BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 1856
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 25, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                AB 1856 (Ammiano) - As Introduced:  February 22, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              Human 
          ServicesVote:4 - 1 

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires training for group home providers, foster 
          parents, and relative guardians on cultural competency and 
          sensitivity relating to providing adequate support and care for 
          lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth in 
          out-of-home care. In addition, the bill gives LGBT youth the 
          right to have caregivers and child welfare personnel who have 
          received the competency training. 

          FISCAL EFFECT  

          Costs of adding this component to existing training should be 
          minor and absorbable within existing resources. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . The intent of this legislation is to ensure that LGBT 
            foster youth receive the appropriate care and support while in 
            the child welfare system. The author argues that LGBT foster 
            youth are often harassed and discriminated against. The author 
            reports that abuse of LGBT foster youth is perpetrated not 
            only by youth peers, but in some cases by facility staff, 
            foster parents, and other service providers. "When the abuse 
            is between peers, the harassment is often condoned by facility 
            staff or is unaddressed."  

            This bill will require that all care providers in the child 
            welfare system receive cultural competency training as it 
            pertains to LGBT youth. 

           2)Related Legislation  . AB 3015 (Brownley), Chapter 557, Statutes 








                                                                  AB 1856
                                                                  Page  2

            of 2008,  requires mandatory training programs for 
            administrators, licensed foster parents, and relative 
            caregivers include basic instruction on existing laws 
            regarding the safety of foster youth at school.

            AB 458 (Chu), Chapter 331, Statutes of 2003, requires that 
            training programs for foster caregivers address rights of 
            foster youth to ensure that foster children are not subjected 
            to discrimination or harassment on the basis of actual or 
            perceived race, ethnic group identification, ancestry, 
            national origin, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, 
            gender identity, mental or physical disability, or HIV status.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 
          319-2081