BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 295|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 295
Author: Ammiano (D)
Amended: 9/4/09 in Senate
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 extends the availability of funds
appropriated for a pilot program that focuses on
pre-adoption and post-adoption activities to June 30, 2010,
and extends the date for the Department of Social Services
to provide the related information on the pilot program to
the Legislature to May 31, 2011.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/4/09 (1) revert to current law
language relating to the "pilot project" status of
CONTINUED
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wrap-around services, and also revert related provisions on
evaluation of wrap-around services to current law, (2)
strike provisions that allow 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 to remain eligible for Medi-Cal for the time
specified in the child's individualized services plan even
if the child has been returned to the parental home, and
(3) strike provisions that allow a child who reaches 16
years of age while receiving wrap-around services eligible
to receive Independent Living Program services.
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law
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.
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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:
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.
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
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
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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 Independent $14 $27
$27 General**
Living Program 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)
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
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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 eligibility for
the Independent Living Program 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
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,
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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/JJA:cm 9/8/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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