Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 140

Introduced by Senator Cannella

(Principal coauthor: Senator McGuire)

(Coauthors: Senators Bates, Berryhill, Block, Gaines, Hall, Hertzberg, Leno, and Runner)

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Olsen)

May 5, 2016

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 140—Relative to foster care.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 140, as introduced, Cannella. Foster Care Awareness Month.

This measure would acknowledge the month of May 2016 as Foster Care Awareness Month.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, The foster care system in the State of California
is a network of government agencies, private, community, and
faith-based organizations, families, and individuals working
together to provide children and youth safe and supportive living
situations when their families are unable to do so; and

WHEREAS, The foster care system was developed in the early
part of the 20th century based on the premise that a child is better
off in a home, rather than an orphanage, even if the child only lives
in that home temporarily; and

WHEREAS, The goal of many foster care programs is to reunite
children with their parents when their parents are able to provide
safe and stable homes; and

WHEREAS, About 53 percent of the children entering foster
care successfully reunite with their parents; and

WHEREAS, Many counties in the State of California have
reduced the number of children and youth entering foster care by
helping at-risk families access community services that provide
the skills and resources these families need to effectively care for
their children; and

WHEREAS, Although the State of California recognizes the
importance of maintaining strong, vital connections among foster
children and youth, their siblings, and extended families, the state
acknowledges that 9 percent will exit foster care to live with
nonparent relatives or guardians and 38 percent of children entering
foster care will not be reunited with their families; and

WHEREAS, To ensure those children receive the best care, the
State of California has developed many programs designed to find
permanent families for children in foster care, assist older youth
in securing meaningful, supportive transitions from foster care,
and expand the support of relatives, foster parents, and adoptive
caregivers who provide permanent homes to foster children; and

WHEREAS, The State of California continues to revise its foster
care policies in order to develop a comprehensive approach to
assessing the needs of children and families, finding home-based
family care placements, supporting these placements with services,
and developing thorough information about and an understanding
of how children and youth are affected by and benefit from state
foster care programs; and

WHEREAS, The State of California is committed to improving
the lives of all children and youth touched by the child welfare
system by working in partnership with all organizations involved
in the foster care system and the adoption process; now, therefore,
be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature declares the month of
May 2016 as Foster Care Awareness Month; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.