BILL NUMBER: AB 719 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 19, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Beall, Hall, John A. Perez,
Portantino, Skinner, and Torres)
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
An act to add Section 18901.4 to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to public social services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 719, as amended, Bonnie Lowenthal. Transitional food stamps for
foster youth.
Existing law declares the duty of the state to care for and
protect the children that it places into foster care. Under existing
law, the State Department of Social Services has various powers and
duties relating to ensuring that the needs of foster children are
met.
Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care
Services, if, and to the extent that, all necessary federal approvals
are obtained for federal financial participation, to implement a
federal option to extend Medi-Cal benefits to independent foster care
adolescents, as defined in federal law.
Existing law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly the Food Stamp
Program, Program), under which each county
distributes food stamps provided by the federal government
nutrition assistance benefits to eligible
households. The Food Stamp Program SNAP
is administered at the state level by the State Department of Social
Services.
This bill would require the department to create the
propose a Transitional Food Stamps for Foster
Youth Program demonstration project ,
effective July 1, 2010. The program
demonstration project would provide independent foster care
adolescents , who are not eligible for CalWORKs or SSI
benefits, with eligibility for food stamps without regard to income
or resources.
This bill would require the department to implement its provisions
by all county all-county letter or
similar instructions, and would prescribe additional duties of the
department in connection with the transitional food stamp
program demonstration project, including obtaining
necessary federal approvals . This bill would be
implemented only to the extent that federal financial participation
is available.
By increasing county duties, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) Foster youth who emancipate from foster care face a
disproportionately higher rate of unemployment. Fifty-one percent of
emancipated foster youth are unemployed within two to four years of
emancipation.
(b) Fewer than four in 10 foster youth had at least two hundred
fifty dollars ($250) in cash upon emancipating.
(c) Forty-six percent of emancipated foster youth have not
completed high school.
(d) Sixty-five percent of foster youth emancipate without a place
to live.
(e) Forty percent of persons living in homeless shelters are
former foster youth.
(f) Nearly 50 percent of emancipated foster youth suffer from
chronic health conditions such as asthma, visual and auditory
problems, dental decay, and malnutrition.
(g) Competing priorities for limited economic and social resources
force emancipated foster youth who cannot meet their basic needs to
prioritize their needs for food, housing, and health care.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 18901.4
is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
18901.4. (a) Effective July 1, 2010, the department shall
create propose a Transitional Food
Stamps for Foster Youth program demonstration
project under which independent foster care adolescents, as
defined in Section 1905(w)(1) of the federal Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. Sec. 1396d(w)(1)) and who are not eligible
for CaLWORKs CalWORKs or Supplementary
Security Income program benefits, shall be eligible without regard to
income or resources , subject to federal law authorizing
demonstration projects pursuant to Section 2011 and following of
Title 7 of the United States Code .
(b) An individual eligible for the program created
proposed pursuant to this section shall receive
the maximum benefit amount allotted for a household size of one for
the initial certification period, which shall remain constant for the
entirety of the initial certification period. The food stamp case
shall be established and maintained in the county of jurisdiction
designated by the terminating foster care case.
(c) An individual eligible pursuant to this section shall be
entitled to a 12-month certification period and shall be exempt from
any quarterly or semiannual reporting requirement during the
certification period.
(c) The demonstration project proposed pursuant to this section
shall maximize access to benefits and minimize interim reporting
requirements during the certification period.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Chapter
4.6 (commencing with Section 10830) of Part 2 of Division 9 shall
not apply to individuals eligible under this section during the
12-month transitional food stamp program
demonstration project certification period.
(e) Not later than March 1, 2010, the department shall seek all
necessary federal waivers approvals to
implement this section as a demonstration project for
these beneficiaries. This section shall be implemented only to the
extent that federal financial participation is available.
(f) The department shall implement this section by an all
county all-county letter (ACL) or similar
instruction from the director and shall adopt regulations as
otherwise necessary to implement this section no later than January
1, 2011.
(g) The department shall establish a new aid code for individuals
receiving benefits pursuant to this section, in order to
differentiate these cases from the standard Non-assistance Food Stamp
(NAFS) case.
SEC. 2. SEC. 3. If the Commission on
State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by
the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for
those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section
17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.