BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, Chair
2015-2016 Regular Session
AB 885 (Lopez)
Version: June 2, 2016
Hearing Date: June 14, 2016
Fiscal: Yes
Urgency: No
NR
SUBJECT
Foster youth
DESCRIPTION
This bill would allow a nonminor dependent to voluntarily
reenter foster care if his or her adoptive parent or guardian
fails to support him or her. This bill would also require the
State Department of Social Services to define the term "ongoing
support" for the purposes of the provision described above.
BACKGROUND
Each year in California, about 5,000 youth emancipate from
foster care, which is by far the largest number of any state in
the union. According to data from the state's Child Welfare
Services/Case Management System, about 52,000 Californians
emancipated from foster care from 1999 to 2009. The immediate
outcomes for these young adults are sobering. Studies have
shown that former foster youth, when compared to other young
adults of the same age and race, are less likely to complete
high school, attend college, or be employed. They are also at a
higher risk for becoming homeless and arrested or incarcerated.
(See Foster Care in California, Public Policy Institute of
California, 2010.)
In 1998, California established the Kinship Guardianship
Assistance Payment program (the Kin-GAP program) to provide
financial assistance for children who, after being adjudged
dependent children of the juvenile court, are placed in legal
guardianship with a relative. (SB 1901 (McPherson, Ch. 1055,
Stats. of 1998).) The program was the result of a study that
concluded that most relative caregivers have strong commitments
to the children in their care, but are averse to adoption
because it requires the termination of the parental rights of
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one of their family members. Moreover, while most relative
caregivers supported permanency planning for a child, many did
not pursue legal guardianship for fear of losing the needed
financial support they obtained under the foster care system.
In October 2008, the federal government enacted the Fostering
Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (Public Law
110-351) which offers states the opportunity to opt-in to new
federal funding streams if they choose to provide
kinship-guardianship benefits to relative guardians or provide
foster care to 18 to 21-year-old youth. AB 12 (Beall and Bass,
Ch. 559, Stats. of 2010), the California Fostering Connections
to Success Act (Act), allowed California to collect federal
funds for a significant part of California's decade-old,
state-funded Kin-GAP program. AB 12 also authorized the
juvenile courts to exercise jurisdiction over and extend foster
benefits to nonminor dependents between the ages of 18 to 21 if
they meet the specified criteria. One year later, the
Legislature enacted AB 212 (Beall, Ch. 459, Stats. of 2011) to
aid in the implementation of the Act. AB 1712 (Beall, Ch. 846,
Stats. of 2012) and AB 787 (Stone, Ch. 487, Stats. of 2013)
further clarified specific issues related to that
implementation, including clarifying that former nonminor
dependents (NMD) who reached permanency, but whose guardian,
relative, or adoptive parent died before their 21st birthday,
may reenter extended foster care.
Last year the Legislature expanded that group to include former
foster youth, whose adopted parent or guardian failed to support
them, to voluntarily re-enter extended foster care upon the
approval of the juvenile court. That bill required, in
addition, that the guardian or adoptive parent no longer be
receiving aid on the nonminor's behalf. (See AB 2454
(Quirk-Silva), Ch. 769, Stats. 2014.) This bill would modify
that process by allowing youth to re-enter foster care even if
their guardians or adoptive parents are still receiving aid on
their behalf.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
1.Existing law , the California Fostering Connections to Success
Act (Act), is a voluntary program for youth who meet specified
work and education participation criteria. The Act provides,
among other things, for the extension of transitional foster
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care benefits to eligible youth up to age 21, as specified.
(Welf. & Inst. Code Sec. 11403 et seq.)
Existing law defines a "nonminor dependent" as a current or
former foster child between the ages of 18 and 21 who is in
foster care under the responsibility of the county welfare
department, county probation department, or an Indian tribe,
and is participating in a transitional independent living
plan. (Welf. & Inst. Code Sec. 11400.)
Existing law defines "nonminor former dependent or ward" as
either:
a nonminor who reached 18 years of age while subject to
an order for foster care placement, for whom dependency,
delinquency, or transition jurisdiction has been
terminated, and who is still under the general jurisdiction
of the court; or
a nonminor who is over 18 years of age 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. (Welf. &
Inst. Code Sec. 11400 (aa).)
