BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 423 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 423 (Cooley) As Amended May 28, 2015 Majority vote ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+------+--------------------+---------------------| |Human Services |7-0 |Chu, Mayes, | | | | |Calderon, Lopez, | | | | |Maienschein, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Mark Stone, | | | | |Thurmond | | | | | | | |----------------+------+--------------------+---------------------| |Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | | | | |Bonta, Calderon, | | | | |Chang, Daly, | | | | |Eggman, Gallagher, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Eduardo Garcia, | | | | |Gordon, Holden, | | | | |Jones, Quirk, | | | | |Rendon, Wagner, | | | | |Weber, Wood | | | | | | | AB 423 Page 2 | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 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 CalWORKs benefits for the child shall be the date the child was placed with the relative. AB 423 Page 3 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 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 AB 423 Page 4 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. 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)Establishes AFDC-FC as aid provided on behalf of needy children in foster care, and specifies eligibility requirements. AB 423 Page 5 (Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) Sections 11400 and 11402) 2)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 Sections 309(d)(2) and 361.45(b)) 3)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 Section 11461.3) FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill will result in: 1)Potentially major ongoing state costs (General Fund (GF)*) to immediately initiate applications and determine eligibility for AFDC-FC, CalWORKs, or ARC program benefits for foster children placed with relative caregivers. 2)Ongoing potentially significant increase in CalWORKs payments due to mandating eligibility for aid from the date of placement. 3)Potentially significant ongoing state costs for county welfare departments (CWDs) to provide an explanation of the eligibility requirements and benefit amounts of the programs to relative caregivers. Assuming 30 minutes of social worker time for 8,500 relative placements would cost about $325,000 (GF*). 4)Potentially significant ongoing state costs of about $235,000 (GF*) for CWDs to screen for SSI eligibility, assuming 30 AB 423 Page 6 minutes of social worker time. As existing law requires counties to screen for SSI for foster youth between the age of 16.5 and 17.5 years, no additional costs are assumed for this age group. 5)Potentially significant ongoing state costs of about $250,000 (GF*) to provide the infant supplement of $411 per month to an estimated 50 cases statewide. *Pursuant to Proposition 30 (November 2012) any legislation enacted after September 30, 2012, that has an overall effect of increasing the costs already borne by a local agency for programs or levels of service mandated by realignment (including child welfare services and foster care) only apply to local agencies to the extent that the state provides annual funding for the cost increase. COMMENTS: 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. AB 423 Page 7 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 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee), 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 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 AB 423 Page 8 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." Analysis Prepared by: Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN: 0000792