BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2342
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2342 (Evans)
As Amended August 17, 2010
Majority vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |54-20|(June 2, 2010) |SENATE: |21-12|(August 18, |
| | | | | |2010) |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: HUM. S.
SUMMARY : Requires the Office of the State Foster Care
Ombudsperson (Ombudsperson) to develop a resource guide for
emancipating foster youth outlining statewide programs and
services related to education, housing, health, independent
living programs, personal finance and employment opportunities.
Directs the office to consult with relevant state departments
and stakeholders to develop the resource guide, and to
incorporate the guide into its existing web site and print
publications.
The Senate amendments :
1)Add findings and declarations related to the challenges faced
by foster youth transitioning out of foster care to
independent living.
2)Change the intended audience of the resource guide from
adolescent to emancipating foster youth.
3)Add health care coverage, postsecondary and vocational
education and financial aid assessment and preparation,
housing and transitional living programs, access to personal
identification documents and career planning and job training
opportunities to the list of programs and services to be
covered in the resource guide.
4)Strike the requirement that the development and distribution
of the resource guide be contingent upon the receipt of public
and private grants.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson
AB 2342
Page 2
as an autonomous entity within the Department of Social
Services (DSS) to provide children placed in foster care with
the means to resolve issues related to their care, placement
and services. Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) Section
16161.
2)Requires the Ombudsperson to disseminate information regarding
the rights of children and youth in foster care, and allows
the office, counties, foster care providers and others to use
that information in fulfilling their responsibilities to
inform foster youth about their rights. WIC 16164.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required the Ombudsperson
to develop a resource guide for adolescent foster youth
outlining statewide programs and services related to education,
housing, health, independent living programs, personal finance
and employment opportunities. Directed the office to
incorporate the resource guide into its existing web site and
print publications, and made the development and distribution of
the guide contingent upon the receipt of public and private
grant funding.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : Need for this bill: According to the author, "There
are many local and state, and public and nonprofit organizations
in California that have developed their own version of a
resource guide for foster youth, however, these resource guides
usually include information for each specific organization only,
or are not developed specifically to include information for
foster youth. Developing and distributing a resource guide will
provide foster youth, particularly those foster youth "aging
out" of the system, with a valuable tool that they can use to
navigate the complex, and sometimes intimidating, system of
public agencies and organizations statewide."
The author believes the resource guide will be a useful tool for
foster parents, social workers, teachers, mentors and others who
work with foster youth, in helping them to access the supports
and services they need to successfully transition to adulthood.
Currently, the Ombudsperson maintains a Web site,
www.fosteryouthhelp.ca.gov/default.htm , developed by a former
foster youth, which provides information and resources related
AB 2342
Page 3
to foster youth rights, education, housing, and employment,
among other topics. In addition, the Ombudsperson has developed
a printed publication for foster youth.
Prior legislation: AB 1983 (Bass) of 2006 would have required
DSS to form a workgroup to identify services available to former
foster youth, and the eligibility requirements for those
services, and to perform outreach to make those services more
accessible. AB 1983 was held on the Assembly Appropriations
Committee Suspense File.
Analysis Prepared by : Michelle Doty Cabrera / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089
FN: 0006262