BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Joseph L. Dunn, Chair
2005-2006 Regular Session
AB 1743 A
Assembly Committee on Judiciary B
As Amended June 20, 2005
Hearing Date: June 28, 2005 1
Family Code 7
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SUBJECT
Child Support: Debt Compromise
DESCRIPTION
This bill seeks to clarify and expand the scope of the
existing program allowing for the compromise of child
support debt owed by parents to the state when their
children have been removed from their homes because of
abuse or neglect. This bill would also align this
program's required review hearings with the annual
eligibility redeterminations required for CalWORKS and
foster care.
BACKGROUND
When a child is removed from his or her home because of
abuse or neglect and placed in foster care, the child's
parents are obligated to reimburse the state for the public
assistance provided to the foster parents. Similarly,
when a child is placed with a relative after removal, the
relative-guardian receives assistance from the state which
the parents are obligated to repay.
This child support liability can interfere with the
parents' ability to reunify with their children,
particularly for low-income families. The sort of
instability that causes a child to be removed from his or
her home is often intensified by poverty. When parents are
attempting to reunify with their child, they must repay the
(more)
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state for the cost of the child's placement in addition to
their usual financial responsibilities, this added
obligation can undermine their efforts to maintain the
stable household necessary for reunification.
AB 1449 (Keeley) Chapter 463, Statutes of 2001, provided
some relief for parents trying to reunify with their
children. AB 1449 allowed for "compromise," or reduction
or elimination, of money owed to reimburse the state for
public assistance provided to foster families while the
child was placed out of the home. AB 1449 contained two
complementary components. The first gave county child
welfare departments the discretion to decide whether to
refer a case to the local child support agency to instigate
child support collection. The second part allowed local
child support agencies to compromise child support debt
already accrued if certain conditions were satisfied. The
bill required regulations implementing these programs to be
promulgated by the Department of Social Services (DSS) and
the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS).
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
1. Existing law requires the Department of Child Support
Services, in consultation with the Department of Social
Services, to promulgate regulations by which a local
child support agency may compromise the obligor parent's
liability for public assistance debt if the following
conditions are met:
1) the child has been adjudged a dependent of the
juvenile court or the child received public assistance
while living with a guardian or relative caretaker and
the child has been returned to the obligor parent.
2) the obligor parent has an income less than 250% of
the current federal poverty level.
3) the local child support agency has determined the
compromise is necessary for the child's support.
[Family Code Section 17550.]
Existing law requires the Department of Social Services,
in conjunction with the Department of Child Support
Services, to promulgate regulations by which the county
child welfare department shall determine whether it is in
the best interests of the child to have the case referred
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to the local child support agency for child support
services. In making the determination, the county
department shall consider whether the payment of support
by the parent would pose a barrier to the proposed
reunification because:
1) the payment of support will compromise the parent's
ability to meet the requirements of the reunification
plan; or
2) the payment of support will compromise the parent's
current or future ability to meet the financial needs
of the child. [Family Code Section 17552.]
Existing law required these regulations be promulgated on
or before October 1, 2002.
This bill would provide that the regulations promulgated
by the Department of Social Services noted above shall
apply in any case of separation or desertion that results
in foster care payments, not just federally funded foster
care payments.
This bill would provide that this program apply when the
separation or desertion of the child results in KinGAP
(Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program) payments to a
relative guardian.
2. Existing law provides that the child welfare department
review the determination that it is not in the child's
best interests to refer the case to the local child
support agency following each court hearing under Welfare
and Institutions Code Section 361.5. [Family Code
Section 17552.]
This bill would provide that the child welfare department
review the determination that it is not in the child's
best interests to refer the case to the local child
support agency annually, to coincide with the
redetermination hearing for AFDC-FC eligibility or
CalWORKS eligibility.
COMMENT
1. Need for the bill
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Author's staff and supporters explain that despite AB
1449's directive that DSS and DCSS shall promulgate the
regulations to implement the debt compromise program by
October 1, 2002, DSS is still attempting to finalize
county instructions and regulations to implement the
program. In its work with counties, DSS has identified
several inconsistencies and omissions in the original
language. This bill seeks to provide the necessary
clarifications to enable the state and the county child
welfare agencies to fully implement the intent of AB
1449.
2. This bill would clean up inconsistencies in AB 1449
According to the sponsor, AB 1449 was intended to
encompass all types of foster children, but the law
cross-references only the code section encompassing
children who are eligible for federally funded foster
care payments. Accordingly, this bill would clarify that
in any case of separation or desertion of a parent that
results in foster care assistance under any type of
foster care placement, the county child welfare
department may decline to refer the case to the local
child support agency, if it is not in the child's best
interests.
Additionally, this bill would revise the timing of the
required periodic reviews. When AB 1449 was enacted, it
required six-month reviews of the county welfare
department's decision not to refer a case to the local
child support agency to coincide with the then-required
six-month reviews of federal foster care eligibility.
The federal foster care review is now required annually.
In the interest of efficiency, this bill would provide
that the reviews be conducted annually to coincide with
the redetermination of federal foster care eligibility or
CalWORKS eligibility.
3. This bill would expand scope of compromise program to
include guardianships that result in Kin-GAP payments
Under the Kin-GAP program, relatives can assume permanent
guardianship of children in their care and continue to
receive a monthly stipend. The assumption of permanent
guardianship by a relative not only allows the child to
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maintain family ties, it also allows the juvenile
dependency case to be dismissed. As a result case
management is no longer needed which saves the the state,
counties and courts money. However, when relatives learn
that by assuming guardianship, they will create an
automatic child support order against the child's
parent-a sister, daughter, cousin or other family
member-the relatives may be reluctant to agree to the
permanent guardianship. This, in turn, could lead to
more children in long-term foster care, as well as
continuing dependency court jurisdiction and case
management.
To help encourage relative guardianships under the
Kin-GAP program, this bill would expand the scope of the
compromise program to allow a county child welfare
department to forego the commencement of child support
when the child's placement results in payments pursuant
to the Kin-GAP program.
Support: California State Association of Counties; Board
of Supervisors of Sacramento County; National Center
for Youth Law; Family Law Section of the State Bar
of California
Opposition: None Known
HISTORY
Source: County Welfare Directors Association of California
Related Pending Legislation: None Known
Prior Legislation: AB 1449 (Keeley) Chapter 463, Statutes
of 2001, required the Department of Child
Support Services to promulgate regulations by
which child support agencies could reduce or
eliminate child support debt accrued during
the temporary placement of a child in foster
care or with a guardian. It also required
the Department of Social Services promulgate
regulations by which the county child welfare
department could decline to refer a case to
the local child support enforcement.
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Prior Vote: Senate Human Services (7 Ayes, 0 Noes)
Assembly Floor (77 Ayes, 0 Noes)
Assembly Appropriations (18 Ayes, 0 Noes)
Assembly Judiciary (9 Ayes, 0 Noes)
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