BILL ANALYSIS
AB 154
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 154 (Evans) - As Amended: April 14, 2009
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:7 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill, in accordance with federal law, requires that any
savings realized from the change in federal funding for the
adoptions assistance program be reinvested in the state's foster
care and adoptions programs.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires that any savings in state funds realized from the
change in federal funding for adoption assistance resulting
from the enactment of Public Law 110 - 351 shall be spent for
the provision of foster care and adoption services.
2)Requires the California Department of Social Services or
licensed adoption agency to inform prospective adoptive
families of their potential eligibility for federal tax
credits.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)The current requirement that federal eligibility for the
Adoptions Assistance Program be contingent on Aid to Families
with Dependent Children (AFDC) eligibility requirements will
be fully phased out by October 2018. At that point, the state
will be drawing down an additional $60 million in federal
Title IV-E funding. Under this bill and the requirements of
federal law, $50 million in additional GF will be reinvested
in the foster care and adoptions programs.
2)Workload associated with informing adoptive parents of the
available state and federal tax credits should be minor and
AB 154
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absorbable within existing resources.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The changes proposed by this bill are necessary to
conform state law to new federal requirements created by the
Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act
of 2008 (P.L. 110-351) (Fostering Connections Act).
2)Adoptions Assistance Program (AAP) . Under current law,
families that adopt children from the state's foster care
program are eligible to receive a tax-free monthly grant until
the child reaches the age of 18 (or 21 if they have severe
disabilities) equal to the amount that child would have
received in a foster care home. The average monthly grant for
the AAP program is approximately $800 per month.
3)Federal AAP Eligibility . A child adopted from foster care
today is eligible for federal financial participation in
adoption assistance benefits if, among other requirements, the
home the child was removed from has an income which meets the
state's AFDC income eligibility standard that was in place on
July 16, 1996 (without taking into account inflation). For
example, a monthly income that is below $723 for a family of
three. If the child is eligible for federal AAP, the federal
government pays 62 % of the cost and the remainder is split 75
% state general fund and 25 % county funding. If the
families' income exceeds that amount, the child is placed in
state-only AAP in which the state pays 75 % of the grant and
counties pay 25 %.
4)The Fostering Connections Act . President Bush signed the
Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act
of 2008 (P.L. 110351) into law on October 7, 2008. Among its
many provisions impacting the child welfare system, the act
phases out the current AFDC "look-back" for federal AAP
eligibility.
Beginning October 1, 2010, children adopted at age 16 or over
will no longer need to meet the old AFDC standard. By 2018,
the "look-back" to old AFDC standards as a basis for federal
financial participation will be phased out completely.
Beginning October 1, 2010 the Fostering Connections Act also
creates exceptions to the old AFDC eligibility standard for
children who have spent extended time in foster care (more
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than 5 years) or who are to be adopted together with a sibling
who is eligible for federal support. In addition, children
who are eligible for Supplemental Security Income benefits
based solely on the medical and disability requirements are
considered children with special needs and eligible for
adoption assistance.
5)Related Legislation . Several bills introduced this session
include provisions to implement various sections of the
federal Fostering Connections Act, including AB 12 (Beall,
Bass), AB 938 (Committee on Judiciary), AB 1067 (Brownley), AB
500 (Conway), AB 770 (Torres) and AB 1402 (Bass) and SB 597
(Liu).
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081