BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1412
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1412 (Leno)
As Amended May 27, 2005
Majority vote
HUMAN SERVICES 6-0 JUDICIARY 6-3
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|Ayes:|Evans, Arambula, Bass, |Ayes:|Jones, Berg, Laird, |
| |Coto, Nation, Spitzer | |Levine, Lieber, Monta?ez |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Harman, Haynes, Leslie |
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 13-5
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|Ayes:|Chu, Bass, Berg, | | |
| |Calderon, Mullin, | | |
| |Karnette, Klehs, Leno, | | |
| |Nation, Oropeza, | | |
| |Ridley-Thomas, Saldana, | | |
| |Yee | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Sharon Runner, Emmerson, | | |
| |Haynes, Nakanishi, | | |
| |Walters | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Specifies a phased-in expansion of the requirement
that county child welfare workers ask every child in foster care
who is 10 years of age or older and who has been in and out of
home placement for six or months or longer, about important
adult relationships and to make efforts to support those
relationships. Specifically, this bill :
1)Creates a phased-in expansion of the requirement that county
child welfare workers ask children 10 years of age or older,
beginning with those children placed with a nonrelative, about
important adult relationships and to make efforts to support
those relationships.
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2)Requires that implementation and operation of this bill be
subject to an appropriation of the budget process.
3)Requires a court to determine whether the agency has made
reasonable efforts to maintain the child's relationships with
individuals other than the child's siblings who are important
to the child consistent with the child's best interests.
4)Specifies that every foster child has the right to be involved
in the development of his or her case plan and plan for
permanent placement.
5)Allows foster children 12-years of age or older to review
their own case plan.
6)Includes the foster child as part of a team working on their
case plan.
7)Requires that a child's case plan include a statement of the
child's wishes regarding their permanent placement plan and an
assessment of those stated wishes.
8)Seeks to ensure that children and youth are actively involved
in the case plan and permanency planning process.
9)Makes various findings and declarations regarding the value
and necessity of a case plan for each foster child.
EXISTING LAW
1)Requires county child welfare workers to ask every child 10
years of age or older who has been placed in a group home for
six or months or longer, about important adult relationships
and to make efforts to support those relationships.
2)Requires a court to determine whether the agency has made
reasonable efforts to maintain the identified relationships of
a child 10 years of age or older, living in a group home for
six months or more, with individuals other than the child's
siblings who are important to the child consistent with the
child's best interests.
3)Allows a foster child to review his or her own case plan if he
AB 1412
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or she is over 12 years of age
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, annual costs of less than $800,000 [$350,000
General Fund (GF)] for an increased workload for social workers,
annual costs of less than $870,000 ($380,000 GF) for social
workers to include eligible children to participate in the
development of their case plans, and unknown off-setting savings
to the extent this bill reduces children's time in foster care
via adoption or reduces reliance on public benefits when foster
youth exit care as young adults.
COMMENTS : This bill expands on AB 408 (Steinberg) Chapter 813,
Statutes of 2003, which provides foster youth aged 10 and older
living in group homes the opportunity to identify and benefit
from appropriate adult relationships. AB 408 made
ground-breaking changes in dependency law to help achieve
permanency for older foster youth. Among other important
changes, state law now allows a minor 10 years of age to be
notified of their own juvenile court hearing; and to participate
in age-appropriate extracurricular enrichment and social
activities.
According to the author, "(t)here is a pervasive myth that no
one wants to adopt or form a lifelong commitment with older
children. This myth permeates social work practices, dependency
court practices and is accepted by the general public. In
California, social workers often focus permanency efforts on
younger children even though over half of the children in foster
care are over the age of 11 and will remain in foster care for
the majority of their childhood."
AB 408 shifts the traditional assumption that foster youth over
10 were not adoptable and that foster youth should not be
directly involved in their own case planning. The bill also
required the state to encourage the development of approaches to
ensure that no child leaves foster care without a lifelong
connection to a committed adult and requires social workers to
be trained to assist in identifying and maintaining child
relationships with important individuals.
Other legislation: AB 2651 (Chu) of 2002 which was vetoed, and
SB 1639 (Alarcon) Chapter 668, Statutes of 2004, outlines and
improves on a foster care bill of rights ensuring that all youth
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in foster care live in a safe home, are free from sexual abuse
and may contact their siblings unless they are prohibited by the
court order.
The County Welfare Director's Association of California (CWDA)
agrees that relationships between foster youth and adults other
than their parents or caregivers can be "meaningful," and as
with the most recent amendments they are in support of this
bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Caitlin O'Halloran / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089
FN: 0010904