BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1712
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 24, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Jim Beall Jr., Chair
AB 1712 (Beall) - As Amended: March 21, 2012
SUBJECT : California Fostering Connections to Success Act
SUMMARY : Makes various technical and clarifying changes to the
California Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010 (AB 12).
Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes the nonminor dependents or youth participating in AB 12
eligible for the court-appointed special advocate (CASA)
program so that volunteer CASAs can provide designated
services and support to youth under the jurisdiction of the
juvenile court.
2)Exempts a parenting youth from referral by the county child
welfare department to the local child support agency for the
payment of child support while in foster care.
3)Clarifies that the social worker or probation officer should
give notice of review hearings in dependency proceedings to
nonminor dependents and any known siblings.
4)Authorizes the caregiver of the nonminor dependent to attend
the hearings and to submit relevant written information for
filing and distribution to the parties.
5)Clarifies provisions relating to youth and competency
regarding participation in AB 12.
6)Includes Transitional Housing Program Plus - Foster Care
(THP-Plus FC) within the definition of a community care
facility for purposes of the Community Care Facilities Act.
7)Transfers the approval of THP-Plus Foster Care providers
serving nonminor dependents from the counties to the State
Department of Social Services (DSS).
8)Authorizes DSS to develop licensing standards through
emergency regulations and deletes existing separate
fingerprinting requirements applicable to THP-Plus FC
providers, making those providers subject to the background
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check information generally applicable to community care
facilities.
9)Conforms relative caregiver definition to recent federal
guidance in order to access further federal matching dollars
for new entries into federal Kinship Guardianship Assistance
Payment (Kin GAP).
10)Clarifies the definition of the county of residence of a
nonminor dependent.
11)Clarifies that the youth has federal Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) privacy
rights regarding his or her health information and privacy
rights regarding educational records and that relevant
information may be included only with the consent of the
youth.
12)Clarifies that a youth who is an Indian child is eligible for
tribal customary adoption and allows for adoption to be
ordered as the youth's permanent plan and for the termination
of jurisdiction ordered once the adoption order is complete
and filed with the juvenile court.
13)Includes an urgency clause so that the transfer of the
THP-Plus FC program to DSS, Community Care Licensing Division
(CCLD) can be implemented as quickly as possible so these
critical placements can be made available to youth.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes the California Fostering Connections to Success
Act of 2010 (AB 12) which, among other provisions:
a) Provides a voluntary program for youth who meet
specified work and education participation criteria for the
extension of transitional foster care to eligible youth up
to age 19 in 2012, age 20 in 2013, and upon appropriation
by the Legislature, age 21 in 2014; and
b) Conforms to federal revisions to the Kin-GAP program in
order to allow for federal financial participation in the
program.
2)Defines a "nonminor dependent" as, on or after January 1,
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2012, a current or former foster child between the ages of 18
and 21 who is in foster care under the responsibility of the
county welfare department, county probation department, or
Indian Tribe and is participating in a transitional
independent living plan.
3)Provides that a nonminor ages 18-21 shall continue to receive
foster care assistance under certain conditions, including
that the nonminor is otherwise eligible for AFDC-FC benefits,
has signed a mutual agreement, and when one or more of the
following conditions exist:
a) The nonminor is working toward their high school
education or an equivalent credential;
b) The nonminor is enrolled in a postsecondary institution
or vocational education program;
c) The nonminor is participating in a program or activity
designed to promote, or remove barriers to employment;
d) The nonminor is employed for at least 80 hours per
month; or,
e) The nonminor is incapable of doing any of the activities
described in (a) through (d) above, due to a medical
condition, and that incapability is supported by regularly
updated information in the case plan of the nonminor.
4)Defines, on or after January 2, 2012, a "period of trial
independence," as a period of no more than six months, unless
authorized by the juvenile court, during which the court may
terminate and subsequently resume jurisdiction and Title IV-E
foster care benefits to an otherwise eligible nonminor
dependent. Welfare & Institutions (W&I) Code Section 11400;
Title 45 Code of Federal Regulations Section 1356.21.