Existing law provides for the voluntary continuation or
reentry into foster care for nonminor dependents who meet
general Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care
(AFDC-FC) requirements, and when the nonminor youth has signed
a voluntary mutual agreement and one or more of the following
conditions exist:
the nonminor is working toward their high school
education or an equivalent credential;
the nonminor is enrolled in a postsecondary institution
or vocational education program;
the nonminor is participating in a program or activity
designed to promote or remove barriers to employment;
the nonminor is employed for at least 80 hours per
month; and/or
the nonminor is incapable of doing any of the activities
described above, due to a medical condition, and that
incapability is supported by regularly updated information
in the case plan of the nonminor. (Welf. & Inst. Code Sec.
11403.)
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Existing law allows a former nonminor dependent or delinquent
under the age of 21 to petition the court to resume dependency
jurisdiction as long as one of the following conditions are
met:
his or her former guardian or guardians died after the
nonminor attained 18 years of age, but before he or she
attains 21 years of age;
his or her former guardian or guardians no longer
provide ongoing support to, and no longer receive aid on
behalf of, the nonminor after the nonminor attained 18
years of age, but before he or she attains 21 years of age;
his or her adoptive parent or parents died after the
nonminor attained 18 years of age, but before he or she
attains 21 years of age; or
his or her adoptive parent or parents no longer provide
ongoing support to, and no longer receive benefits on
behalf of, the nonminor after the nonminor attained 18
years of age, but before he or she attains 21 years of age.
(Welf. & Inst. Code Sec. 388.1(a).)
This bill , when a youth is petitioning the court to extend
jurisdiction over him or her, would delete the above
requirement that the former guardian or adoptive parent no
longer receive aid/benefits on behalf of the nonminor.
This bill would require, no later than July 1, 2017, the State
Department of Social Services to promulgate a regulation
defining "ongoing support" for the purposes of the provisions
amended by this bill.
1.Existing law defines "voluntary reentry agreement" to mean an
agreement between a former dependent child or ward, or a
former nonminor dependent, who has had the juvenile court's
jurisdiction terminated, and the county documents the
nonminor's desire and willingness to reenter foster care, as
specified. The agreement further specifies the process of
petitioning the court and outlines the nonminor's
responsibilities. (Welf. & Inst. Code Sec. 11400(z).)
This bill would provide that a nonminor may enter into a
voluntary reentry agreement provided that his or her guardian
or adoptive parent has died and or are no longer receiving
payment on behalf of the minor.
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This bill would make other technical and clarifying changes.
COMMENT
1.Stated need for the bill
According to the author:
AB 2454 (Quirk, Ch. 769, Stats. 2014) allows former foster
youth whose guardian or adoptive parent is no longer providing
them with support to re-enter foster care. The bill allowed
for older former foster youth whose permanent placement had
failed to reenter foster care either through a voluntary
reentry agreement or by petitioning the court, provided the
funding to their parents or guardians had been terminated.
[This bill] removes the unintentional administrative barriers
that were put in place in AB 2454 by requiring foster youth
provide proof that their adoptive parents or guardians had
their funding terminated before having the opportunity to
petition the court. This simply gives them timely access to a
forum where they can provide evidence of the fact that they
are no longer being supported and why they need to re-enter
foster care. This bill also ensures the all interested
parties receive notice of the court date to hear the youth's
petition to re-enter, providing the former guardian or
adoptive parent the ability to present evidence of how they
are supporting the youth. Then, the court will determine
whether the youth is being supported and whether the youth is
permitted to re-enter after hearing all available evidence.
If the court finds the youth is no longer being supported and
orders re-entry into foster care, that would prompt the county
to both re-enter the young person and terminate any funding
that is still being provided to the former guardian or
adoptive parent. Without AB 885, youth are prevented from even
being able to petition the court to have someone hear the
merits of their case and make a determination of whether the
youth is being supported.
2.Foster care reentry for former nonminor dependents who
achieved permanency
Under existing law, the court may resume jurisdiction of a
former minor dependent or ward if a parent, guardian, or
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adoptive parent with whom the youth reached permanency has
passed away or stopped providing ongoing support for the youth.
