Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 919

Introduced by Assembly Member Dababneh

February 26, 2015

An act begin insert to amend Section 13753 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, end insert relating to foster youth.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 919, as amended, Dababneh. Foster youth: begin delete permanency. end delete begin insert social security insurance. end insert

Existing law provides for the out-of-home placement, including foster care placement, of children who are unable to remain in the custody and care of their parents. begin delete Existing law requires the juvenile court to hold a permanency hearing no later than 12 months after a child has entered foster care to determine the permanent plan for the child. Existing law authorizes the juvenile court to order one of several permanent plans, including an order that the child be placed in long-term foster care, subject to periodic review. end delete begin insert Existing law, the federal Social Security Act, provides for benefits for eligible beneficiaries, including survivorship and disability benefits and supplemental security income (SSI) benefits for, among others, blind and disabled children. Existing law also provides for state supplemental payments (SSP) to supplement SSI benefits. Existing law requires the county to provide specified information relating to SSI payments to a foster youth receiving those benefits when he or she is approaching his or her 18th birthday. end insert

This bill would begin delete state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that improves permanency outcomes and stability for older children in foster care by, among other things, providing resources and incentives to counties to improve permanency outcomes for older children and youth in foster care. end delete begin insert instead require the county to provide that information to the youth when he or she is approaching his or her 17th birthday. By increasing duties on counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. end insert

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The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

end insert begin insert

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert .

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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begin insert Section 13753 of the end insert begin insert Welfare and Institutions
Code end insert begin insert is amended to read: end insert

13753.  

When a foster youth who is receiving SSI payments is
approaching his or her begin delete 18th end delete begin insert 17th end insert birthday, the county shall do all
of the following:

(a) Provide information to the youth regarding the federal
requirement that the youth establish continuing disability as an
adult, if necessary, in order for SSI benefits to continue beyond
his or her 18th birthday.

(b) Provide information to the youth regarding the process for
becoming his or her own payee, or designating an appropriate
representative payee if benefits continue beyond his or her 18th
birthday, and regarding any SSI benefits that have accumulated
on his or her behalf.

(c) Assist the youth, as appropriate, in fulfilling the requirements
of subdivisions (a) and (b).

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

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begin insert To the extent that this act has an overall effect of
increasing the costs already borne by a local agency for programs
or levels of service mandated by the 2011 Realignment Legislation
within the meaning of Section 36 of Article XIII of the California
Constitution, it shall apply to local agencies only to the extent that
the state provides annual funding for the cost increase. Any new
program or higher level of service provided by a local agency
pursuant to this act above the level for which funding has been
provided shall not require a subvention of funds by the state nor
otherwise be subject to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution. end insert

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(1) As of September 30, 2014, there were 62,545 California
children living in the foster care system, with 16,561 children, or
approximately 26 percent, in foster care for over three years, and
9,780 children, or approximately 16 percent, in care for over five
years. Adult outcomes are often poor for the children who remain
in foster care long term. Within two years of exiting the foster care
system, approximately 50 percent will be homeless, in prison,
victimized, or dead.

(2) Families committing to adoption or guardianship of children
in foster care may face challenges unique to the adoption or
guardianship experience that result from the trauma of the child’s
adverse childhood experiences. These challenges can create stress
that puts the adoption or guardianship at risk of disruption and
potentially result in the child’s reentry into the foster care system.

(3) Provisions of the federal Preventing Sex Trafficking and
Strengthening Families Act (Public Law 133-183) address the need
to enhance efforts to improve permanency outcomes for older
children in care by eliminating the use of other planned permanent
living arrangements as a permanent plan for children under 16
years of age.

(4) The new federal law also requires documentation of intensive
and ongoing efforts to achieve permanence for youth with a case
plan for another planned permanent living arrangement, and adds
additional case plan and case plan review system requirements for
children 16 years of age and older.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that
improves permanency outcomes and stability for older children in
foster care and brings California into compliance with provisions
of the Federal Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening
Families Act by doing all of the following:

(1) Providing resources and incentives to counties to improve
permanency outcomes for older children and youth in foster care
by updating current California law to require that any federal
adoption incentives received be used for that purpose.

(2) Improving the stability of adoptive and guardianship families
by requiring the State Department of Social Services, county
adoption agencies, county child welfare agencies, and licensed
adoption agencies to provide potential adoptive families and
guardians information, in writing, regarding the importance of
working with mental health providers that have specialized
adoption or permanency clinical training and experience if the
family needs clinical support and the desirable clinical expertise
the family should look for when choosing an adoption- or
permanency-competent mental health professional.

(3) Improving permanency outcomes for children in foster care
by doing all of the following:

(A) Requiring child-centered specialized permanency services
prior to deeming a child “unlikely to be adopted,” “not a proper
subject for adoption,” or “having no one willing to take legal
guardianship,” and prior to, and after, making a permanency plan
for another planned permanent living arrangement or ordering a
child into long-term foster care.

(B) Eliminating the use of another planned permanent living
arrangement as a permanency plan for children under 16 years of
age.

(C) Adding “placement with a fit and willing relative” as a
permanency planning option.

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