BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1982|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1982
Author: Bass (D)
Amended: 3/23/06 in Assembly
Vote: 27
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/27/06
AYES: Alquist, Maldonado, Aanestad, Chesbro, Romero
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 80-0, 5/30/06 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Kin-Gap
SOURCE : Chief Probation Officers of California
DIGEST : This bill extends eligibility for Kin-Gap
assistance to wards of the juvenile court that meet
specified criteria in addition to dependents of the
juvenile court.
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law
1.Establishes the Kin-Gap program to provide financial
assistance on behalf of children placed with relative
caretakers under defined circumstances.
2.Provides for Kin-Gap eligibility to children under 18
CONTINUED
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who have been adjudged dependents of the juvenile court,
have lived with a relative for at least 12 consecutive
months, have a kinship guardianship pursuant to a
permanent plan, and who have had their dependency
dismissed after January 1, 2000, concurrently or
subsequent to the establishment of the kinship
guardianship.
3.Provides that payments for families eligible for Kin-Gap
benefits are equal to the foster care rate.
4.Provides that Kin-Gap benefits are paid from federal
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block
grant funds using the per-child California Work
Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) grant.
The balance is paid equally by state and county funds.
This bill:
1.Extends Kin-Gap eligibility to wards of the juvenile
court if the ward meets the following criteria:
A. Has lived with a relative for at least 12
consecutive months.
B. Has a kinship guardianship established as part of
his/her permanency plan.
C. Has had his/her case terminated with the juvenile
court.
Background
Kin-Gap was created by SB 1901 (McPherson), Chapter 1055,
Statutes of 1998, to give relatives an option of taking
permanent custody of foster children, avoiding continued
supervision of the child welfare agency and juvenile court,
and receiving assistance at the higher foster care payment
rate than would be available under the CalWORKs program.
The program is intended to encourage permanent and stable
placements of youth with family.
Kin-Gap currently applies only to dependents of the
juvenile court that have suffered or are at risk of
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suffering abuse or neglect under the dependency provisions
of Welfare and Institutions Code Section 300. County
welfare social workers supervise placement of these
children with relatives. Kin-Gap does not apply to wards
of the juvenile court that have been placed in the home of
a relative under the delinquency provisions of Welfare and
Institutions Code Sections 601 or 602. Sometimes known as
"delinquent minors," these youth are under the court's
jurisdiction as a result of persistent refusal to "obey the
reasonable and proper orders or directions" of a parent or
guardian, habitual truancy, or violation of federal, state
or local laws. Wards of the court are supervised by
probation officers.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/10/06)
Chief Probation Officers of California (source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
California Catholic Conference of Bishops
California Public Defenders Association
California State Association of Counties
Children's Advocacy Institute
County of Los Angeles
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/10/06)
Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"AB 1982 seeks to give youth in the care of relatives
within the delinquency system a way to exit the formalized
system without disrupting the child's existing placement
with extended family." The author's office indicates that
"youth in the delinquency system and their families are not
provided the same services and support as youth in the
dependency system. Without access to Kin-Gap, a number of
probation youth unnecessarily remain in the system because
of the families' dire need for assistance."
Supporters of this bill report that the bill will extend
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Kin-Gap to children in the delinquency system who are in
similar circumstances as children in the dependency system.
The Chief Probation Officers of California, the bill's
sponsor, reports that these youth are "similarly situated
and government intervention in their family life could be
expeditiously eliminated through the help of Kin-Gap."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance is
opposed to this bill for the following reasons:
1.This bill appears to be unnecessary and its intent is
not clear. Because the program requires that the child
and/or relative have no need for ongoing court
supervision, it is unlikely that many probation cases
would be eligible for Kin-GAP benefits. In addition, a
ward of the court who has lived with a relative for 12
months or longer, as required by Kin-GAP, would likely
have had his or her wardship dismissed and would
presumably be eligible for the program without this
legislation.
2.It would expand eligibility for the Kin-GAP program and
result in increased General Fund and TANF Block Grant
costs. While the costs are potentially minor, given the
state's ongoing structural deficit, Finance cannot
support such an expansion.
3.This bill is inconsistent with the Kin-GAP statue in
effect for dependents of the juvenile court because it
does not require the establishment of legal guardianship
for this expanded population of delinquent minors. It
also fails to include wards in the statutory provisions
addressing program eligibility which would create
implementation issues.
4.This bill would amend the same code section that may
become inoperative on October 1, 2006 pursuant to
amendments included in AB 1808 (the omnibus social
services Trailer Bill).
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Aghazarian, Arambula, Baca, Bass, Benoit, Berg,
Bermudez, Blakeslee, Bogh, Calderon, Canciamilla, Chan,
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Chavez, Chu, Cogdill, Cohn, Coto, Daucher, De La Torre,
DeVore, Dymally, Emmerson, Evans, Frommer, Garcia,
Goldberg, Hancock, Harman, Haynes, Jerome Horton, Shirley
Horton, Houston, Huff, Jones, Karnette, Keene, Klehs,
Koretz, La Malfa, La Suer, Laird, Leno, Leslie, Levine,
Lieber, Lieu, Liu, Matthews, Maze, McCarthy, Montanez,
Mountjoy, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nation, Nava, Negrete
McLeod, Niello, Oropeza, Parra, Pavley, Plescia, Richman,
Ridley-Thomas, Sharon Runner, Ruskin, Saldana, Salinas,
Spitzer, Strickland, Torrico, Tran, Umberg, Vargas,
Villines, Walters, Wolk, Wyland, Yee, Nunez
CTW:do 8/10/06 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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