BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Senator McGuire, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 885
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|Author: |Lopez |
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|Version: |January 21, 2016 |Hearing |May 10, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Mareva Brown |
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Subject: Foster youth
SUMMARY
This bill deletes the requirement that a former guardian or
adoptive parent of a nonminor dependent no longer receive aid on
behalf of the nonminor before the juvenile court may resume
dependency jurisdiction, and makes other related changes.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1) Establishes under the California Fostering Connections
to Success Act and the corresponding federal Fostering
Connections to Success Act an option for states to receive
federal financial participation to continue foster care
eligibility for nonminor dependents between the ages of 18
and 21 under specific conditions. (WIC 11403)
2) Establishes various supports for dependent or former
dependent children and the families that care for them.
Each of the federally reimbursed programs has a corollary
state-only funded program for children who are not eligible
under Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) income
eligibility criteria from 1996. These programs include:
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Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster
Care (WIC 11401)
Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment
Program (Kin-GAP); (WIC 11360; WIC 11385)
Adoption Assistance Program (WIC 16115)
Non Relative Legal Guardianship (WIC 11405)
1) Permits a former nonminor dependent or delinquent who
turned 18 years of age while under the order of a foster
care placement and who is under the age of 21 to petition
the court which found the nonminor to be a dependent or
delinquent child to resume dependency jurisdiction. (WIC
388)
2) Requires a court to set a hearing within 15 judicial
days of a nonminor's petition to resume dependency if the
minor was under the juvenile court jurisdiction when
guardianship was established, and the guardian or adoptive
parent died when the nonminor was between 18 and 21 years
of age or the guardian or adoptive parent no longer
provides ongoing support and no longer receives payment on
behalf of the minor, as specified. (WIC 388.1 (c))
3) Permits nonminor dependents and former dependents to
voluntarily continue or re-enter foster care before or
after filing a petition to establish eligibility upon
meeting specified requirements. (WIC 388.1)
4) Establishes that termination of kinship guardianship
also terminates eligibility for Kin-GAP unless specified
conditions apply and an alternate guardian or co-guardian
is appointed. (WIC 388.1 (e))
5) Permits a nonminor former dependent who previously
received Kin-GAP or AAP, and whose guardian or adoptive
parent dies or no longer provides ongoing support or
receives benefits on behalf of the nonminor, to petition
the court to re-enter extended foster care if the nonminor
meets other criteria for eligibility for extended foster
care. (WIC 388.1 and WIC 11403 (c))
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This bill:
1) Deletes various requirements that a former guardian of a
nonminor dependent be no longer receiving Kin-GAP aid or
adoption assistance payment benefits on behalf of the minor
in order for a judge to hear a petition to resume the
nonminor's dependency, while retaining the requirement that
the former guardian no longer be providing support.
2) Eliminates the requirement that a guardian or adoptive
parent no longer receive payment on behalf of the minor for
a court to resume dependency jurisdiction or to receive
aid, among other considerations.
3) Permits voluntary reentry to foster care only if the
nonminor's guardian or guardians, or adoptive parent or
parents, as applicable, have died or are no longer
receiving payment on behalf of the nonminor.
4) Adds the nonminor's adoptive parent or parents and the
nonminor's guardian or guardians to the list of individuals
that the court must notify of a hearing set due to a
nonminor's petition.
FISCAL IMPACT
According to an analysis by the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations, this bill will result in an 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 FC program. To the extent two
cases per year resume dependency under the extended FC program,
cumulative costs would range between $310,000 and $410,000
annually after two years, including grant and additional social
worker administrative costs, according to the analysis.
To the extent a nonminor former dependent would have otherwise
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remained in extended Kin-GAP or AAP, estimated costs would be
offset in part by savings from terminated guardianship/adoptions
of $10,000 to $12,000 per case per year once those cases are
terminated. This bill allows a former dependent to petition for
re-entry while their guardians or adoptive parents are still
receiving aid on their behalf. Until those payments cease, those
costs would continue to be incurred, the Assembly analysis
noted.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Purpose of the bill:
According to the author, this bill eliminates unintentional
administrative barriers that were included in AB 2454 (Quirk
Silva, Chapter 769, Statutes of 2014). These barriers require
the foster youth to prove that their adoptive parents or
guardians are no longer receiving support on behalf of the
nonminor before having an opportunity to petition the court, the
author states. In some cases, the relationship between the
nonminor and guardian or adoptive parent has soured, yet the
parent or guardian continues to receive funding while providing
no support to the nonminor. In those cases, under current law,
the minor would be ineligible to petition the court to re-enter
foster care.
