BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1920
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 12, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1920 (Davis) - As Amended: April 20, 2010
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:4 - 1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to
establish Web-based foster care document storage pilot program
and authorizes Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Bernardino
counties to participate. Specifically, this bill:
1)Establishes the document storage pilot program and requires
Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Bernardino Counties to
participate.
2)Requires DSS to consult with all appropriate stakeholders,
including the County Welfare Directors Association, California
Youth Connection, and Living Advantage, Inc., in the
development of the program.
3)Requires that the website be interactive, secure, and provide
current and former foster youth between the ages of 15 and 21
with access to specific personal documents and information
including birth records, social security numbers, medical
records, and school records.
4)Requires that the website also provide information and links
which will connect foster youth with such resources that meet
their educational, work, and independent living skills needs.
5)Requires the participating counties to report to the
Legislature on or before October 1, 2014 on the effectiveness
of the pilot program.
6)Sunsets the pilot on January 1, 2016.
AB 1920
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FISCAL EFFECT
1)Costs in the range of $125,000 (GF) for DSS to convene the
workgroup, develop the guidelines for the pilot and provide
implementing instructions to the counties.
2)Unknown, potentially significant non reimbursable costs for
the required counties to purchase a web-based system, collect
required information, and ensure that the information is
loaded onto the website for the 8,000 foster youth impacted by
the pilot project.
3)Costs in the range of $250,000 (GF) and local funds for
counties to develop the required reports and for DSS to
monitor the pilot and evaluate the reports from the counties.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . This bill is intended to help foster youth gather
and maintain the documents and information that they will need
once they become adults and emancipated from the foster care
system.
The sponsors of the bill, Living Advantage, Inc., a non-profit
organization that has created the Virtual Assistant Living and
Education (VALE) program upon which this bill is based,
contend that this bill is necessary because when foster youth
emancipate from the foster care system they often do not have
vital information, such as their social security numbers or
even birth dates, that they will need throughout their adult
lives.
2)Key Issue . Companies other than Living Advantage, Inc. have
already developed this product and made it available to
counties. In 2009, Santa Clara County tested a product called
My Safe Drawer, which was developed with the help of the
California Youth Connection. Given the progress that is
already being made in this area without legislation and the
testing in Santa Clara County, the Legislature may wish to
consider whether or not it makes sense to mandate an
additional pilot project in Los Angeles, Santa Bernardino, and
San Francisco.
3)Related Legislation . AB 1148 (Davis) of 2009 was substantially
similar to this bill, with the exception that it created a
AB 1920
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statewide program, instead of a pilot, and named it the
Virtual Assistant Living and Education (VALE) program. AB
1148 was pulled at the author's request, and not heard in the
Assembly Human Services Committee.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081