BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
BILL NO: AB 295
A
AUTHOR: Ammiano
B
VERSION: June 1, 2009
HEARING DATE: June 23, 2009
2
FISCAL: To Appropriations
9
5
CONSULTANT:
Lane
SUBJECT
Children: wrap-around and adoption services
SUMMARY
Makes changes in two pilot programs: extends the deadline
to expend funds associated with an adoptions-services pilot
and removes "pilot project" status for wrap-around
services.
ABSTRACT
Current Law
1.Requires the State Department of Social Services (DSS) to
establish a three-year pilot project in four counties,
including San Francisco and Los Angeles, and one state
district office, to provide preadoption and postadoption
services to ensure the successful adoption of a targeted
population of children who have been in foster care 18
months or more.
2.Defines preadoption and postadoption services to include
recruitment efforts, behavioral health services, peer
support groups, training, mediation and other services,
including any services or supports necessary to resolve a
barrier to adoption.
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 295 (Ammiano) Page
2
3.Makes the funds for this pilot project available for
three years.
4.Requires a report to the Legislature by November 30,
2010, on the results of this adoption-services pilot
program.
5.Establishes the intent of the Legislature that all
counties be authorized to provide children with
alternatives to group homes through development of
family-based services programs, including "wrap-around"
services.
6.Defines children eligible for wrap-around services to
include dependents, wards or children voluntarily placed
into foster or out-of-home care who are or would be
placed in a group home at a rate classification level of
10 or higher.
7.Establishes reimbursement rates for wrap-around services.
8.Requires each county providing wrap-around services to
evaluate its pilot project and prepare interim and final
evaluations to share with the Legislature and the
Department of Social Services (DSS).
9.Specifies the amount or proportion of funding to be
provided to each participating entity and that those
funds shall be available for expenditure for three years.
This bill
1.Allows the expenditure of preadoption and postadoption
pilot program funds until June 30, 2010.
2.Extends until May 31, 2011, the due date for a report to
the Legislature on the results of the preadoption and
postadoption pilot program.
3.Allows county wrap-around services to be provided to
nonrelative extended family members as defined.
4.Strikes all references to the provision of wrap-around
services as "pilot projects."
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 295 (Ammiano) Page
3
5.Makes changes in the evaluation required of each county's
wrap-around services program, adding cost-effectiveness,
stability in the least restrictive school placement, and
applicable indicators from the state's child and family
service review system, such as safety, permanency, and
child well-being in the evaluation of the wrap-around
services program.
6.Provides that a child who is categorically eligible for
Medi-Cal benefits with no share of cost based on the
receipt of Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster
Care (AFDC-FC) or adoption assistance benefits remains
eligible for Medi-Cal for the time specified in the
child's individualized services plan even though the
child has been returned to the parental home.
7.Provides that a child who reaches 16 years of age while
receiving wrap-around services shall be eligible to
request and receive independent living services.
FISCAL IMPACT
The Assembly Appropriations Committee estimates that at as
of December 31, 2009, $1.3 million in General Fund will
remain unspent in the adoption services pilot project.
Without the extension of the project those funds could be
returned to the General Fund.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Preadoption and postadoption services pilot
This bill extends two dates associated with a preadoption
and postadoption services pilot program. It extents by one
year the time allowed for expenditure of funds; and it
extends for six months the due date for a report on the
pilot program.
The three-year pilot was created by AB 1808 (Assembly
Committee on the Budget, Chapter 75, Statutes of 2006), a
budget trailer bill related to human services. The focus
of the pilot is support for adoptions of foster children
ages nine years of age and older who have been in foster
care at least 18 months and who live in group homes or with
foster families who are not related to them. The
participating counties are San Francisco, Los Angeles,
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 295 (Ammiano) Page
4
Alameda, and Kern, along with the department's adoptions
district office in Sacramento. According to the author,
extending the expenditure date reflects the delay in the
initial implementation of the pilot projects.
Wrap-around services
This bill would also eliminate the designation of
wrap-around services as a "pilot project." "Wrap-around"
refers to a program that provides comprehensive social and
other services that are "wrapped around" a child and
family.
California's program was developed to support the placement
of children in family-based settings, rather than group
homes or institutional settings. Children are eligible for
a period determined by an individualized services plan if
they have been adjudicated as a dependent or ward and would
be placed in a group home with a rate classification level
of 10 or higher, or if they would be voluntarily placed in
out-of-home care through the special education system.
According to the California Evidenced Based Clearinghouse
for Child Welfare Services, the documented evidence base
for wrap-around's success is "promising". By law,
wrap-around services must be cost-neutral to the state.
Although statutes still reference wrap-around as a "pilot,"
there are at least 39 counties currently participating in
the program. According to DSS, community-based agencies
lead most county programs. Based on county reports to DSS,
in July, 2008, there were approximately 3,000 children
served statewide in wrap-around programs, with nearly half
in Los Angeles County. DSS reports that by 2009-10, the
child welfare services/case management system's online
database should include more reliable data on wrap-around
participants.
Previous votes
Assembly Floor 78-0
Assembly Appropriations 17-0
Assembly Human Services 6-0
POSITIONS
Support: American Federation of State, County and
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 295 (Ammiano) Page
5
Municipal Employee
California Alliance of Child and Family
Services
County Welfare Directors Association
City and County of San Francisco
Family Law Section, State Bar of California
Oppose: None received
-- END --