BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 423
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Date of Hearing: April 28, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Chu, Chair
AB
423 (Cooley) - As Amended April 23, 2015
SUBJECT: CalWORKs: relative caregivers
SUMMARY: Requires counties to take certain steps to assist
foster youth placed with relative caregivers in obtaining foster
care benefits and further expands eligibility for the receipt of
an infant supplement.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires counties, immediately upon placing a child who has
been removed from his or her home into the home of a relative,
to initiate an application for California Work Opportunity and
Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) assistance on behalf of the
child. Further specifies that, if a relative caregiver is
also needy, he or she has the responsibility for applying for
CalWORKs to cover his or her own needs.
2)Requires county welfare departments, at the same time the
CalWORKs application is initiated, to evaluate and approve or
deny the relative's home for purposes of Aid to Families with
Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) eligibility, as
specified.
3)Requires counties, in cases where a child is found to be
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ineligible for AFDC-FC, to initiate and complete an
application and determine eligibility for the Approved
Relative Caregiver Funding Option (ARC) Program, where
applicable, as specified.
4)Requires county welfare departments, upon determining that a
child is ineligible for AFDC-FC benefits, to explain the
specific basis for this determination.
5)States that the application date for AFDC-FC, ARC, or CalWORKs
benefits shall be the date the child was placed with the
relative.
6)Adds information on the ARC program to a list of information
to be provided in a notice given to adult relatives of a
removed child explaining the various options to participate in
the care and placement of a child, as specified.
7)Requires a county social worker or eligibility worker to
explain the eligibility requirements and benefit amounts for
AFDC-FC, CalWORKs, and the ARC program to a relative who has
requested placement of a child, as specified. Further
requires the county to explain any actions the relative could
take to affect the child's eligibility for those programs.
8)Entitles a teen parent who is detained or placed in the home
of a relative caregiver, as specified, to an infant
supplement, as defined.
9)States legislative intent to ensure that children placed with
relatives are able to access state funding in an equal amount
and in a similar manner to children in other types of foster
care placements.
10)States that receipt of ARC program payments shall begin
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immediately upon determination that a child is not eligible
for AFDC-FC, as specified, and that the initiation of such
payment shall not be dependent upon completion of any
application. Further states that, to the extent that an
application or related information is required, as specified,
the county shall complete the application or supply necessary
information on behalf of the relative caregiver.
11)Permits an approved relative caregiver to receive payments on
behalf of a child, as specified, regardless of whether the
child resides outside the county of jurisdiction pursuant to
his or her placement. Further requires the county of
jurisdiction to be responsible for providing the ARC payment
to the relative caregiver.
12)Requires an infant supplement for a child, as specified, to
be included in the provider rate when that child is living
with a parent who receives ARC benefits.
13)States that an ARC program relative or CalWORKs relative may
be designated as a whole family foster home.
14)States that, if aid is paid on behalf of a child whose parent
or guardian is receiving reunification services, the county
welfare department shall determine whether referral of the
case to the local child support agency is in the best interest
of the child, as specified.
15)Requires the county to screen every youth who is in foster
care and who has been determined to be ineligible for AFDC-FC
benefits for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program
eligibility, as specified. Further requires the county to
submit an SSI application to the federal Social Security
Administration (SSA) on behalf of a youth who is determined
through screening to be likely eligible for benefits.
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16)Stipulates that no continuous appropriation, as specified,
shall be made from the General Fund to counties in order to
implement this act.
EXISTING LAW:
1)States that the purpose of foster care law is to provide
maximum safety and protection for children who are being
physically, sexually or emotionally abused, neglected, or
exploited and to ensure the safety, protection, and physical
and emotional well-being of children at risk of such harm.
(WIC 300.2)
2)Declares the intent of the Legislature to, whenever possible:
preserve and strengthen a child's family ties, reunify a
foster child with his or her relatives, or when family
reunification is not possible or likely, to develop a
permanent alternative. Further states the intent of the
Legislature to reaffirm its commitment to children who are in
out-of-home placement to live in the least restrictive, most
family-like setting and as close to the child's family as
possible, as specified. (WIC 16000)
3)Requires out-of-home placement of a child in foster care to be
based upon selection of a safe setting that is the least
restrictive or most family-like and the most appropriate
setting available and in close proximity to the parent's home,
the child's school, and best suited to meet the child's
special needs and best interests. Further requires the
selection of placement to consider, in order of priority,
placement with relatives, nonrelated extended family members,
tribal members, and foster family homes, certified homes of
foster family agencies, intensive treatment or
multidimensional treatment foster care homes, group care
placements, such as group homes and community treatment
facilities, and residential treatment, as specified. (WIC
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16501.1(c)(1))
4)Establishes AFDC-FC as aid provided on behalf of needy
children in foster care, and specifies eligibility
requirements. (WIC 11400 and 11402)
5)Requires the county welfare department, immediately following
the placement of a child into the home of a relative or
nonrelative extended family member, to evaluate and approve or
deny the home for purposes of AFDC-FC eligibility, as
specified. (WIC 309(d)(2) and 361.45(b))
6)Establishes the ARC program as an optional program for
counties for the purpose of making the amount paid to approved
relative caregivers to care for non-federally-eligible
children equal to the amount paid on behalf of children who
are eligible. (WIC 11461.3)
7)Establishes in federal law the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) program, which provides block grants to states
to develop and implement their own state welfare-to-work
programs designed to provide cash assistance and other
supports and services to low-income families. (42 USC § 601
et seq.)
