Amended in Assembly April 23, 2014

Amended in Assembly March 24, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1766

Introduced by Assembly Member Nazarian

February 14, 2014

An act to add Section 16523 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to foster care.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1766, as amended, 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 begin delete at Los Angeles and First Star, Incorporated, or a related end delete begin insert , a local education agency, and a end insert nonprofit child advocacy organization, to participate in a pilot project to establish the University-Affiliated begin delete First Star end delete 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 begin delete 13 end delete begin insert 14 end insert years of age. begin insert The bill would require the county to ensure that permanent placement options, including reunification, adoption, and the establishment of permanent guardianships, remain the priority placements for children who are eligible to participate in the academy. end insert 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:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature find and declares all of the
following:

(a) Only 50 percent of foster youth graduate from high school.

(b) Only 3 percent of former foster youth graduate from a
four-year college, even though more than 70 percent express a
desire to earn a college degree.

(c) In Los Angeles County, 24 percent of former foster youth
will have experienced homelessness within two years of leaving
the foster care system.

(d) Approximately 60 percent of young women in foster care
will become pregnant by 20 years of age.

(e) Within two years of leaving the foster care system, 64 percent
of young men and 30 percent of young women are incarcerated.

(f) With approximately 5,200 youth aging out of foster care
every year in California, the cost to state and local governments
of homelessness, incarceration, and indigence of former foster
youth is $165 million per year.

(g) The college environment has a holistic effect on students,
and impacts not only the academic but also the psychosocial aspects
of students’ development.

(h) Large colleges and universities have specialists in the areas
of medicine, law, psychology, sociology, communication, and
education who can greatly augment the services provided to foster
youth by county child welfare agencies.

(i) The existing First Star UCLA Bruin Guardian Scholar
Summer Academy begin insert annually end insert offers four, month-long begin delete annual end delete
residential summer programs on the campus of the University of
California, Los Angeles, to foster youth in each of the four years
of their high-school education, with at least one additional day of
instruction per month during the remainder of each year. The
academy consists of daylong scheduled classes, programs, and
activities that provide two to four undergraduate academic credits
each summer session, as well as the social and emotional
preparation necessary to flourish in college and the skills necessary
to gain acceptance into college and successfully transition into
adulthood.

(j) Extending the First Star UCLA Bruin Guardian Scholar
Summer Academy to a year-round placement option would allow
foster youth to fully realize the benefits of this college environment.

SEC. 2.  

Section 16523 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:

16523.  

(a) The department shall implement a pilot project in
the County of Los Angeles, at the option of the county, in
conjunction with the University of California begin delete at Los Angeles and
First Star, Incorporated, or a related end delete begin insert , a local education agency,
and a end insert nonprofit child advocacy organization, to establish the
University-Affiliated begin delete First Star end delete High School Academy. The
academy shall be licensed as a transitional housing placement
provider pursuant to this article and Section 1559.110 of the Health
and Safety Code, but shall include all of the following components:

(1) The academy shall serve foster children who begin delete are attending
high school and are at least 13 end delete begin insert meet all of the following
requirements: end insert

begin insert

(A) Currently attending high school.

end insert

begin insert (B) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Have attained 14 end insert years of age, but begin delete who end delete do not exceed the
age limit specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section
16522.1.

begin insert

(C) Have been determined by the county to have a very low
possibility of reunifying with their parents or guardians or
achieving a permanent placement.

end insert

(2) The academy shall be limited to a program described in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 16522, however,
residential facilities for participants and supervisory adults may
begin delete include end delete begin insert consist of end insert configurations begin delete including, but end delete begin insert that include, but
are end insert not limited to, dormitory, multioccupant, clustered, hub, and
other housing layouts and arrangements as are commonly found
in a college or university environment.

(3) The program staffing ratio of staff member to client shall
not exceed one to three.

begin insert

(4)  Participants in the academy shall attend a local public high
school that is not located on the premises of the academy.

end insert begin insert

(b) The county shall enter into a memorandum of understanding
with the nonprofit child advocacy organization, local education
agency, and the University of California, regarding the operation
of the academy and the enrollment of academy participants in an
appropriate public high school. The memorandum of understanding
shall contain, at a minimum, all of the following:

end insert begin insert

(1) A requirement that academy participants attend a public
high school with close geographic proximity to the academy.

end insert begin insert

(2) A description of the standards for training the staff and
volunteers who will interact with the academy participants.

end insert begin delete

(b)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  The academy shall be reimbursed at 160 percent of the
monthly rate specified in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) of Section 11403.3.

begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  The department shall prepare a report evaluating the
effectiveness of the pilot project and shall submit the report to the
appropriate begin insert policy end insert committees of the Legislature by January 1,
2020.

(1) This subdivision shall become inoperative on January 1,
2024, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.

(2) The report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall
be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.

begin insert

(e) If the county opts to implement the academy, the county shall
ensure that permanent placement options, including reunification,
adoption, and the establishment of permanent guardianships,
remain the priority placements for children who are eligible to
participate in the academy.

end insert begin insert

(f) The academy shall meet all other requirements for a
transitional housing placement provider, except those that conflict
with the provisions of this section.

end insert

SEC. 3.  

No appropriation pursuant to Section 15200 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code shall be made for purposes of this
act.

SEC. 4.  

The Legislature finds and declares that a special law
is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable
within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California
Constitution because of the unique circumstances in the County
of Los Angeles with regard to the existing First Star UCLA Bruin
Guardian Scholar Summer Academy.