5)Requires, in certain circumstances, parents of foster children
to make child support payments upon referral by the county
child welfare department to the local child support agency.
Family (FAM) Code Section 17552.
6)Provides for an exception to be made when the referral to the
local child support agency would compromise the stability of
the child's permanent placement plan with a relative caregiver
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receiving Kin-GAP. FAM Code Section 17552.
7)Requires the Judicial Council to adopt court rules by January
1, 2012 in order to allow a nonminor dependent to appear
telephonically in juvenile court proceedings related to a
petition to reenter foster care following a trial period of
independence. W&I Code Section 388.
8)Defines a "mutual agreement" as an agreement of consent for
placement in a supervised setting between a minor or nonminor
dependent and the placing agency that, in the case of a
nonminor dependent, documents the continued need for
supervised out-of-home placement and the agreement between the
nonminor and the social worker or probation officer to work
together to facilitate implementation of the mutually
developed supervised placement agreement and transitional
living plan. W&I Code Section 11403.
9)Under federal law, requires states to develop a transition
plan with foster youth, addressing specified outcome areas 90
days prior to emancipation, and to include information about
the importance of designating someone to make health care
treatment decisions on behalf of the child in addition to the
option of a health care power of attorney, health care proxy,
or similar document. Public Law (P.L.) 110-148, P.L. 110-351
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
California Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010 : AB 12
(Beall & Bass) Chapter 559, Statutes of 2010, was a landmark
piece of child welfare legislation in California opting the
state in to two provisions of the federal Fostering Connections
to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Fostering
Connections Act) (P.L. 110-351). Specifically, AB 12:
10) Re-enacted California's existing state and county-funded
Kin-GAP program to align it with new federal requirements and
allow the state to bring federal financial participation into
our kinship guardian assistance program for the first time;
and,
11) Provides transitional foster care support to qualifying
foster youth ages 18 to 21, phased-in over three years,
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beginning in 2012.
The goal of AB 12 is to assist foster youth, or "nonminor
dependents" as they are referred to in statute, in their
transition to adulthood by providing them with the opportunity
to create a case plan alongside their case worker tailored to
their individual needs, which charts the course towards
independence through incremental levels of responsibility. It
is a voluntary program grounded in evidence of how the option of
continued support to age 21 can counter the dismal outcomes
faced by youth who are forced to leave the foster care system at
age 18, including high rates of homelessness, incarceration,
reliance on public assistance, teen pregnancy, and low rates of
high school and postsecondary graduation. In essence, AB 12
seeks to mirror the type of continued guidance and assistance
most young adults receive from their parents and families in
their late teens and early twenties. Following this paradigm,
AB 12 provides nonminors with the option to petition to reenter
care if they opt out of extended care and want to return before
age 21, provided they meet the eligibility criteria set forth in
federal and state law.
In order to be eligible to continue foster care benefits up to
age 21, a nonminor dependent youth must: continue under the
jurisdiction of the juvenile court; sign a mutual agreement
which commits both the nonminor and the placing agency to
certain responsibilities; reside in an approved, supervised
placement; work alongside their caseworker to prepare and
participate in their transitional independent living case plan;
and have their status reviewed every six months. In addition,
pursuant to the federal Fostering Connections Act, a youth must
meet one of five work or education-related eligibility criteria:
12) Is completing secondary education or a program leading to
an equivalent credential;
13) Is enrolled in an institution which provides postsecondary
or vocational education;
14) Is participating in a program or activity designed to
promote, or remove barriers to employment;
15) Is employed for at least 80 hours per month; or,
16) Is incapable of doing any of the activities described
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above due to a medical condition.
AB 12 required DSS to amend its existing Title IV-E State Plan
to extend benefits to nonminor dependents beyond the previously
required exit point of age 18. The extension will apply to all
Title IV-E eligible populations, including otherwise eligible
dependents and delinquents in foster care as well as youth in
the new federally and state-funded Kin-GAP, and Adoption
Assistance Program (AAP); however, pursuant to federal law,
youth must have entered the Kin-GAP or AAP programs at age 16 or
older in order to be eligible for extended benefits.
