BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 295|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 295
Author: Ammiano (D)
Amended: 6/1/09 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/23/09
AYES: Liu, Maldonado, Alquist, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 12-0, 8/27/09
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, Denham, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza,
Price, Runner, Walters, Wolk, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 6/2/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Children: wrap-around and adoption services
SOURCE : City and County of San Francisco
County Welfare Directors Association
DIGEST : This bill 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.
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law
CONTINUED
AB 295
Page
2
1.Requires the 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.
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 home 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 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:
AB 295
Page
3
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."
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.
Comments
This bill extends two dates associated with a preadoption
and postadoption services pilot program. It extends 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
Budget Committee), Chapter 75, Statutes of 2006, a budget
AB 295
Page
4
trailer bill related to human services. The focus of the
pilot is support for adoptions of foster children ages nine
years 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, Alameda, and Kern,
along with the department's adoptions district office in
Sacramento. According to the author's office, extending
the expenditure date reflects the delay in the initial
implementation of the pilot projects.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
Extends expenditure $1,300 $0
$0 General*
deadline
Code clean-up $0 $0
$0 General
Expands ILP $14 $27
$27 General**
eligibility
Expands Medi-Cal Unknown, likely minor costs
General/
eligibility
Federal
*If the deadline is not extended, $1.3 million will
revert back to the
General Fund.
**Cost pressure.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/28/09)
City and County of San Francisco (co-source)
County Welfare Directors Association (co-source)
AB 295
Page
5
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
Aspiranet
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Communities United Institute
California Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Directors
California Mental Health Directors Association
California Society of Clinical Social Work
California State Association of Counties
Family Builders
Family Law Section, State Bar of California
Juvenile Court Judges of California
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
State Public Affairs Committee of the Junior Leagues of
California
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/28/09)
Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"AB 295 reaffirms California's commitment to fostering
permanency and maintaining lifelong connections for at-risk
and troubled youth. Legislation is needed to clean-up
existing codes, to extend the deadline by which already
appropriated Older Foster Youth Adoption (OYA) funds must
be spent, and when reports to the Legislature must be
submitted on the effectiveness of the OYA program."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance
opposes this bill because (1) it creates a potentially
significant General Fund cost by expanding eligilibty for
the ILP and potential for Medi-Cal beneficiaries; (2) it
could increase administrative requirements on local
entities in an effort to promote the provision of
wrap-around services; and (3) certain provisions relating
to lifting the pilot status of wrap-around services appear
premature given that the program evaluation requirements
have yet to be completed.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Tom
AB 295
Page
6
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan,
Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway,
Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Duvall,
Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore,
Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber,
Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava,
Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel
Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bill Berryhill, Block
CTW:cm 9/1/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****