Amended in Assembly September 8, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 103

Introduced by Assembly Member McCarty

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O’Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Rodriguez, Salas, Steinorth, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, and Wood)

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August 26, 2015

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 103—Relative to adoption.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 103, as amended, McCarty. Court Adoption and Permanency Month.

This measure would designate November 2015 as Court Adoption and Permanency Month and would encourage the courts and their local communities to join in activities to expedite permanency for children.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Consistent with its commitment to support practices
and procedures that promote access to justice and improved case
outcomes for California’s children and families, the Judicial
Council has recognized November as Court Adoption and
Permanency Month every year since 1999; and

WHEREAS, Nearly half a million incidents of child abuse and
neglect are reported each year in California, and about 23,400
children enter child welfare-supervised foster care for the first
time each year; and

WHEREAS, Nearly 62,900 children in California live apart
from their families in child welfare-supervised out-of-home care;
and

WHEREAS, Thirty-eight percent of the children in foster care
in California have lived apart from their families for two or more
years; and

WHEREAS, Twenty-four percent of the youth in care are
transitional-age youth between 16 and 20 years of age, inclusive;
and

WHEREAS, Of the more than 26,000 California children who
left foster care in 2014, approximately 57 percent were reunited
with their families, 22 percent were adopted, and 6 percent exited
foster care without reunifying or obtaining a permanent home by
the time they reached the age of majority; and

WHEREAS, Local courts and communities throughout
California have created programs promoting permanency that have
resulted in a reduction in the number of children waiting to live in
safe, stable, and permanent homes; and

WHEREAS, The Judicial Council has endeavored to support
these programs by creating resources, including children’s activity
books, orientation videos, and written materials for parents, to
encourage parents and children in the dependency process; and

WHEREAS, The Judicial Council remains committed to working
with the Governor, the Legislature, and local courts and
communities to ensure that every abused or neglected child finds
a safe, stable, and permanent home with a loving family as quickly
as possible; and

WHEREAS, The Assembly and Senate are committed to
working together to improve outcomes for children in the child
welfare system; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates
November 2015 as Court Adoption and Permanency Month, during
which the courts and their local communities are encouraged to
join in activities to expedite permanency for children; and be it
further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.