BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1879
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 12, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mark Stone, Chair
AB 1879
(McCarty) - As Amended March 28, 2016
PROPOSED CONSENT (As Proposed to be Amended)
SUBJECT: Foster youth: permanency
KEY ISSUE: IN ORDER TO HELP FOSTER YOUTH FIND PERMANENT
FAMILIES TO LOVE AND SUPPORT THEM, SHOULD SPECIALIZED,
CHILD-CENTERED PERMANENCY SERVICES BE REQUIRED FOR YOUTH WHO
MIGHT OTHERWISE AGE OUT OF LONG-TERM FOSTER CARE WITHOUT A
FAMILY AND WITHOUT EVEN A CONNECTION TO A SUPPORTIVE ADULT?
SYNOPSIS
California's child welfare system is responsible for ensuring
the protection and safety of children at risk of abuse, neglect
or abandonment. When it is necessary for the state to remove a
child from his or her parents, the primary objective of the
child welfare system is to safely reunify the child with his or
her family. If reunification is not an option or later fails,
another permanent arrangement is sought for the child, which can
include adoption, guardianship or, historically, long-term
foster care, today called "another planned permanent living
arrangement" or APPLA. However, the outcomes for children in
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long-term foster care or APPLA who end up emancipating from
foster care without the support of a loving family are
notoriously poor. According to the author, within two years of
leaving the foster care system, 50 percent are homeless,
victimized, incarcerated or dead. Even with extended foster
care until 21, the odds are stacked against youth who remain in
the foster care system for years and then age out without a
strong connection to a loving, supportive family.
This bill, sponsored by Families Now and supported by a broad
range of child welfare organizations and children's advocates,
seeks to improve those odds by requiring special efforts to find
permanent families for these youth by requiring that (1)
child-centered specialized permanency services be provided for
children at risk of long-term foster care and (2) that potential
adoptive families and guardians be provided with information to
support their hopefully long-term relationship with the foster
child. The author states that these highly effective
child-centered specialized permanency practices will help
provide permanency, love and support for children most likely to
age-out of foster care without the safety net of a family:
"There is no question that this bill will result in more of our
children achieving the permanent families they need and
deserve." There is no reported opposition.
SUMMARY: Requires that child-centered specialized permanency
services be provided to specified foster youth in order to
facilitate the placement of these youth with permanent families.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines "child-centered specialized permanency services" to
mean services designed for, and with, a child to:
a) Address the child's history of trauma, separation and
loss;
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b) Include mental health services or other services, as
specified, that are needed to ameliorate impairments in
significant areas of life functioning that may reduce the
likelihood of the child achieving a permanent family;
c) Utilize enhanced family finding and engagement to assist
the child in achieving a permanent family through
reunification, adoption, legal guardianship or other
lifelong connections to caring adults, as specified;
d) Prepare the permanent family to meet the child's needs,
set appropriate expectations for before and after
permanency; and
e) Stabilize the placement.
2)Requires a court, when it has determined that it is not in the
best interests of a child to hold a hearing to terminate
parental rights, to order the provision of child-centered
specialized permanency services for:
a) A child who is not placed with a fit and willing
relative;
b) A child 16 years or age or older for whom the court has
ordered placement in an "another planned permanent living
arrangement" ("APPLA," i.e., long-term foster care);
c) A child placed in a residential treatment facility for
whom the court has determined that adoption is currently
unlikely or undesirable;
d) A child that the court has determined to have a
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probability for adoption but is determined difficult to
place, as specified; and
e) A child for whom an available and suitable legal
guardian has not yet been found, as specified.
3)Permits a court to order the provision of child-centered
specialized permanency services for a nonminor dependent for
whom the court has ordered placement in long-term foster care.
4)Requires a court in some cases and permits it in others, when
it has determined that it is not in the best interests of the
child to hold a hearing to terminate parental rights and when
it has ordered a child 16 years of age or older or a nonminor
dependent to be placed in long-term foster care, to order that
the appropriateness of the child's continuation in long-term
foster care be assessed at the next review hearing, as
specified.
5)Includes child-centered specialized permanency services among
the efforts a child welfare agency or probation department
must show the court it has made in an attempt to achieve
permanency for the child or nonminor dependent when the court
is reviewing the status of a dependent child or nonminor
dependent or ward of the juvenile court, as specified.
