BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Kevin Murray, Chairman

                                           1289 (Cedillo)
          
          Hearing Date:  5/25/2006        Amended: 5/3/2006
          Consultant:  John Miller        Policy Vote: Human Svcs 4 - 1
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY: SB 1289 allows foster children receiving AFDC-FC  
          to continue to receive aid after age 18 until age 21 if they are  
          attending high school, university or community college or  
          vocational or technical training.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2006-07      2007-08       2008-09     Fund
           Benefits               $6,000     $12,000     $12,000   GF and  
          FF                                                      
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: Suspense.

          SB 1289 is intended to provide additional education and support  
          to foster youth who "age-out" of eligibility by extending  
          benefits to youth over the age of 18 until they reach age 21.  
          The measure also requires county independent living programs to  
          provide monthly consultations for foster children age 14 and up  
          and to provide case management services to this same population.  
          Recent longitudinal studies demonstrate that many graduating  
          foster youth would benefit from extended support. More than one  
          half of foster graduates experience homelessness and the average  
          earnings of young foster graduates are less than poverty level.  
          Recent studies demonstrate that substantial improvement in the  
          youth's circumstance can be achieved through extended support.  
          Additional support should generate offsetting savings. Five  
          other states provide services beyond age 18. 

          No estimate on associated costs was available from the  
          department at the time of this analysis. However, 4,000 foster  
          youth turn 18 each year, and assuming that 1/3 would use the  
          benefit at a monthly cost of $750 or $9000 per year, the full  
          year costs for the educational based extension of benefits would  
          be approximately $12 million. There are 32,000 foster children  










          between the ages of 14 and 18 who would be eligible for the  
          consultation specified in the bill, but the Committee could not  
          estimate the average cost of this service.