
challenges in recruiting and retaining end insert enough foster families to
ensure each child is placed in a family-like setting; and

WHEREAS, Caring for a child in foster care can be more
expensive than caring for one’s own biological children. Children
placed into foster care often have experienced significant emotional
and physical trauma and have higher incidences of medical and
behavioral health issues, resulting in additional costs to foster
parents. On average, current foster care rates would have to
increase almost 40 percent nationwide to provide for basic care;
and

WHEREAS, Foster parents do not always begin delete jump into end delete begin insert begin end insert
full-time foster parenting immediately. It is not uncommon for
foster parents to begin delete begin by providing end delete begin insert first provide end insert shorter-term
respite or emergency care before “graduating” into more full-time
foster parenthood. Likewise, foster parents may intend to be
full-time; however, begin delete their placements are end delete begin insert children placed with them
may be end insert reunified with begin insert their end insert biological families after short lengths
of begin delete time, but these foster end delete begin insert time. Foster end insert parents may have multiple
placements for begin delete 3 to 4 end delete begin insert three to four end insert months at a time. begin delete One-quarter
(26 percent) of all children who exited foster care in 2013 lived in
foster care for less than six end delete begin insert According to the Public Policy Institute
of California, in California in 2010, 31 percent of children left
foster care within three end insert months; and

WHEREAS, The shortage of foster homes has been widely
reported. According to the Los Angeles begin delete Times, end delete begin insert Times in 2015, end insert
“Demand for foster beds exceeds supply by more than 30%
nationally. Forty percent of parents withdraw during their first
year, and an additional 20% say they want out, national studies
show. Those families that remain are often stuck in deep poverty
themselves”; and

WHEREAS, begin delete The more people we can encourage to become
foster parents, the greater the number of children who will be
adopted from foster care. In the 2012 fiscal year, 50,663 of the
children who exited foster care nationwide were adopted. Of end delete
begin insert Encouraging individuals to become foster parents can contribute
to a greater number of children being adopted from foster care.
According to the United States Department of Health and Human
Services, of end insert the children adopted from foster care in 2012, 54
percent were adopted by former foster parents. In 2012, that would
have equated to 27,358 children adopted by former foster parents;
and

WHEREAS, Senate Bill 664 of the 114th United States
Congress, known as the federal Foster Care Tax Credit Act, would
seek to help the many families who care for foster children for six
months or less, who unlike longer term foster families, are not
eligible for tax credit assistance under the federal Child Tax Credit,
to cover the actual cost of caring for foster children; and

WHEREAS, The Foster Care Tax Credit Act provides tax relief
to begin delete short term end delete begin insert short-term end insert foster parents and helps cover the actual
costs of caring for a foster child by establishing an
inflation-adjusted, refundable tax credit of up to $1,000 per year,
per foster child, which is prorated by the number of months a foster
child is in a family’s care; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That because foster parents make significant
and meaningful contributions to the lives of so many vulnerable
children by opening their hearts and homes, the Legislature urges
the President and the Congress of the United States to enact Senate
Bill 664 of the 114th United States Congress, known as the Foster
Care Tax Credit Act, which would provide tax relief to short term
foster parents by helping to cover the actual costs of caring for a
foster child; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of
Representatives, the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the
Senate, and each member of the California delegation to the United
States Congress.