AB 1766, as introduced, Nazarian. Foster youth: transitional housing pilot project.
Existing law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide payments to foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in foster care. The program is funded by a combination of federal, state, and county funds, with moneys from the General Fund being continuously appropriated to pay for the state’s share of AFDC-FC costs.
Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to adopt regulations to govern county transitional housing placement programs that provide supervised housing services to persons at least 16 years of age and not more than 18 years of age, with specified exceptions, who satisfy the requirements of the AFDC-FC program, are in out-of-home placement, as specified, and are participating in, or have successfully completed, an independent living program. Existing law requires that in order for a facility to participate in a transitional housing placement program, the facility shall obtain certification from the county department of social services or county probation department that the facility satisfies certain criteria.
This bill would authorize the County of Los Angeles, in conjunction with the University of California at Los Angeles and a nonprofit child advocacy organization, to participate in a pilot project to establish the University-Affiliated First Star High School Academy, under the administration of the State Department of Social Services. The bill would require that the academy be licensed as a transitional housing placement provider, but would specify certain alternative requirements for the project including, among others, that the academy serve foster children who are attending high school and are at least 13 years of age. The bill would require the department to prepare a report evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot project and to submit it to the Legislature by January 1, 2020. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Los Angeles.
This bill would provide that the continuous appropriation for the state’s share of the AFDC-DF costs would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature find and declares all of the
2following:
3(a) Only 50 percent of foster youth graduate from high school.
4(b) Only 3 percent of former foster youth graduate from a
5four-year college, even though more than 70 percent express a
6desire to earn a college degree.
7(c) In Los Angeles County, 24 percent of former foster youth
8will have experienced homelessness within two years of leaving
9the foster care system.
10(d) Approximately 60 percent of young women in foster care
11will become pregnant by 20 years of age.
12(e) Within two years of leaving the foster care system, 64 percent
13of young men and 30 percent of young women are incarcerated.
14(f) With approximately 5,200 youth aging out of foster care
15every year in California, the cost to state and local governments
16of homelessness, incarceration, and indigence of former foster
17youth is $165 million per year.
P3 1(g) The college environment has a holistic effect on students,
2and impacts not only the academic but also the psychosocial aspects
3of students’ development.
4(h) Large colleges and universities have specialists in the areas
5of medicine, law, psychology, sociology, communication, and
6education who can greatly augment the services provided to foster
7youth by county child welfare agencies.
8(i) The existing First Star UCLA Bruin Guardian Scholar
9Summer Academy offers a summer program to foster youth, which
10consists of daylong scheduled classes, programs, and activities
11that provide two to four undergraduate academic credits each
12summer session, as well as the social and emotional preparation
13necessary to flourish in college and the skills necessary to gain
14acceptance into college and successfully transition into adulthood.
15(j) Extending the First Star UCLA Bruin Guardian Scholar
16Summer Academy to a year-round placement option would allow
17foster youth to fully realize the benefits of this college environment.
Section 16523 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
19Code, to read:
(a) The department shall implement a pilot project in
21the County of Los Angeles, at the option of the county, in
22conjunction with the University of California at Los Angeles and
23a nonprofit child advocacy organization, to establish the
24University-Affiliated First Star High School Academy. The
25academy shall be licensed as a transitional housing placement
26provider pursuant to this article and Section 1559.110 of the Health
27and Safety Code, but shall include all of the following components:
28(1) The academy shall serve foster children who are attending
29high school and are at least 13 years of age, but who do not exceed
30the age limit specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section
3116522.1.
32(2) The academy shall be limited to a program described in
33paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 16522, however,
34residential facilities for participants and supervisory adults may
35include configurations including, but not limited to, dormitory,
36multioccupant, clustered, hub, and other housing layouts and
37arrangements as are commonly found in a college or university
38environment.
39(3) The program staffing ratio of case manager to client shall
40not exceed one to three.
P4 1(b) The academy shall be reimbursed at the monthly rate
2specified in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a)
3Section 11403.3.
4(c) The department shall prepare a report evaluating the
5effectiveness of the pilot project and shall submit the report to the
6appropriate committees of the Legislature by January 1, 2020.
7(1) This subdivision shall become inoperative on January 1,
82024, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
9(2) The report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall
10be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
11Code.
No appropriation pursuant to Section 15200 of the
13Welfare an Institutions Code shall be made for purposes of this
14act.
The Legislature finds and declares that a special law
16is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable
17within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California
18Constitution because of the unique circumstances in the County
19of Los Angeles with regard to the existing First Star UCLA Bruin
20Guardian Scholar Summer Academy.
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