Amended in Assembly March 28, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2285

Introduced by Assembly Member McCarty

February 18, 2016

An act to begin delete add and repeal Section 19818.22 of the Government Code, relating to state employment, and making an appropriation therefor. end delete begin insert add and repeal Article 4.2 (commencing with Section 18985) of Chapter 4 of Part 2 of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to state employment. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2285, as amended, McCarty. State employment: former foster youth.

Existing law, the State Civil Service Act, provides for filling certain state positions through the process of examinations and the establishment of eligible lists and promotional lists. Existing law requires the Department of Human Resources to administer the Personnel Classification Plan of the State of California, including the allocation of every position to the appropriate class in the classification plan.

Existing law requires the Department of Human Resources to administer the Limited Examination and Appointment Program (LEAP) to provide an alternative to the traditional civil service examination and appointment process to facilitate the hiring of persons with disabilities in state civil service. Existing law requires the department to conduct competitive examinations to determine eligibility for appointment under LEAP and to refer the names of eligible applicants who meet the minimum qualifications of a job classification to the appointing powers for examination appointments, as specified.

Existing law authorizes the Employment Development Department to contract with a specified nonprofit organization meeting specified criteria to manage grant programs designed to help eligible at-risk youth complete their secondary education and acquire the skills necessary to successfully transition into the workforce or enroll in postsecondary education.

begin delete

This bill would, until January 1, 2021, require the Department of Human Resources to establish a class in the classification plan that would enable former foster youth who do not otherwise meet the eligibility criteria for any current class to obtain employment with the state. The bill would, until January 1, 2021, also require the department to establish 100 positions within this class and allocate them to an appointing power based upon the appropriate match between the responsibilities of the position and the responsibilities of the appointing power. The bill would require these positions to be located within the boundaries of the County of Sacramento.

end delete begin delete

This bill would appropriate $______ from the General Fund to the department for allocation to the appointing powers that receive an allocation of these positions in order to fill the positions.

end delete begin insert

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations regarding the state’s responsibility for the well-being of foster youth and former foster youth. The bill would, until January 1, 2021, require the State Personnel Board to establish an emancipated foster youth program to promote the training of qualified foster youth in specified entry level unclassified positions for their eventual hiring in classified positions within Sacramento with any state agency or department as determined by the board. The bill would require a participant in the program to pass a written examination for the classification in which he or she is trained, if generally required for applicants in that classification, after 3 months, but before 9 months, of training.

end insert

Vote:  begin delete ²⁄₃ end delete begin insert majority end insert . Appropriation:  begin delete yes end delete begin insert no end insert . Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

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

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert begin insert

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

end insert begin insert

(a) The state has a unique obligation to children and youth in
the foster care system. When the state removes children and youth
from their parents, it is responsible for providing for the safety
and well-being of the children and youth and for preparing them
for self-sufficient adulthood.

end insert begin insert

(b) Foster youth who leave the foster care system because of
age face unique challenges in seeking and obtaining employment
upon leaving the system. The foster care program provides little
assistance to youth in finding employment.

end insert begin insert

(c) The unemployment rate for youth who have left the foster
care system because of age is estimated at 50 percent.

end insert begin insert

(d) The state is a major employer within the state, yet state law
makes no provision for assisting youth who have left the foster
care system because of age in becoming civil service employees
of the state.

end insert begin insert

(e) The state owes a unique responsibility to foster youth in
assisting them to secure permanent employment. It also has an
obligation to demonstrate to private employers, by example, the
importance of hiring foster youth and former foster youth.

end insert begin insert

(f) It is the intent of the Legislature to recognize the state’s role
as a parent to children and youth in foster care and to assist them
in securing permanent employment in state government by
providing them access to needed training positions.

end insert

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Article 4.2 (commencing with Section 18985) is added
to Chapter 4 of Part 2 of Division 5 of Title 2 of the end insert begin insert Government
Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

 

Article begin insert 4.2. end insert   Emancipated Foster Youth Program

 

begin insert 18985. end insert   

(a) The State Personnel Board, in consultation with
the State Department of Social Services, shall establish an
emancipated foster youth program to provide state employment
training opportunities for qualified foster youth or former foster
youth. The program shall promote the training of qualified foster
youth in specified entry level unclassified positions for their
eventual hiring in classified positions with any state agency or
department as determined by the board that are located within the
County of Sacramento.

(b) A participant in the emancipated foster youth program shall
not apply for a classification unless he or she meets the minimum
qualifications for that classification.

(c) After a participant in the emancipated foster youth program
has been trained in an unclassified position for three months, but
before being trained for nine months, he or she shall take a written
examination for the classification in which he or she is trained, if
a written examination is generally required for other applicants
in that classification. The participant shall be eligible to take the
written examination only after receiving a positive recommendation
from the appropriate supervisor.

(d) A participant in the emancipated foster youth program who
does not pass the written examination for the classification in
which he or she is trained, or who does not receive a favorable
promotional rating, shall be released from the training program.

begin insert 18985.1. end insert   

For the purposes of this article, “qualified foster
youth or former foster youth” means an individual who is 25 years
of age or younger and who is certified by the State Department of
Social Services as having been, for at least one year at any time
on or after the date that the individual turns 15 years of age, either
a recipient of foster care maintenance payments under a state plan
approved under Part E of Title IV of the federal Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 670 et seq.), or in a foster care program under
the responsibility of the State of California.

begin insert 18985.2. end insert   

This article shall be repealed on January 1, 2021.

end insert

begin delete

  

SECTION 1.  

Section 19818.22 is added to the Government
Code, to read:

19818.22.  

(a) Notwithstanding any law, the department shall
establish a class that would enable former foster youth who do not
otherwise meet the eligibility criteria for any current class within
the state to obtain employment with the state.

(b) Notwithstanding any law, the department shall establish 100
positions within the class established pursuant to subdivision (a)
and allocate those positions to an appointing power based upon
the appropriate match between the responsibilities of the position
and the responsibilities of the appointing power. Allocations may
be made to more than one appointing power.

(c) The positions established pursuant to this section shall be
located within the boundaries of the County of Sacramento.

(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2021,
and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 2.  

There sum of hereby appropriated from the General
Fund to the Department of Human Resources for allocation to the
appointing powers that receive an allocation of positions within
the class established pursuant Section 19818.22 of the Government
Code in order to fill those positions.

end delete