BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1412
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1412 (Leno)
As Amended September 2, 2005
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |54-25|(June 1, 2005) |SENATE: |21-11|(September 6, |
| | | | | |2005) |
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Original Committee Reference: HUM. S.
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.
The Senate amendments make technical changes, add double
jointing language and correct typographical errors.
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
or she is over 12 years of age
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , 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
AB 1412
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important adult relationships and to make efforts to support
those relationships.
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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Both the Assembly Appropriations Committee
analysis and the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis note
annual costs of about $800,000 (under $400,000 General Fund
(GF)) for an increased workload for social workers.
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 his or her own juvenile court hearing; and to
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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 are 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Caitlin O'Halloran / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089
FN: 0013167