The implementation of extended benefits under AB 12 was delayed
until January 1, 2012 and will gradually phase in over a period
of time. This timeframe was intended to provide the courts and
DSS with sufficient time to develop the rules of court,
instructions to counties, and regulations needed to implement AB
12, with input from stakeholders, as well as time to conduct
outreach to potentially eligible youth and training for social
workers and caregivers.
Need for this bill : According to the author, as AB 12 has been
reviewed and assessed for implementation by various stakeholders
following enactment, requests for needed clarifying and
technical changes have emerged. In 2011, AB 212, Chapter 459,
Statutes of 2011, was considered, passed and signed, to achieve
necessary fixes to aid implementation. As implementation has
commenced and additional federal guidance has been received, the
need for subsequent legislation has become clear and thus this
bill was introduced in 2012.
Youth opting into AB 12 may participate in the THP-Plus FC
program option if program slots are available locally.
Transitional Housing Programs have been an essential tool in
preparing foster youth to live independently as adults, but
placement slots are limited. Created in 2001, THP-Plus offers
former foster youth transitional housing and services to assist
the youth in learning basic life skills and developing
educational and employment goals while living on their own (AB
427 (Hertzberg) Chapter 125, Statutes of 2001).
As AB 12 was initially enacted, it authorized the county to
review and approve transitional housing program providers as an
initial step in making available placements and services for
youth. However, subsequent to enactment of AB 12 in 2010 and AB
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212 in 2011, it became clear that while the initial approval may
be feasible at the county level, the workload associated with
the ongoing monitoring, investigation of complaints,
development, review of, and monitoring of corrective action
plans, program revocations, and performing the related necessary
fiscal audits was beyond the capacity of the counties. Also, if
a provider has multiple sites across counties, the question
arose as to which entity would complete the necessary work.
CCLD and the DSS rates and audits bureau perform significant
work and at a statewide level.
An urgency clause is necessary so that the transfer of the
THP-Plus FC program to CCLD can be implemented as quickly as
possible so these critical placements can be made available to
youth and to avoid the numerous obstacles counties have in
attempting to perform the approval.
Statement by the author : According to the author:
This bill provides technical clean-up to AB 12 and AB
212. Despite the two years of work by nine sponsor
organizations and two authors, this lengthy and
significant policy change invariably will require
technical and clarifying changes in order to be
implemented correctly. This bill reflects a continued
collaboration between the nine sponsor organizations
that worked on AB 12 and AB 212, along with our
partners responsible for implementation of AB 12 to
ensure the law is properly implemented. This bill is
intended to address issues already identified, as well
as any that may be identified during the
implementation process along the course of this year.
Support : The California Coalition for Youth writes that about
"80,000-95,000 homeless youth are currently living on the
streets of California and about 60% of youth being served are
either self-emancipating from a foster home or have been prior
to this year aging out of the foster care system at eighteen
without shelter. The bill will treat the THP-Plus Foster Care
program as the State treats other residential care facilities
and will promote consistency across the state for providers,
without having each county potentially develop different
requirements."
The County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) writes that
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"�e]nsuring that AB 12 is properly implemented and that the
affected youth have an opportunity to succeed in life is high on
the list of priorities for our organization's membership. For
these reasons CWDA is pleased to be a CO-SPONSOR" of AB 1712."
Aspiranet writes that this bill "provides clarification over
inter-county transfers, allowance for adult adoptions of
nonminor dependents, their rights to their records and other
issues that have arisen as the state implements the extension of
foster care. Most foster youth leaving the system do not have a
good support system that would prevent them from becoming
homeless or entering the criminal justice system, which further
costs the state. We need to give them the best opportunity to
succeed."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Alliance of Child and family Services (co-sponsor)
County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA)
(co-sponsor)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME), AFL-CIO
Aspiranet
California Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
California Coalition for Youth
California State Association of Counties (CSAC)
Family Law Section of the State Bar (FLEXCOM)
Junior Leagues of California
National Association of Social Workers, CA Chapter (NASW-CA)
Regional Council of Rural Counties (RCRC)
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Gail Gronert / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089