BILL ANALYSIS
AB 921
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 20, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 921 (Jones) - As Amended: April 13, 2009
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:5 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires probation officers and social workers to
notify dependents or wards whenever a juvenile court orders a
hearing to terminate jurisdiction on the basis of age.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the probation officer or social worker to supply the
emancipating youth with a written notice stating that the
person is a former foster child and is eligible for the
services and benefits that are available to a former foster
child through public and private programs, including the
independent living program (ILP).
2)Requires the probation officer or social worker to provide the
youth with information regarding the availability of services
and requires them to provide assistance to enable the person
to apply for and gain acceptance into federal and state
programs that provide ILP services and any other benefits they
may be eligible for, such as education, housing, and financial
assistance.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Minimal reimbursable local costs, likely less than $50,000,
for the workload associated with probation officers providing
wards the required information and assistance.
2)Social workers are already required to provide this
information and assistance to foster youth. Therefore there
are no new costs for county child welfare departments.
AB 921
Page 2
COMMENTS
Purpose . This bill would ensure that when jurisdiction of the
juvenile court is to be terminated on the basis of age, dual
status children, wards of the court, and former foster youth are
provided with documentation confirming their status as a former
foster youth, advising them of their eligibility for public and
private services and benefits available to former foster youth,
and providing them with the assistance they need to enable them
to apply for such programs.
This bill is intended to re-connect dual status children (who
are simultaneously designated as a dependent child and a ward),
or former foster children who subsequently become wards of the
court, with transitional programs available through the foster
care system. According to the Children's Advocacy Institute
(CAI), the bill's sponsor, this bill "will ensure that every
dependent child that becomes a ward of the court receives ILP
services and all other state services entitled to emancipating
former foster youth regardless of their residency status while a
ward of the court."
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081