6)Requires a court, at hearings reviewing the status of a
dependent child, as specified, to assess progress towards
placement in a permanent family for a child placed in a
residential treatment facility when the court has determined
that adoption is currently unlikely or undesirable for that
child and that it is not in the best interests of the child to
hold a hearing to terminate parental rights.
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7)Stipulates that permanent placement services, designed to
provide an alternate permanent family structure for children
who because of abuse, neglect or exploitation cannot safely
remain at home and who are unlikely to ever return home,
shall, as needed to achieve a permanent family, include
child-centered specialized permanency services. Further,
permits permanent placement services for nonminor dependents
to include child-centered specialized permanency services and
requires permanent placement services for nonminor dependents
to include supportive transition services.
8)Requires information regarding, and documentation of the
provision of, child-centered specialized permanency services
to be included in a youth's case-planning processes, as
specified.
9)Requires a social worker or probation officer, when the court
has ordered a dependent child or a ward of the juvenile court
placed for adoption or has appointed a relative or nonrelative
legal guardian, to provide the prospective adoptive family or
guardian written information 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 a description of the
desirable clinical expertise the family should look for when
choosing an adoption- or permanency-competent mental health
professional.
10)Makes various legislative findings and states the intent of
the Legislature to improve permanency outcomes and stability
for older foster youth by improving the stability of adoptive
and guardianship families and requiring child-centered,
specialized permanency services for children whose
reunification services have been terminated, who are not
placed with a fit and willing relative, and who are considered
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unlikely to achieve a permanent family.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides that a juvenile court has jurisdiction over a child
who is subject to abuse or neglect. (Welfare and Institutions
Code Section 300. Unless stated otherwise, all further
statutory references are to that code.)
2)States that the purpose of dependency 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. (Section 300.2.)
3)Declares the intent of the Legislature to, whenever possible,
preserve and strengthen a child's family ties and, when a
child must be removed from the physical custody of his or her
parents, to give preferential consideration to placement with
relatives. States the intent of the Legislature to reaffirm
its commitment to children who are in out-of-home placement to
live in the least restrictive family setting and as close to
the child's family as possible, as specified. Further states
the intent of the Legislature that all children live with a
committed, permanent, nurturing family and states that
services and supports should be tailored to meet the specific
needs of the individual child and family being served, as
specified. (Section 16000.)
4)Requires out-of-home placement of a child in foster care to be
based upon selection of a safe setting that is the least
restrictive family setting that promotes normal childhood
experiences and the most appropriate setting that meets the
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child's individual needs, as specified. Further requires the
selection of placement to consider, in order of priority,
placement with: relatives, nonrelated extended family
members, and tribal members; foster family homes, resource
families, and nontreatment certified homes of foster family
agencies; followed by treatment and intensive treatment
certified homes of foster family agencies or multidimensional
treatment foster care homes or therapeutic foster care homes;
group care placements in the order of short-term residential
treatment centers, group homes, community treatment
facilities, and out-of-state residential treatment, as
specified. (Section 16501.1 (d)(1).)
5)Establishes requirements and processes for the court, and
further provides for various hearings to review the status of
the dependent child during which certain case information
regarding the child must be provided and reviewed, including
hearings to terminate parental rights and establish
alternative permanent arrangements for the child, including
long-term foster care. (Sections 360-370.)
6)Defines "nonminor dependent" as a current or former foster
youth who is between 18 and 21 years old, in foster care under
the responsibility of the county welfare department, county
probation department, or Indian Tribe, and participating in a
transitional independent living plan, as specified. (Section
11400 (v).)
7)Establishes in federal law the Preventing Sex Trafficking and
Strengthening Families Act, which includes new requirements
for states and counties regarding sex trafficking prevention
and reporting, data collection, reasonable and prudent parent
standards, adoption incentives payments, successor
guardianship, and successful adulthood. (Public Law 113-183.)
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8)Defines a "planned permanent living arrangement" to mean any
permanent living arrangement that is ordered by the court for
a minor 16 years of age or older when there is a compelling
reason or reasons to determine that it is not in the best
interest of the minor to have a permanent plan, as specified.
States that a planned permanent living arrangement can
include, but not be limited to, placement in a specific,
identified foster family home, program or facility on a
permanent basis or placement in a transitional housing
placement facility. Further, permits a court to place a minor
in a planned permanent living arrangement only if the court
finds that there is a compelling reason, as specified, for
determining that terminating parental rights and adoption are
not in the best interest of the minor. (Section 727.3.)
FISCAL EFFECT: As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.
