BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 423
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
423 (Cooley)
As Amended May 28, 2015
Majority vote
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|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
| | | | |
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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.
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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
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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.
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(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
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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.
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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
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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