BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 500|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 500
Author: Kuehl (D), et al
Amended: 9/2/05
Vote: 27
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 6-0, 4/12/05
AYES: Simitian, Maldonado, Aanestad, Alarcon, Alquist,
Chesbro
NO VOTE RECORDED: Florez
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/26/05
AYES: Dunn, Morrow, Ackerman, Cedillo, Escutia, Figueroa,
Kuehl
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 13-0, 5/26/05
AYES: Migden, Aanestad, Alarcon, Alquist, Ashburn, Battin,
Dutton, Escutia, Florez, Murray, Ortiz, Poochigian,
Romero
SENATE FLOOR : 40-0, 6/1/05
AYES: Aanestad, Ackerman, Alarcon, Alquist, Ashburn,
Battin, Bowen, Campbell, Cedillo, Chesbro, Cox, Denham,
Ducheny, Dunn, Dutton, Escutia, Figueroa, Florez,
Hollingsworth, Kehoe, Kuehl, Lowenthal, Machado,
Maldonado, Margett, McClintock, Migden, Morrow, Murray,
Ortiz, Perata, Poochigian, Romero, Runner, Scott,
Simitian, Soto, Speier, Torlakson, Vincent
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 09/07/05 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Pregnant and parenting foster youth
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SOURCE : Childrens Law Center of Los Angeles
County Welfare Directors Association of
California
DIGEST : This bill creates an option for teen foster
parents to live with their children in foster homes.
Assembly Amendments : (1) Create a requirement that the
Shared Responsibility Plan agreed to between the caregiver,
the foster family agency and the dependent minor parent
address services to be provided to the minor parent. (2)
Create requirements for considering visitation among the
minor parent, the child, the non-custodial parent, and any
appropriate family members. (3) No longer make the new
"whole family placement" a separate licensing category with
a separate rate. Instead, the placement will be a subset
of the existing placement structure with no separate
licensing needed. These families will receive a more
modest increase in funding when they complete the required
shared responsibility plan. This will help reduce the
bill's costs and complexity. (4) Clarify that "whole
family foster home" includes approved relative caregivers
and non-relative extended family members. (5) Add
probation youth to the bill, both in the section enabling
broader use of Title IV-E funds and the section creating
whole family placements. (6) Make the section of the bill
enabling California to draw down additional Title IV-E
funds contingent upon acceptance by the federal government.
(7) Add co-authors.
ANALYSIS : Existing federal law authorizes federal
financial participation to pay for the cost of foster care.
Existing state law:
1. Establishes Aid to Families with Dependent
Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) under which counties
provide payments to foster care providers on behalf of
qualified children in foster care.
2. Prohibits full AFDC-FC payments from being made to a
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foster care facility that houses both a teen parent and
his/her child.
3. Specifies and defines a list of facilities that may care
for foster youth including foster family homes and small
family homes among others.
This bill:
1. Allows a child whose parent is adjudged to be a
dependent of the court to also be considered a ward of
the court for purposes of federal financial
participation.
2. Specifies that both the foster youth who is the teen
parent and the foster youth who is the child may be
placed in the same licensed or approved foster care
facility if the teen foster parent is receiving
reunification services with respect to that child.
3. Defines "whole family foster home" as a home that
provides care for a teen parent and his/her child and
that has been specifically recruited and trained to
provide a safe stable environment for both the parent
and the child.
4. Specifies that whole family foster homes are to be
licensed by the Community Care Licensing Division of the
Department of Social Services and requests a new rate
for "whole family foster home," as defined in this bill.
5. Specifies conditions for a foster youth who is a teen
parent and his/her child living in a whole family foster
home to be eligible for federal financial participation.
6. Requires a teen parent in foster care who has full or
partial custody of their child to work with the social
worker, court and others to design a written shared
responsibility plan designed to preserve and strengthen
the teen parent family unit and to assist the teen
parent in ultimately providing an independent safe and
stable home for their child.
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7. Specifies that the shared responsibility plan shall in
no way limit the teen parent's legal right to make
decisions regarding her child.
8. Requires that once the responsibility plan has been
completed and provided to the appropriate agencies, the
new rate shall be increased by an additional $200 per
month to reflect the increased mentoring to be provided
to the teen parent while he/she is placed in the whole
family foster home.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee
analysis, there is a first-year net cost in the range of
$400,000 General Fund (GF) and ongoing annual net costs of
$200,000 GF.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/7/05)
Children's Law Center of Los Angeles (co-source)
County Welfare Directors Association of California
(co-source)
Alliance for Children's Rights
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Commission on the Status of Women
California National Organization of Women
California State Association of Counties
Family Law Section of the State Bar
Junior Leagues of California
Los Angeles Affiliate of the National Association of
Council for Children
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
National Center for Youth Law
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office argues that
this bill removes the barrier in current law which prevents
the maximizing of federal funds to finance the care of
foster pregnant and parenting teens. Recent federal
guidelines increase access to federal funds for these
cases.
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Aghazarian, Arambula, Baca, Bass, Benoit, Berg,
Bermudez, Blakeslee, Bogh, Calderon, Canciamilla, Chan,
Chavez, Chu, Cogdill, Cohn, Daucher, De La Torre, DeVore,
Dymally, Emmerson, Evans, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg,
Hancock, Harman, Jerome Horton, Shirley Horton, Houston,
Huff, Jones, Karnette, Keene, Klehs, Koretz, La Malfa, La
Suer, Laird, Leno, Leslie, Levine, Lieber, 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
NO VOTE RECORDED: Coto, Haynes, Vacancy
CTW:mel 9/8/05 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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