COMMENTS: California's child welfare system is responsible for
ensuring the protection and safety of children at risk of abuse,
neglect or abandonment. When it is necessary for the state to
remove a child from his or her parents, the primary objective of
the child welfare system is to safely reunify the child with his
or her family. If reunification is not an option or later
fails, another permanent arrangement is sought for the child,
which can include adoption, guardianship or, historically,
long-term foster care or today "another planned permanent living
arrangement" or APPLA. Of the 66,000 children living in foster
care in California, nearly 40 percent have been in care for over
two years, 25 percent have been in care for over three years and
almost 15 percent have been in care for over five years. The
outcomes for children in long-term foster care or APPLA who end
up emancipating from foster care without the support of a loving
family are notoriously poor. According to the author, within
two years of leaving the foster care system, 50 percent are
homeless, victimized, incarcerated or dead. Even with extended
foster care until 21, the odds are stacked against children who
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remain in the foster care system for years and then age out
without a strong connection to a loving, supportive family.
This bill seeks to improve those odds by requiring special
efforts to find permanent families for children in the foster
care system by requiring that child-centered specialized
permanency services be provided for children at risk of
long-term foster care and requiring that potential adoptive
families and guardians be provided with information to support
their hopefully long-term relationship with the foster child.
The author best explains the need for the bill, as well as the
bill itself:
Far too many California foster children needlessly grow up in
a succession of foster care placements and age-out of care
without a safe and committed family to face dire outcomes.
Within two years 50% are homeless, victimized, incarcerated or
dead. . . .
Keeping children in foster care for extended periods of time
creates unnecessarily high costs, both fiscally and in human
terms. We can do better for our children. We know how to
achieve permanent families for these children. In fact, for
more than a decade California has provided leadership to the
nation in establishing highly-effective child-centered
specialized permanency practices. Children receiving these
services, including those considered most-likely to age-out of
foster care without the safety net of a permanent family are
achieving permanent families. These services have also been
documented to be highly cost-effective, resulting in
short-term county savings in excess of the cost of providing
services, as well as long-term savings at all levels of
government. Unfortunately, these services are provided
sparingly, or not at all by most California counties resulting
in children needlessly languishing in foster care. . . . .
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We know how to find them permanent families, and we know that
after a start-up period the services pay for themselves. This
bill creates a statutory definition of child-centered
specialized permanency services designed to address the
child's history of separation and loss, and requires that
these services be provided to children whose reunification
services have been terminated, are not placed with a fit and
willing relative, and are considered unlikely to achieve a
permanent family. It also requires that the services be
included in the statutory requirements to provide intensive
and ongoing efforts to place long-term foster care youth age
16 and above into a permanent family. There is no question
that this bill will result in more of our children achieving
the permanent families they need and deserve.
Placement into a permanent home is not a panacea. These come
into adoptive families with tragic histories of trauma,
separation and loss, their new parents often need to seek the
help of mental health providers who understand the specialized
clinical issues associated with adoption and other forms of
permanency. Clinical services provided by mental health
providers without specialized training and experience in
adoption/ permanency clinical issues has been shown to often
do more harm than good, putting the children at risk for
disruption of the adoption? one more preventable loss in a
litany of losses they have incurred. AB 1879 requires that
potential adoptive parents and guardians be informed of the
importance of working with mental health providers with the
necessary specialized training and experience.
This bill builds on state and federal legislation to improve the
lives of foster children and provide them with a hopeful future.
Recent state and federal legislation has sought to improve the
lives of children who might otherwise spent their youth in
foster care, often in groups homes, and emancipate without any
connection to a supportive adult. First, the 2014 federal
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Preventing Sex Trafficking, and Strengthening Families Act made
numerous changes to the foster care program and enacted new
requirements regarding sex trafficking prevention and reporting,
data collection, reasonable and prudent parent standards,
adoption incentives payments, successor guardianship, and
successful adulthood in order to help protect youth and provide
them with permanent families. Conforming state legislation (SB
794 (Senate Committee on Human Services), Chap. 425, Stats.
2015), eliminated the option of long-term foster care placement
or APPLA for dependent children under the age of 16, and
required permanency review hearing documents for children who
are 16 years of age or older and in an APPLA to include a
description of the intensive and ongoing efforts of the child
welfare agency to return the child to the home of the parent,
place the child for adoption, or establish a legal guardianship,
as appropriate. Child welfare agencies are required, in these
documents, to describe any barriers to achieving the permanent
plan and the efforts made by the child welfare agency to address
those barriers. Courts must then review that progress.
