BILL ANALYSIS
AB 719
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 29, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 719 (Lowenthal) - As Introduced: February 26, 2009
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:6 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill creates a transitional food stamps program for foster
youth, effective July 1, 2010. Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides 12-months of food stamps to independent foster youth
who are ineligible for CalWORKs or SSI benefits, without
regards to their income or resources.
2)Specifies that a foster youth will receive the maximum amount
available for a household of one during the 12-month
certification period.
3)Exempts the foster youth from all finger imaging and any
quarterly or semi-annual reporting.
4)Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to seek all
necessary federal waivers by March 1, 2010 and specifies that
this legislation will only be implemented to the extent
federal financial participation is available.
5)Requires DSS to implement the provisions of this legislation
through an all county letter (ACL) or similar instructions
from the director and requires the adoption of regulations, as
necessary, no later than January 1, 2011.
6)Requires the Department of Health Care Services to add a new
aid code to their automation system for these foster youth.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One time costs of approximately $300,000 ($75,000 GF) for
AB 719
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automation costs associated with creating a new aid code in
the Medical Eligibility Determination System (MEDS).
2)Approximately 4,500 youth emancipate from the state's foster
care system each year. Approximately 15% will be eligible for
food stamps through the Supplemental Security Income/State
Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) program or the CalWORKs
program. The remaining 4,200 cases would receive $200 in food
stamp benefits per month. This would result in an additional
$9 million in federal benefits for California's emancipated
foster youth each year.
3)Annual costs of approximately $200,000 ($80,000 GF) for the
county administrative costs associated with establishing
transitional food stamps cases for emancipating foster youth.
4)Workload costs associated with DSS seeking a federal waiver,
distributing an ACL, and promulgating regulations for this
program would be minor and absorbable within existing
resources.
5)Because providing transitional food stamps to emancipated
foster brings more federal food stamp dollars into the state,
California could receive additional state GF revenues due to
increased sales tax. Studies show that low income families
spend approximately 45% of their income on taxable goods. By
providing these youth with food stamps, 45% of the money that
would have been used to purchase food would now be used for
taxable goods. Based on this assumption, the state could
expect to receive up to $250,000 in additional sales tax
revenue.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . This bill is intended to ease the transition to
independence for foster youth who emancipate from the foster
care system by providing the youth with one year of
transitional food stamps. The author notes that studies of
emancipated foster youth suggest that many of them struggle
once they leave the foster care system. According to the most
recent studies, 46 % do not have a high school diploma, less
than 40 % have more than $250 when they leave foster care, and
65 % leave foster care without a place to live. The author
hopes that providing youth who might otherwise be ineligible
with transitional food stamps for 12 months will give them a
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"softer landing."
2)Committee Comments . Over the last several years, the
Legislature has made a point of including wards of the court
in most of the policy changes involving foster youth. As this
bill is currently written, transitional food stamps will only
be made available to youth who are emancipating from the child
welfare foster care system, not to those youth emancipating
from the probation system. The committee and author may want
to consider ensuring that transitional foods stamps will be
available for all emancipating foster youth, regardless of the
system they emancipate from.
3)Related Legislation . AB 12 (Beall and Bass), pending before
this committee, would extend foster care to age 21 for youth
who are employed, attending school, or meet other specified
criteria.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081