BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   SCR 44|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                         |
          |1020 N Street, Suite 524          |                         |
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  SCR 44
          Author:   Liu (D)
          Amended:  As introduced
          Vote:     21

           
           SUBJECT  :    Foster Care Month 2011

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This resolution designates the month of May 2011 
          as Foster Care Month in California.

           ANALYSIS  :    Resolution findings:

          All children need and deserve to feel love, a sense of 
          belonging, and the continuity of family and loved ones to 
          support and guide them in their growth and development.

          This need is especially urgent for California's 60,000 
          children in foster care, who have experienced the trauma of 
          neglect, abuse, and separation from family and loved ones.

          Thanks to the focus and commitment of Californians working 
          in public and private organizations in child welfare, 
          probation, mental health, public health, education, and the 
          courts, and the extraordinary commitment of those who open 
          their homes and work with jurisdictions to meet the needs 
          of foster youth for safety, permanency, and well-being, 
          more of California's youth are able to live and grow up 
          with the support of permanent, caring families.

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                                                                SCR 44
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          In recent years, California has made great strides in 
          attaining permanency for thousands of children and youth in 
          foster care.

          Throughout the state, children and youth are benefiting 
          from a focus by child welfare jurisdictions on creating 
          permanent family connections from the moment a child enters 
          child welfare supervised care.

          During 2009-2010, almost 60 percent (nearly 20,000) of the 
          children leaving foster care were returned to their 
          families.

          For those children and youth who could not safely return to 
          their own families, we celebrate that over 6,457 were 
          adopted during that period and almost 3,000 attained 
          permanence through guardianship with relatives or other 
          adults.

          We also continue to be concerned for the numerous teens 
          that age out of the foster care system without the safety 
          net of a permanent family, and look forward with hope to 
          the full implementation of AB 12 (Beall), Chapter 559, 
          Statutes of 2010) and its promise of care until 21 years of 
          age for foster youth who attain majority while in care.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Fiscal Com.:  No


          CTW:kc  5/3/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                       SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  NONE RECEIVED

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