BILL NUMBER: AB 2285 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member McCarty
FEBRUARY 18, 2016
An act to add and repeal Section 19818.22 of the
Government Code, relating to state employment, and making an
appropriation therefor. 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, relati ng to state
employment.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Vote: 2/3 majority . Appropriation:
yes no . Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(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.
(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.
(c) The unemployment rate for youth who have left the foster care
system because of age is estimated at 50 percent.
(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.
(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.
(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.
SEC. 2. Article 4.2 (commencing with Section
18985) is added to Chapter 4 of Part 2 of Division 5 of Title 2 of
the Government Code , to read:
Article 4.2. Emancipated Foster Youth Program
18985. (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.
18985.1. 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.
18985.2. This article shall be repealed on January 1, 2021.
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.