BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 885
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
885 (Lopez)
As Amended January 21, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Human Services |7-0 |Chu, Mayes, Calderon, | |
| | |Lopez, Maienschein, | |
| | |Mark Stone, Thurmond | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Judiciary |10-0 |Mark Stone, Wagner, | |
| | |Alejo, Chau, Chiu, | |
| | |Gallagher, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Cristina Garcia, | |
| | |Holden, Maienschein, | |
| | |O'Donnell | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
AB 885
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| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Quirk, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Facilitates former foster youth re-entering care upon
the disruption of their permanent relationship. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Removes the requirement that a guardian must no longer be
receiving aid on behalf of a nonminor former dependent who
received aid under the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment
(Kin-GAP) program after the age of 18 or a nonminor who
received adoption assistance after the age of 18 in order for
those nonminors to be able to petition the court to remain in
foster care.
2)Requires the court to ensure that prior notice of a hearing
regarding a nonminor's petition to remain in foster care is
given to that nonminor's adoptive parent(s) or guardian(s).
3)Requires a nonminor's adoptive parent(s) or guardian(s) to be
deceased or no longer receiving payment on behalf of that
nonminor in order for the nonminor to enter into a voluntary
reentry agreement to establish eligibility for foster care
benefits, as specified.
4)Removes the requirement that a nonminor former dependent child
or ward of the juvenile court be receiving Aid to Families
with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) benefits, as
specified, as one criterion for continued eligibility to
receive aid. Instead requires that the child or ward be
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otherwise eligible to receive AFDC-FC benefits, as specified.
5)Makes additional technical amendments.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes a state and local system of child welfare
services, including foster care, for children who have been
adjudged by the court to be at risk or have been abused or
neglected, as specified. (Welfare and Institutions Code
Section (WIC) 202)
2)Allows a juvenile court to adjudge a child a ward or a
dependent of the court for specified reasons, including but
not limited to if the child has been left without any
provision for support, as specified. (WIC 300)
3)States that the purpose of foster care law is to provide
maximum safety and protection for children who are currently
being physically, sexually, or emotionally abused, neglected,
or exploited, and to ensure the safety, protection, and
physical and emotional well-being of children who are at risk
of harm. (WIC 300.2)
4)Defines "nonminor dependent" as a current or former foster
youth who is between18 and 21 years old, in foster care under
responsibility of the county welfare department, county
probation department, or Indian Tribe, and participating in a
transitional independent living plan. (WIC 11400(v))
5)Defines "nonminor former dependent or ward" as either:
a) A nonminor who turned 18 while subject to an order for
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foster care placement, and for whom dependency,
delinquency, or transition jurisdiction has been
terminated, and who is still under the general jurisdiction
of the court; or
b) A nonminor who is at least 18 years old and, while a
minor, was a dependent child or ward of the juvenile court
when the guardianship was established, as specified, and
the juvenile court dependency or wardship was dismissed
following the establishment of the guardianship. (WIC
11400(aa))
6)Revises and expands federal funding and programs for certain
foster and adopted children via the Fostering Connections to
Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. (Public Law
110-351)
7)Provides for extended foster care funding for youth until age
20, as well as adopts other changes to conform to the federal
Fostering Connections to Success Act. (WIC 241.1, 303, 366.3
388,391, 450, 1140, 11402, 11403)
8)Allows a nonminor former foster youth under the age of 21 to
petition the court for re-entry into foster care if his or her
guardian or adoptive parent is no longer providing him or her
with support, as specified. (WIC 388.1)
9)Allows nonminor dependents who meet general AFDC-FC
requirements, as well as one or more of a set of specified
requirements, to voluntarily continue placement in or to
re-enter into foster care. (WIC 11403(b))
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill may result in the following costs:
1)Ongoing increase in state costs in the range of $78,000 to
$103,000 (General Fund) per year for each nonminor former
dependent that resumes dependency under the extended foster
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care program. To the extent two cases per year resume
dependency under the extended foster care program, cumulative
costs would range between $310,000 and $410,000 annually after
two years, including grant and additional social worker
administrative costs.
2)To the extent a nonminor former dependent would have otherwise
remained in extended Kin-GAP or the Adoption Assistance
Program (AAP), estimated costs would be offset in part by
savings from terminated guardianship/adoptions of $10,000 to
$12,000 per case per year.
COMMENTS:
Child Welfare Services (CWS): The purpose of California's CWS
system is to protect children from abuse and neglect and provide
for their health and safety. When children are identified as
being at risk of abuse, neglect or abandonment, county juvenile
courts hold legal jurisdiction and children are served by the
CWS system through the appointment of a social worker. Through
this system, there are multiple opportunities for the custody of
the child, or his or her placement outside of the home, to be
evaluated, reviewed and determined by the judicial system, in
consultation with the child's social worker, to help provide the
best possible services to the child. The CWS system seeks to
help children who have been removed from their homes reunify
with their parents or guardians, whenever appropriate, or unite
them with other individuals they consider to be family. There
are currently close to 63,000 children and youth in California's
child welfare system; over 7,800 of these youth are between the
ages of 18 and 20.
Extended foster care: Recent changes in federal and state law
have facilitated access to extended foster care funding and
services for youth between the ages of 18 and 21. Per the
federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act of 2008, and as adopted in state law by AB 12
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(Beall), Chapter 559, Statutes of 2010, California extended
foster care to eligible child welfare and probation youth that
remain in foster care up to age 21.
The federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act of 2008 offered states the option to receive
federal financial participation for foster care for eligible
nonminor dependents. It also allowed federal reimbursement for
the Kin-GAP program, which serves youth who exit the juvenile
dependency system to achieve permanency in the home of a
relative caregiver and provides a subsidy to eligible families
that is equivalent to the basic foster care rate.
For youth who were placed with a relative guardian, or adopted,
between the time they were 16 and 18 years old, their guardians
or adoptive parents are eligible to receive Kin-GAP or AAP
funding, respectively, to provide integral supports and services
for the youth until the youth is age 21, providing the youth
meets eligibility criteria. However, sometimes the guardian or
adoptive parent fails to continue to provide support to a youth
who has turned 18. This can contribute to increased risk of
homelessness and other crisis situations for a youth who, by
virtue of being in the child welfare system, has already faced
significant troubles.
AB 2454 (Quirk-Silva), Chapter 769, Statutes of 2014, sought to
address this issue by allowing former foster youth who were
placed in guardianship or adopted between the ages of 16 and 18
to re-enter the child welfare system if their guardian or
adoptive parent fails to provide them with ongoing support and
if the parent or guardian is no longer receiving benefits on
behalf of the youth. AB 2454 allows a youth facing the
situation, as described, to petition the court and have a judge
evaluate his or her circumstances and make a determination as to
whether re-entry should be permitted, thereby allowing access to
supports and services.
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Need for this bill: The law extending foster care re-entry
rights to nonminors currently requires adoptive parents and
guardians who are receiving Kin-GAP and AAP benefits,
respectively, on behalf of a youth to have those benefits
terminated prior to the youth becoming eligible to petition for
re-entry. According to the author, this can create a
significant barrier to re-entering foster care, because the
youth often has no control over when or whether this funding is
terminated. Also, the author contends that current law bases
re-entry on the type of aid that the youth is receiving, and
thus inadvertently excludes youth that may have exited to
permanency but might not be receiving any benefit or receiving
an alternative benefit, like Supplemental Security Income.
Analysis Prepared by:
Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN:
0002599