BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 12
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Date of Hearing: June 30, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Kansen Chu, Chair
SB
12 (Beall) - As Amended June 2, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 35-0
SUBJECT: Foster youth.
SUMMARY: Expands eligibility for extended foster care to
specified nonminors who have crossed over from the dependency
system to the delinquency system.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Permits a nonminor between the ages of 18 and 21 to petition
the court to resume dependency jurisdiction or assume
transition jurisdiction over him or her, provided he or she
has been all of the following, as specified:
a) Adjudged a ward of the court;
b) Subject to an order for foster care placement at the
time the petition to adjudge him or her a ward of the court
was filed; and
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c) Held in secure confinement when he or she reached 18
years of age.
1)Makes conforming technical changes.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes a state and local system of child welfare
services, including foster care, for children who have been
adjudged by the court to be at risk or have been abused or
neglected, as specified. (WIC 202 et seq.)
2)Allows a juvenile court to adjudge a child a ward or a
dependent of the court for specified reasons, including but
not limited to if the child has been left without any
provision for support, as specified. (WIC 300)
3)Permits the juvenile court to retain jurisdiction over a ward
or dependent of the court until he or she reaches the age of
21. (WIC 303)
4)Establishes circumstances under which a minor may be adjudged
a ward of the juvenile court, including, but not limited to,
being beyond the control of his or her parents, guardian, or
custodian, or violating any city, county, state, or federal
laws, except for certain serious violations that warrant
prosecution under the general law in a court of criminal
jurisdiction, as specified. (WIC 601 and 602)
5)Authorizes the juvenile court to place a minor on probation
without adjudging a minor to be a ward of the court, as
specified, or to adjudge a minor to be a ward of the court.
(WIC 725)
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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. (WIC 11400(v))
7)Defines "nonminor former dependent or ward" as either:
a) A nonminor who turned 18 while subject to an order for
foster care placement, and for whom dependency,
delinquency, or transition jurisdiction has been
terminated, and who is still under the general jurisdiction
of the court; or
b) A nonminor who is at least 18 years old and, while a
minor, was a dependent child or ward of the juvenile court
when the guardianship was established, as specified, and
the juvenile court dependency or wardship was dismissed
following the establishment of the guardianship. (WIC
11400(aa))
8)Revises and expands federal funding and programs for certain
foster and adopted children via the Fostering Connections to
Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. (P.L. 110-351)
9)Provides for extended foster care funding for youth until age
21, as well as adopts other changes to conform to the federal
Fostering Connections to Success Act. (WIC 241.1, 303, 366.3,
388, 391, 450, 11400, 11402, 11403)
10)Allows a nonminor who has not yet turned 21, or specified
entities on behalf of such a minor, to petition the court in
which the nonminor was previously found to be a dependent or
delinquent child of the court for a hearing to determine
whether to assume dependency jurisdiction over him or her,
provided the nonminor turned 18 while subject to an order for
foster care placement and had the court dismiss dependency
jurisdiction, delinquency jurisdiction, or transition
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jurisdiction for him or her, as specified. (WIC 388(e))
11)Permits a nonminor former foster youth under the age of 21 to
petition the court for re-entry into foster care if his or her
guardian or adoptive parent is no longer providing him or her
with support, as specified. (WIC 388.1)
12)Allows nonminor dependents who meet general Aid to Families
with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) requirements, as
well as one or more of a set of specified requirements, to
voluntarily continue placement in or to re-enter into foster
care. (WIC 11403(b))
13)Provides that a minor or nonminor is within the transition
jurisdiction of the juvenile court if all of the following
criteria are satisfied:
a) The minor is between the ages of 17 years, 5 months and
18 years old and is in foster care placement, or the
nonminor is under the age of 21 and is in foster care
placement and was subject to an order for foster care
placement on the day he or she turned 18, as specified;
b) The minor or nonminor was either removed from the
physical custody of his or her parents or legal guardian,
adjudged a ward of the juvenile court as specified and
ordered into foster care, or was a dependent of the court
with an order for foster care placement as a dependent in
effect at the time the court adjudged him or her a ward of
the juvenile court;
c) The rehabilitative goals of the minor or nonminor have
been met and juvenile court jurisdiction is no longer
required;
d) The minor has indicated intent to sign a mutual
agreement with the responsible agency for placement in a
supervised setting as a nonminor dependent, or the nonminor
has signed such a mutual agreement or a voluntary reentry
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agreement, as specified.