8)Establishes the state's TANF program, the California Work
Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program,
which provides cash assistance and other supports and services
to low-income families and is administered by the counties.
(WIC 11200 et seq.)
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9)Establishes the State Supplementary Program for Aged, Blind
and Disabled, which is intended to supplement SSI and provide
persons whose need results from age, blindness or disability
with assistance and services that help them meet basic needs
and maintain or increase independence. (WIC 12000 et seq.)
10)Provides that eligibility requirements for SSP match federal
SSI criteria, and requires a minimum level of SSP benefits to
be provided in order to maintain federal Medicaid funding, as
specified. (WIC 12000 et seq.)
11)Defines "whole family foster home" to mean a new or existing
family home that provides foster care for a minor or nonminor
dependent parent and his or her child, and is specifically
recruited and trained to assist the parenting foster youth in
the development of the skills necessary to provide a safe,
stable, and permanent home for his or her child, as specified.
(WIC 11400)
12)Requires the AFDC-FC or Kinship Guardianship Assistance
Payment (Kin-GAP) Program rate paid to a provider on behalf of
a youth who has a child living with him or her to include an
amount for care and supervision of that youth's child. (WIC
11465(a))
13)Establishes guidelines for child support payment collection
for CalWORKs participants and sanctions for failure to comply
with reporting requirements, as specified. (WIC 11477.02)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
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Relative caregivers: When a child must be removed from his or
her home, placement with a relative is often favored. Like
other foster care providers, relative caregivers are eligible to
receive certain benefits on behalf of children in order to
provide for their support; however, eligibility rules can differ
for relatives in comparison to nonrelatives.
For all caregivers, eligibility for federal AFDC-FC benefits is
maintained at the 1996 level, meaning that the family from which
a child was removed had to be earning an income under the
maximum amount allowable to receive AFDC in 1996 at the time the
child was removed. For a family of three, that maximum monthly
amount is $723. Approximately 56% of foster youth are not
eligible for federal benefits.
For nonrelative caregivers providing care for a child who does
not meet federal income limits, there is a state-only AFDC-FC
option available, with rates equal to those of the federal
program. This option is not available to relative caregivers,
however. Non-federally-eligible relative caregivers can instead
apply for CalWORKs for the child, which offers a benefit
significantly lower than that provided through the basic federal
or state-funded foster care rate (e.g., the 2014 basic foster
care rate for a 12-year-old is $800, while the CalWORKs maximum
aid payment for that child is $369 in a high-cost county).
SB 855 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 29,
Statutes of 2014, established the Approved Relative Caregiver
Funding Option (ARC) Program to use state funds to provide the
basic foster care payment to foster children placed in the homes
of relatives. The ARC program is optional for counties, and 35
counties have opted in thus far.
The ARC program does not provide certain components included in
AFDC-FC foster care benefits. These included specialized care
increments for youth with special needs and an infant supplement
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for parenting foster youth.
Need for this bill: According to the author, "Foster children
are some of the most vulnerable in our state. It is vitally
important that we do everything we can to help them succeed.
This includes funding for caregivers, support services, and an
expanded safety net for older children as they transition out of
the foster care system. The ARC program is an important step
forward in making sure that relative caregivers are given the
same funding as nonrelatives, but not all counties have opted
into the program. In counties that don't opt in, those children
who do not qualify for federal foster care benefits are still
eligible to receive CalWORKs but often their relative caregivers
do not understand how to navigate the system in order to ensure
the benefits these children are entitled to. [This bill]
clarifies procedures and application requirements for counties
that opt into the ARC program, as well requiring counties that
do not opt into the program to screen foster children in
relative placements to see if they qualify for CalWORKs
funding."
PRIOR LEGISLATION:
AB 1882 (Cooley), 2014, was similar to this bill. It died in
the Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 855 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 29,
Statutes of 2014, among other things, established the ARC
program.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Communities United Institute
Children Now
California Youth Connection (CYC)
AB 423
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Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared
by: Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089