This bill would clarify that a nonminor who voluntarily
re-enters foster care may do so if funding has ceased to a
guardian or adoptive parent. It also permits a nonminor to
petition the court in instances where funding continues to a
guardian or adoptive parent but the nonminor is not being
supported. The court can then determine whether the youth is
being supported and whether the youth is permitted to re-enter
extended foster care.
Nonminor dependents
In 2008, the federal Fostering Connections to Success and
Increasing Adoptions Act (P.L. 110-351) made significant policy
changes to the states' child welfare programs, including
creating a program of extended foster care for nonminor former
dependents who are between ages 18 and 21. States were given the
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option to participate. Nonminors must meet certain eligibility
requirements, including:
Working toward completing secondary education or a
program leading to an equivalent credential.
Enrollment in an institution that provides
post-secondary or vocational education.
Participating in a program or activity designed to
promote, or remove barriers to, employment.
Employed for at least 80 hours per month.
Incapable of doing any of the above because of a medical
condition.
California opted to participate in the federal program two years
later with the passage of AB 12 (Beall and Bass, Chapter 559,
Statutes of 2010), and subsequent cleanup legislation (AB 212,
Beall, Chapter 459, Statutes of 2011; AB 1712, Beall, Chapter
846, Statutes of 2012, and others)
A California youth must meet four basic eligibility requirements
to receive support after age 18. Her or she must be under an
order for foster care placement on his or her 18th birthday,
meet one of the five participation conditions listed above,
agree to live in a supervised placement that is licensed or
approved for 18 to 21 year olds, and continue under the
jurisdiction of a juvenile court as a dependent, under
transitional jurisdiction or as a ward of the court.
Re-entry into foster care
In order to re-enter foster care, a nonminor dependent must
submit a petition to the juvenile court in which he or she was
previously found to be a dependent or delinquent for a hearing
to determine whether the court will resume dependency. A court
has 15 days in which to set the hearing, and must notify the
nonminor and appropriate child welfare or probation department,
as well as any other person requested by the nonminor of the
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hearing's time, date and location. Prior to the hearing, the
nonminor may voluntarily re-enter foster care if the guardian or
adoptive parent has died or is no longer receiving aid or
benefits on behalf of the nonminor.
Related legislation:
AB 2454 (Quirk Silva, Chapter 769, Statutes of 2014) permits a
nonminor former dependent who previously received extended
Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) or Adoption
Assistance Payment (AAP), but whose former guardians are no
longer providing support to the nonminor, to petition the court
to resume dependency under the extended foster care program.
AB 12 (Beall, Chapter 559, Statutes of 2010) the California
Fostering Connections to Success Act provides an option for
continued jurisdiction of federally-eligible nonminor dependents
or former dependents of the juvenile court who are between the
ages of 18 and 21, as specified.
COMMENTS
This bill centers on the determination that a guardian or
adoptive parent is no longer providing ongoing support to a
nonminor dependent. However, the definition of "ongoing support"
is vague. Staff recommends the author amend the bill as follows:
Add section (f) to WIC 388.1:
(f) No later than July 1, 2017, the State Department of Social
Services shall promulgate a regulation defining "ongoing
support," as described in this chapter.
PRIOR VOTES
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|Assembly Floor: |79 - |
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|Assembly Appropriations Committee: |17 - |
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|Assembly Human Services Committee: |7 - |
| |0 |
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POSITIONS
Support:
Alliance for Children's Rights
Aspiranet
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
Children Now
Children's Law Center of California
County Welfare Directors Association of California
Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the State
Bar of California
John Burton Foundation for Children Without Homes
Legal Services for Children
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Public Counsel's Children's Rights Project
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Youth Law Center
Oppose:
None received.
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