BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2285
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Date of Hearing: April 20, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, RETIREMENT, AND SOCIAL
SECURITY
Rob Bonta, Chair
AB 2285
(McCarty) - As Amended March 28, 2016
SUBJECT: State employment: former foster youth
SUMMARY: Establishes the Emancipated Foster Youth Program
(Program) as a pilot program to provide state employment
training opportunities for qualified foster youth and former
foster youth. Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes legislative findings and declarations regarding the
state's responsibility for the well-being of foster youth and
former foster youth.
2)Requires the State Personnel Board (SPB), in consultation with
the Department of Social Services (DSS), to establish the
Program to provide state employment training opportunities in
entry level unclassified positions for their eventual hiring
in classified positions in state departments located within
Sacramento County, as specified.
AB 2285
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3)Prohibits a participant in the Program from applying for a
classification unless he or she meets the minimum
qualifications for the classification.
4)Requires the participant, once he or she has been trained in
the unclassified position for at least three months but not
more than nine months and after receiving a positive
recommendation from the appropriate supervisor, to take a
written examination for the classification in which he or she
has trained, if a written examination is generally required
for other applicants in that classification.
5)Provides that a participant in the Program that does not pass
the written examination, as specified, will be released from
the training program.
6)Defines "qualified foster youth or former foster youth" for
purposes of these provisions as an individual, 25 years of age
or younger, who is certified by DSS as having been in foster
care, as specified.
EXISTING LAW: Provides, under the state Civil Service Act, for
filling certain state positions through the process of
examinations and the establishment of eligible lists and
promotional lists.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
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COMMENTS: According to information provided to the Committee by
the author, foster youth often have more barriers to finding,
getting and keeping a job than youth that are permanently
connected to a family, and the emotional and economic support
they provide.
Studies have estimated that the average non-foster care youth
receives assistance from their parents of approximately $38,000
between the ages of 18 and 34. Those former foster youth who age
out of the system often don't have access to these resources.
In California, 45% of California's emancipated foster youth are
unemployed, 30% are on welfare and 1/3 of former foster youth
have incomes at, or below, $6000 per year- substantially below
the federal poverty level of $11,770 for a single individual.
The author states, "By investing in pathways to employment after
emancipation for former foster youth, AB 2285 will provide youth
the skills and training necessary to become productive members
of society while decreasing the demand for emergency and other
public services by this population."
This bill is similar to AB 671 (Beall) of 2007, which would have
established the Emancipated Foster Youth Program to provide
state employment opportunities for qualified foster youth and
former foster youth. The provisions dealing with foster youth
were deleted from the bill in the Senate.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
AB 2285
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Support
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
(NASW-CA)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Karon Green / P.E.,R., & S.S. / (916)
319-3957