In these cases the youth may petition the court to resume
jurisdiction so that he or she may continue receiving the
benefits and support of the foster system. Additionally, a
foster youth who turns 18 years of age while in foster care, but
who does not sign an extended foster care agreement, or who
leaves foster care voluntarily, is eligible to return to
extended foster care until 21 years of age.
This bill, a follow-up to AB 2454 (Quirk-Silva, Ch. 769, Stats.
2014), seeks to help former foster youth who were adopted out of
foster care, or had a guardianship established, but that
relationship failed after reaching the age of majority and
before turning 21 years of age. If the youth had emancipated out
of the foster care system, he or she would be eligible for
extended foster care up to the age of 21. However, prior to AB
2454, a youth in this situation were not permitted to petition
the court for extended foster care benefits. Although rare,
this inequity resulted in some nonminor former dependents being
left without support or the ability to voluntarily reenter
foster care.
This bill would remove the requirement under AB 2454 that an
adoptive parent or guardian is no longer receiving support on
behalf of the nonminor. In practice, this provision required
that a youth prove that his or her adopted parent was no longer
receiving benefits or aid. Not only is this an onerous burden
on a youth whose relationship with his or her caregiver has
deteriorated because the youth may not have access to the
necessary information, in the event that a caregiver is not
providing support to the nonminor, he or she may be struggling
to meet his or her basic needs for survival. Thus, as a matter
of public policy, should the nonminor be precluded from
petitioning the court for the services he or she needs? Yet,
given the possibility of erroneous payments, protections are
necessary to terminate the disbursement of aid and benefits to
adoptive parents and guardians who fail to provide support to
the youth to which they are obligated.
Seeking to create this protection, the author and sponsor have
amended this bill to require that payments cease in order for a
youth to voluntarily reenter foster care. Thus, if an adoptive
parent or guardian is receiving payments but not supporting a
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youth, that youth may petition the court under this bill and not
have the burden of proving that payment are being disbursed.
The court is required to hear the matter within 15 days and
could, regardless of payments, decide the youth needs the
support of the foster system. However, if the parent has died
or payments have otherwise been terminated, the youth may sign a
"voluntary reentry agreement" and bypass the need for the court
hearing. The sponsor argues that this will give the county time
to ensure that payments are terminated to an adoptive parent or
guardian before the nonminor is allowed to re-enter foster care.
3.Definition of "ongoing support"
This bill, dealing with nonminor former dependents, requires the
court and counties to assess whether or not an adoptive parent
or guardian has failed to provide "ongoing support" to a youth
between 18 and 21 years of age. While "support" for a younger
child would require all necessities, youths over the age of 18
are legally adults and what is adequate "ongoing support" should
arguably be judged by a different standard. This bill would
require, by July 1, 2017, the State Department of Social
Services to issue a regulation defining "ongoing support" for
the purposes of the provisions of this bill.
Support : Aspiranet; California Alliance of Child and Family
Services; Children Now; Children's Law Center of California;
Foster Care Counts; Imperial Valley Regional Occupational
Program; Legal Services for Children; Public Counsel's
Children's Rights Project; Santa Clara County Board of
Supervisors; Youth Law Center
Opposition : None Known
HISTORY
Source : Alliance for Children's Rights
Related Pending Legislation : None Known
Prior Legislation :
AB 2454 (Quirk, Ch. 769, Stats. 2014) authorized a nonminor
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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 787 (Stone, Ch. 487, Stats. 2013) made clarifying and
technical changes to the California Fostering Connections to
Success Act (Act) to ensure the continued implementation of the
Act.
AB 12 (Beall and Bass, Ch. 559, Stats. 2010) established the
California Fostering Connections to Success Act, which extended
transitional foster care services to eligible youth between ages
18 and 21 and required California to seek federal financial
participation for Kin-GAP.
AB 212 (Beall, Ch. 459, Stats. 2011) made technical and
clarifying changes to the California Fostering Connections to
Success Act.
AB 1712 (Beall, Ch. 846, Stats. 2012) made technical and
clarifying changes to the California Fostering Connections to
Success Act.
Prior Vote :
Senate Human Services Committee (Ayes 5, Noes 0)
Assembly Floor (Ayes 79, Noes 0)
Assembly Appropriations Committee (Ayes 17, Noes 0)
Assembly Judiciary Committee (Ayes 10, Noes 0)
Assembly Human Services Committee (Ayes 7, Noes 0)
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