(WIC 450)
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the May 28, 2015, Senate
Appropriations Committee analysis, this bill may result in the
following:
1)Potentially significant future costs in the range of $550,000
to $1.7 million (General Fund/Federal Fund) for extended
foster care benefits annually assuming the provision of
benefits for up to three years, to provide extended foster
care benefits to additional probation youth between the ages
of 18 and 20 in secure confinement on their 18th birthday,
although a portion of these costs could be eligible for
federal reimbursement;
2)Potentially significant increase in non-reimbursable local
probation supervision costs in the low millions of dollars
(General Fund) annually to the extent nonminors provided
extended foster care benefits continue under the supervision
of probation departments;
3)Unknown, but potentially significant future cost savings
(General Fund) to the extent the provision of extended foster
care benefits to this population of nonminors results in
improved long-term outcomes and reduced future involvement in
the criminal justice system.
4)Potential Proposition 30 implications to the extent this bill
creates a new mandate for counties that must be funded with
General Fund dollars.
COMMENTS:
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Juvenile dependency and juvenile delinquency systems: The
purpose of California's Child Welfare Services (CWS) system is
to protect children from abuse and neglect and provide for their
health and safety. When children are identified as being at
risk of abuse, neglect or abandonment, county juvenile courts
hold legal dependency jurisdiction; these children are served by
the CWS system through the appointment of a social worker.
Through this juvenile dependency system, there are multiple
opportunities for the custody of the child, or his or her
placement outside of the home, to be evaluated, reviewed and
determined by the judicial system, in consultation with the
child's social worker, to help provide the best possible
services to the child. The CWS system seeks to help children
who have been removed from their homes reunify with their
parents or guardians, whenever appropriate, or unite them with
other individuals they consider to be family. When these options
are not available or appropriate, children may be placed in
other settings, such as foster homes. There are currently close
to 63,000 children and youth in California's child welfare
system; over 7,800 of these youth are between the ages of 18 and
20.
The juvenile delinquency system, as opposed to juvenile
dependency, deals with youth who have violated the law. Through
this system, a minor may have his or her case referred to
juvenile court, where he or she can be declared a ward of the
court and placed on probation. Some youth may be placed in
secure confinement, such as a juvenile facility. According to
the Legislative Analyst's Office in 2010, there were over
186,000 referrals to probation in the state's juvenile justice
system. Just over half of these referrals led to cases heard in
juvenile court, and 29% of the total referrals to probation
resulted in a juvenile being made a ward of the court. Ten
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percent of total referrals to probation resulted in juveniles
being placed in a local facility, 3% in placement with another
public or private agency, and 0.2% in being sent to the
Department of Juvenile Justice.
"Crossover youth" are those who have been involved with both the
dependency and delinquency systems as a result of having been
victims of abuse and neglect, and also having committed
offenses. Crossover youth may face less positive outcomes as
they age out of either system. A 2011 report supported by the
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation examined the outcomes in young
adulthood of three groups of youth in Los Angeles County: 1)
those who exited from a CWS out-of-home placement while they
were between 16 and 21 years old; 2) those who exited from any
type of juvenile probation supervision while they were between
16 and 21 years old; and 3) those who exited an out-of-home
child welfare placement while they were between 16 and 21 years
old and who also had been involved at some point with the
juvenile probation system - i.e., crossover youth. This report
looked at income, employment, education, drug and alcohol
treatment, mental health services utilization, incarceration,
and other factors, and ultimately pointed to the relative
vulnerability of the crossover population, concluding that:
"Almost every measure considered in this report indicates that
crossover youth are at-risk of comparatively negative outcomes
after they exit the child welfare and juvenile justice
systems. A considerably larger proportion of the observed
crossover youth fell into extreme poverty in their young adult
years by comparison with those in the [juvenile probation] and
[child welfare] groups. Additionally, larger proportions of
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those in the crossover group became incarcerated as young
adults...The statistical models deployed for this report
reinforce this picture, showing that membership in the
crossover group substantially increases the likelihood of less
desirable outcomes."
In most counties, dependency status is terminated once
delinquency status is established. However, 15 counties (as of
February 2013) throughout the state have established "dual
jurisdiction" proceedings, enabling youth to have dual
delinquency and dependency status. Dual jurisdiction protocols
vary by county.
Extended foster care: Recent changes in federal and state law
have facilitated access to extended foster care funding and
services for youth between the ages of 18 and 21. Per the
federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act of 2008, and as adopted in state law by AB 12
(Beall), Chapter 559, Statutes of 2010 - the California
Fostering Connections to Success Act - California extended
foster care to eligible child welfare and probation youth that
remain in foster care up to age 21, also known as "nonminor
dependents." Subsequent legislation has further refined the
changes adopted in AB 12.
Crossover youth who are on probation and supervised by the
delinquency court may be eligible for extended foster care
services provided they have an order for foster care placement
on their 18th birthday and meet certain other requirements,
including: meeting at least one of the participation conditions
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(generally pertaining to employment and education) also required
of dependent youth, agreeing to live in an approved supervised
placement, meeting with their probation officer on a monthly
basis, participating in six-month review processes, and signing
a mutual agreement, where applicable.
