BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2061
Author: Chau (D)
Amended: 6/26/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/24/14
AYES: Beall, DeSaulnier, Liu, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 64-6, 5/29/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Child welfare services: families experiencing
homelessness
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill creates a new section in the Welfare and
Institutions Code requiring the Department of Social Services
(DSS) to encourage participating counties to consider the use of
innovative, evidence-based strategies with the optional portion
of their federal Title IV-E waiver capped allocation
demonstration project to assist families that include a child
placed in foster care, who are receiving child welfare services,
and who are experiencing homelessness, to achieve supportive
housing, rapid rehousing, and permanent housing, as described.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
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1.Requires DSS and county welfare departments to maintain a
system of child welfare services to serve the needs of
children who are alleged to be abused or neglected, to reduce
the necessity for removing these children from their homes, to
encourage speedy reunification of families when it can be
safely accomplished, and to locate permanent homes and
families for children who cannot return to their biological
families.
2.Requires the state to seek federal funds to assist in
financing public programs including federal Title IV-E funds,
and requires in federal law that states shall provide a plan,
comply with federal directives and collect relevant data, in
order to receive Title IV-E federal payments for foster care
and adoption assistance.
3.Authorizes DSS to conduct a demonstration project in up to 20
counties, based on the terms of a federal Title IV-E waiver,
to allow flexible use of federal and state foster care funds
by using a federal capped allocation model over a five-year
period.
4.Requires that any county, state, or federal savings in the
foster care program that occur as a result of the
demonstration project must be reinvested by counties in child
welfare services program improvements. Requires foster care
savings to be used to support the counties in developing a
broader and more responsive array of services to improve
outcomes for children and families. Permits any unexpended
state and federal funds may be retained by each county for
expenditure in subsequent fiscal years for purposes consistent
with this section.
This bill:
1.Makes various Legislative findings and declarations including
that homelessness and housing instability interfere with the
reunification of children in foster care with birth families,
and that as many as 30% of children in foster care who cannot
be reunited with birth families could be reunited if the
family were able to access a safe place to live.
2.Creates a new section in the Welfare and Institutions Code
requiring DSS to encourage participating counties to consider
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the use of innovative, evidence-based strategies with the
optional portion of their federal Title IV-E waiver capped
allocation demonstration project to assist families that
include a child placed in foster care, who are receiving child
welfare services, and who are experiencing homelessness to
achieve the following:
A. Supportive housing, including housing with no limit on
length of stay, that is occupied by the target population,
and that is linked to onsite or offsite services that
assist the supportive housing resident in retaining the
housing, improving his or her health status, and maximizing
his or her ability to live and, when possible, work in the
community.
B. Rapid rehousing, including assistance that enables an
individual or family experiencing homelessness to be
quickly stabilized and housed in permanent housing
affordable to the individual or family.
C. Permanent housing, including housing without a limit on
the length of stay that meets the standards of Section
1941.1 of the Civil Code.
Comments
According to the author, homelessness and housing instability
interfere with the reunification of children in foster care with
their birth families. Nearly one-half of children in foster care
have birth parents with a history of homelessness and as many as
30% of children in foster care who are not eligible for
reunification with their birth families could be reunited if the
family were able to access a safe place to live.
The author states that counties receiving Title IV-E waivers
from the federal government are allowed to use evidence-based
strategies on alternative services that promote safety,
permanency and well-being for children. DSS is currently
negotiating a waiver of Title IV-E funds, typically used to pay
for foster care placement, with the federal government. This
waiver would allow participating counties to use foster care
placement funds more flexibly, to pay for innovations that keep
children with their families and allow children placed in foster
care to be reunited with their families. AB 2061 would direct
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DSS to include evidence-based housing strategies in their Title
IV-E Waiver application.
Housing. According to a report released in February 2014 by the
California Housing Partnership Corporation, there are not enough
homes in the private housing market available to low- and
moderate-income households. The report noted a shortfall of more
than 950,000 homes available to the state's lowest income
families. The shortfall is particularly acute in the rental
housing market, typically the last resort for lower-income
families, many of whom were forced out of single-family homes
during the Great Recession and have little chance of becoming
homeowners in the near future, according to the report. It
indicated that median rents in California increased by more than
20% from 2000 to 2012, while the median income dropped by 8%.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/6/14)
Children Now
Corporation for Supportive Housing
County Welfare Directors Association
Housing California
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 64-6, 05/29/14
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez,
Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray,
Hagman, Hall, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,
Levine, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Pan, Perea, John A. P�rez, V. Manuel
P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,
Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Achadjian, Bigelow, Conway, Dahle, Olsen, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Grove, Harkey, Linder,
Logue, Mansoor, Melendez, Patterson, Vacancy
JL:nl 8/6/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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