In order to help foster children heal from the trauma and abuse
they have suffered, last year's AB 403 (Stone), Chap. 773,
Stats. 2015, established a comprehensive reform effort to make
sure that foster youth have their day-to-day physical, mental,
and emotional needs met; that they have the greatest chance to
grow up in permanent and supportive homes; and that they have
the opportunity to grow into self-sufficient, successful adults
by transitioning children away from congregate care into
home-based family care with resource families. In addition to
new services and supports for resource families, AB 403
established targeted training and support that can better
prepare families to help care for foster youth.
This bill adds tools to help ensure that children leave foster
care with lifelong support. This bill seeks to build on the
federal and state legislative advances and help foster youth who
might otherwise emancipate from foster care without family and
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without support by making every effort to find permanent
families for these youth and, once that family is found, to help
make that relationship more stable and more successful. This
bill creates a statutory definition of child-centered
specialized permanency services designed to address the child's
history of separation and loss, and requires that these services
be provided to children who are not placed with a fit and
willing relative, and are considered unlikely to achieve a
permanent family. To help the child be ready for a permanent
family, these child-centered services include services to
address the child's history of trauma, separation and loss,
including mental health services needed to ameliorate
impairments in life functioning that may reduce the likelihood
of the child achieving a permanent family. The bill also
requires that the services be included in the statutory
requirements to provide intensive and ongoing efforts to place
long-term foster care youth age 16 and above into a permanent
family. In addition, the bill permits, but does not require,
the court to order these services for a nonminor dependent. To
help find willing and able families, the bill requires enhanced
family finding and engagement to search for relatives, using
search technology and social media to locate possible family
members.
This list of efforts required as part of child-centered
specialized permanency services is neither new nor
revolutionary. These are best practices that have developed in
California and across the nation over years of helping foster
youth heal from the trauma they have experienced and find
permanency. Many of these services are already mandated in
certain instances. What is new is the clear and concise
summary, in no uncertain terms, of what is required to help find
loving and permanent families for foster youth and its
application to all youth in the foster care system, as provided.
Lastly, in an effort to support those permanent placements, once
found, and make sure that they can indeed remain permanent, this
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bill requires that the social worker or probation officer, when
the court has ordered a dependent child or a ward placed for
adoption or has appointed a relative or nonrelative legal
guardian, to provide the prospective adoptive family or guardian
written information, if the family needs clinical support,
regarding the importance of working with mental health providers
that have specialized adoption or permanency clinical training
and experience, and a description of the desirable clinical
expertise the family should look for when choosing an adoption-
or permanency-competent mental health professional.
Author's Technical Amendments: In order to ensure that these
important new permanency services are required in all
appropriate cases and properly reviewed, the author rightly asks
that the bill be amended in three places to ensure that if a
court orders a youth 16 or over into an APPLA, the court must
require that child-centered specialized permanency services be
provided and that the court review what was provided at the next
hearing. This change is accomplished by the following three
amendments:
On page 30, line 10, after the comma, inset: if such a
permanent plan is ordered shall
On page 42, line 29, after "and", insert: if such a permanent
plan is ordered shall
On page 51, line 37, after "and", insert: if such a permanent
plan is ordered shall
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Supporters write that this bill will
"significantly reduce the number of youth aging out of foster
care without a safe, committed family. It will also improve the
stability of those families. It is time for California to make
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child-centered specialized permanency services available to all
waiting children. . . . When we remove a child from their
biological family we make an implicit promise to give them
something better. Approximately 4,000 youth age-out of foster
care each year. Aging-out without a safe and stable permanent
family is not 'something better.' Within two years, 50% are
homeless, victimized, incarcerated or dead. We can do better.
Model programs in California and across the nation have
demonstrated that when given these services, even children and
youth considered the least-likely to achieve permanency, now
achieve the committed permanent family they need and deserve."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Families Now (sponsor)
Advokids
Alliance for Children's Rights
Alternative Family Services
Bienvenidos Children's Center
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
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California CASA Association
California Youth Connection
Children Now
Children's Advocacy Institute
Children's Law Center of California
County Welfare Directors Association of California
David and Margaret Youth and Family Services
Family Law Section of the State Bar
John Burton Foundation
Kinship Center
Lilliput Children's Services
North Star Family Center
Nuevo Amanecer Latino Children's Services
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Sierra Vista Child & Family Services
Youth Homes
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916) 319-2334