BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2031
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 21, 2006
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Noreen Evans, Chair
AB 2031 (Cohn) - As Amended: March 9, 2006
SUBJECT : Foster youth relative placement.
SUMMARY : Requires the California Department of Social Services
(DSS) in conjunction with stakeholders to draft guidelines
outlining best practices in the use of advanced technology to
assist counties in identifying all relatives and
nonrelative-extended family members for foster youth.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Expands current law by requiring the state to encourage the
development of approaches that include ensuring that a search
for the relatives of foster youth is initiated before
placement decisions are made for children who are unable to be
reunited with their families.
2)Requires DSS in conjunction with the California Youth
Connection, the County Welfare Directors Association, and the
California Alliance of Child and Family Services among others
to draft guidelines outlining best practices in the use of
advanced technology to assist counties in identifying all
relatives and non-relative extended family members at the
earliest possible time for a foster child.
3)Makes findings and declarations noting that eight counties in
California have initiated programs to use advanced technology
to find the extended families of foster youth.
4)Specifies that while the Legislature supports reunification of
families when it can be safely accomplished, the search for
permanent homes with relatives should be initiated before
placement decisions are made for children who cannot return to
their biological families.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes the Kinship Support Services Program (KSSP) a
program allowing counties to apply for funds to work with
community based, public private partnership programs for
AB 2031
Page 2
relatives caring for children in foster care and for those
at-risk of dependency.
2)Authorizes the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program
(Kin-GAP) to provide a subsidy for children placed in legal
guardianship with a relative.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, an identical measure, AB 880, had minor absorbable
workload costs to allow DSS to draft the best practice
guidelines.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "far too many children are
placed with strangers or in group homes due to the difficulty of
finding available relatives for the purposes of adoption,
relative care-giving or an established connection to the youth's
immediate family. As a result these youth experience emotional
trauma, inadequate education, homelessness and often criminal
behavior."
Outcome data from Washington and Illinois show that children in
the care of relatives are less likely to enter state custody,
and most of the arrangements do not require intensive
supervision of the placement by the courts or by the department
of social services. In a report mandated by the Washington
State Legislature, the Washington State Department of Social and
Health Services created an oversight committee to create pilot
projects and recommendations regarding kinship programs. Among
their recommendations was to "strengthen relative search
process." Through public/private partnerships and pilot
projects, Washington has used the latest technological advances
to identify between 28-600 family members for many foster youth.
Involvement with these family members gives foster youth a
sense of belonging and connection and may lead to a more
permanent placement.
Through this bill, DSS may identify best practices as reported
by the counties that are planning, designing, and implementing
strategies to prioritize the placement of children. The
creation of public and private partnerships will be encouraged
and will enhance programs designed to quickly identify the
relative and nonrelative extended family members of children
placed in foster care.
Last year a nearly identical measure, AB 880 (Cohn) passed
AB 2031
Page 3
through both houses but was vetoed by the Governor. In his veto
message, the Governor said, among other things "the bill does
not provide resources to develop the cost benefit analysis of
using locator technology."
The author reports that there have been recent conversations
with the Administration and now believes that by removing the
section of the bill that requires a cost benefit analysis the
Governor would likely sign the bill.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
County Welfare Directors Association of CA
Juvenile Court Judges of California
State Bar of California, Family Law Section
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Caitlin O'Halloran / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089