BILL NUMBER: SCR 140	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


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

   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.