BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
BILL NO: SB 654
S
AUTHOR: Leno
B
VERSION: As introduced
HEARING DATE: April 14, 2009
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FISCAL: To Appropriations
5
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CONSULTANT:
Hailey
SUBJECT
Independent living program
SUMMARY
Extends eligibility for independent living skills education
to former foster youth placed with non-related legal
guardians.
ABSTRACT
Current law:
1. Establishes the independent living program for foster
youth, both wards and dependents of the juvenile court.
This bill:
1. Extends eligibility for the independent living program
to former dependents of the juvenile court who are now
placed with non-relative legal guardians.
FISCAL IMPACT
Unknown.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 654 (Leno) Page
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The independent living program is established in federal
law. Eligibility for the program is written into the
Social Security Act: a youth must have been in a foster
care placement at or on his or her 16th birthday (even if
only for one day) to be eligible for the program's
services. Youth can receive these independent living
services beginning at age 14 if it is determined that they
will most likely age out of foster care. According to the
Department of Social Services (DSS), there are a few
counties that serve youth as young as 14.
The state provides funds for this program to assist teens
in foster care to prepare for adulthood: the program
includes, for example, how to fill out applications for
employment and higher education, ho to manage a checking
account, and how to do laundry. The state, as the
children's parent, is preparing its children for the wider
world.
In addition to direct and practical benefits, participation
in the program makes youth eligible for additional
services, including financial aid for college, after court
jurisdiction has ended.
Recent legislation made it clear that former foster youth
who are now a child in receipt of the Kinship Guardianship
Assistance Payment program (Kin-GAP) are eligible for
services through the independent living program. Kin-GAP
provides legal guardianship by a relative to a former
foster child. This bill extends the eligibility to those
former foster youth who are in the care of a non-relative
legal guardian.
Numbers of youth affected by the bill
The County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA), one of the
bills sponsors, believes that 750 youth who could exit the
dependency system have had their cases kept open so that
the youth can receive independent living program services.
CWDA believes that there are another 460 youth who are
already placed with non-related legal guardians, are
current ineligible for independent living program services,
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 654 (Leno) Page
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and would become eligible if this bill becomes law.
QUESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Under current law, wards of the juvenile court as well
as dependents can participate in the independent living
program. The bill takes care of former dependents of the
juvenile court, but not former wards who may have been in
foster care but are now under the care and supervision of a
non-relative legal guardian. Does the committee want to
ask the author to include those individuals?
POSITIONS
Support: County Welfare Directors Association of
California (Sponsor)
Children's Law Center of Los Angeles
(Sponsor)
California Alliance of Child and Family
Services
California Coalition for Youth
California Communities United Institute
California State Association of Counties
County of Butte Department of Employment and
Social Services
County of Humboldt Health and Human Services
Department
County of Monterey
Merced County Human Services Agency
Regional Council of Rural Counties
San Luis Obispo County Department of Social
Services
Sonoma County Human Services Department
Oppose: None received
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