Former wards of the juvenile delinquency system may also be able
to participate in extended foster care. The California
Fostering Connections to Success Act created a new status -
"transitional jurisdiction" - which enables youth who were
previously wards of the juvenile dependency system to, provided
they meet certain requisites, receive extended foster care
services without having to stay under delinquency jurisdiction.
Nonminors under the age of 21 with an order for foster care
placement on their 18th birthday are eligible to enter
transition jurisdiction once they have finished the terms of
their probation. Minors who are at least 17 years, 5 months old
and who meet certain other requirements (including, among other
things, no longer requiring the supervision of the delinquency
court and not being able to be return to their parents' home due
to risk of abuse and neglect) may also be eligible for
transition jurisdiction.
Need for this bill: Federal and state actions in recent years
to extend foster care services to nonminors ages 18 to 21
recognized the need to support youth as they transition from the
juvenile dependency and juvenile delinquency systems to
adulthood. Since the California Fostering Connections to
Success Act was passed in 2010, additional pieces of legislation
have been adopted to further realize the intent of that bill.
This bill seeks to continue this effort with regards to a small
population of youth: those crossover youth who were adjudged a
ward of the court and subject to an order for foster care
placement at the time this adjudication took place, but who were
held in secure confinement on their 18th birthday. This last
condition - that a youth was in secure confinement per the
juvenile delinquency system on their 18th birthday - can
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currently render him or her ineligible to receive extended
foster care services and benefits, because he or she is
typically no longer subject to an order for a foster care
placement on his or her 18th birthday. (There may be instances
where this scenario does not apply in a dual-jurisdiction
county, and a youth in secure confinement on his or her 18th
birthday is already eligible for extended foster care; however,
given the variance in dual-jurisdiction protocols across
counties, this bill may also benefit youth in those counties by
providing clarity and statewide direction.)
The number of youth that would be impacted by this bill is
assumed to be relatively small. However, data on the exact
number are not readily available due to the multiple factors
that need to be considered in identifying this population.
According to the Department of Social Services, there are
approximately 300 to 400 youth in secure confinement between the
ages of 18 and 20. From that number, in order to estimate the
number of youth impacted by this bill, it would then be
necessary to extract only those youth for whom all of the
following apply: they were in secure confinement on their 18th
birthday, don't live in a dual-jurisdiction county with a
protocol that already makes them eligible for extended foster
care, meet all additional eligibility requirements, and choose
to opt into extended foster care.
According to the author, this bill "actualizes the Legislature's
original intent in passing the Fostering Connections to Success
Act, by remedying the inadvertent exclusion of a small but
vulnerable population of former foster youth from extended
foster care. [This bill] allows foster youth who turn 18 inside
a locked correctional facility and would otherwise lose extended
benefits the chance to opt back into foster care and get access
to extended foster care benefits up until age 21. Youth who are
forced to leave the foster care system at age 18 face
significant challenges. As a result, youth's outcomes include
high rates of homelessness, incarceration, reliance on public
assistance, teen pregnancy, and low rates of high school and
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postsecondary graduation. New legislation is needed to ensure
that we correct our statutory oversight and ensure vulnerable
populations of former foster youth are included in and able to
voluntarily re-enter extended foster care."
PRIOR LEGISLATION:
AB 2454 (Quirk-Silva), Chapter 769, Statutes of 2014, authorized
former nonminor dependents under the age of 21, as specified, to
petition the court to re-enter foster care if their guardian or
adoptive parent is no longer providing them with support.
AB 787 (Stone), Chapter 487, Statutes of 2013, made technical
and clarifying changes to the California Fostering Connections
to Success Act.
AB 1712 (Beall), Chapter 846, Statutes of 2012, made technical
and clarifying changes to the California Fostering Connections
to Success Act.
AB 212 (Beall), Chapter 459, Statues of 2011, made technical and
clarifying changes to the California Fostering Connections to
Success Act.
AB 12 (Beall), Chapter 559, Statutes of 2010, the "California
Fostering Connections to Success Act," conformed state law to
federal requirements to revise and expand programs and funding
for certain foster and adopted children.
DOUBLE REFERRAL . This bill has been double-referred. Should
this bill pass out of this committee, it will be referred to the
Assembly Committee on Judiciary.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Alliance for Children's Rights, sponsor
Youth Law Center, sponsor
Aspiranet
California Against Slavery
California Youth Empowerment Network
Children Now
Coalition for Youth
Legal Services For Prisoners with Children (LSPC)
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce (L.A. Chamber)
National Association of Social Workers, CA Chapter (NASW-CA)
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National Center for Youth Law
National Foster Youth Institute
Opposition
Chief Probation Officers of California (CPOC)
Analysis Prepared by:Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089