BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 900 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 20, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 900 (Levine) - As Amended April 23, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Judiciary |Vote:|7 - 3 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill authorizes the establishment of guardianships for youth between ages 18 until 21 who may qualify for federal Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Specifically, this bill: AB 900 Page 2 1)Allows a probate court, with the consent of the proposed ward, to establish a guardianship of the person for an unmarried individual, who is at least 18 years of age, but not yet 21, in connection with a petition to make necessary findings regarding SIJS, as specified. 2)Allows a court, with the consent or at the request of the ward, to extend the guardianship of the person beyond 18 years of age in order to allow the ward to complete the application process with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for classification as a special immigrant juvenile, as specified. 3)Requires Judicial Council to adopt necessary rules and forms by July 1, 2016. FISCAL EFFECT: Potential significant costs to the courts for additional guardianship procedures. The average cost of court time for each such procedure is estimated at around $1,000 for the judicial officer and support staff. The number additional guardianship cases as a result of this bill is unknown, but information from the author's office estimates that, based on the total number of unaccompanied immigrant children released to sponsors in California last year (5,800), up to 1,000 could be impacted by this bill, resulting in court costs of $1 million. The total number of such children released to sponsors thus far this year is on pace to be only one half of last year's total, so ongoing impacts to the courts could be significantly less. COMMENTS: AB 900 Page 3 1)Background. "Special Immigrant Juvenile Status" is a federal immigration classification that may help undocumented, vulnerable children and youth remain in the United States. Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-457, any unmarried person under age 21 who has been abused, neglected or abandoned by a parent may seek classification as a Special Immigrant Juvenile and then immediately apply for lawful permanent resident status. To be eligible for SIJS, a state juvenile court must first find that: a) The child is a dependent of a juvenile court or committed to the custody of a state agency or a court-appointed individual; b) Reunification with one or both of the child's parents is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis found under state law; and c) Return to the child's country of nationality or last habitual residence is not in his or her best interest. The first finding originally only applied to children under the direct jurisdiction of the juvenile court, thus limiting eligibility for SIJS. This was expanded in 2008 to include children with a court-appointed custodian, thus allowing the required findings to be made on behalf of children with guardianships established by a probate court and custodial arrangements established by a family court. This significantly expanded the number of immigrant children eligible for SIJS. Once a state court makes the requisite findings, the child may apply to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for SIJS. AB 900 Page 4 Last year, in AB 873 (Budget and Fiscal Review), Chap. 685, Stats. 2014, the Legislature specifically provided that superior courts, including juvenile, probate, or family courts, have jurisdiction to make judicial determinations regarding the custody and care of juveniles within the meaning of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, and requires the court to make an order containing the necessary findings for SIJS, if there is evidence to support them. For youths over 18 who are not dependents of the juvenile court, however, there is currently no state court proceeding under which the requisite state court findings can be made. As a result, there is a gap between who the federal government will assist under SIJS - youth under 21 who meet the necessary findings - and those who can get the necessary findings in California - all youth under 18, but only those over 18 who are nonminor dependents of the juvenile court. 2)Purpose. This bill seeks to close the gap explained above by allowing probate courts to establish guardianships for youth who are at least 18, but less than 21, and to extend existing guardianships up to 21, if done in connection with a petition to make the necessary SIJS findings. Thus, this bill allows for the necessary state court finding to help these youth become legal residents of California. Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 AB 900 Page 5