HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06262012 - C.46RECOMMENDATION(S):
SUPPORT AB 1712 (Beall): Minors and Non-minor Dependents: Out-of-Home Placement, a bill that is a technical
clean up measure relating to 2010’s Fostering Connections to Success Act, which extended foster care services to
youth up to age 21 and helps the state draw down additional foster care funding from the federal government, as
recommended by the Legislation Committee.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The fiscal impact on the State of California is as follows:
1) Costs for removing the phase-in for 19-year olds will be between $13 million and $20 million ($9 million and $14
million GF) in 2012-13 and $5 million ($3 million GF) in 2013-14 for the administrative and grant costs associated
with allowing the youth to remain in care.
2) GF savings of over $1 million in 2012-13, growing to over $15 million by 2016-17 due to the increased
APPROVE OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
Action of Board On: 06/26/2012 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
Clerks Notes:
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
AYE:John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II
Supervisor
Mary N. Piepho, District III
Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV
Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V
Supervisor
Contact: L. DeLaney,
925-335-1097
I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board
of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: June 26, 2012
David Twa, County Administrator and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors
By: June McHuen, Deputy
cc:
C. 46
To:Board of Supervisors
From:Legislation Committee
Date:June 26, 2012
Contra
Costa
County
Subject:Support for AB 1712 (Beall): Minors and Nonminor Dependents: Out-of-Home Placement
FISCAL IMPACT: (CONT'D)
federal financial participation associated with expanding the definition of "kin" and allowing more families to
move from non-related legal guardian status (NRLG) to the kinship guardianship program.
3) Up to $200,000 ($68,000 GF) per year in administrative savings in the child welfare program for every 25
non-minor dependents who leave the child welfare system through adult adoption or tribal customary adoption.
If the state does not provide funding for the cost of program, these costs fall on the County.
BACKGROUND:
AB 1712, by Assembly Member Jim Beall, is a technical clean up measure relating to 2010’s Fostering
Connections to Success Act, AB 12. The Act extended foster care services to youth up to age 21 and helps the
state draw down additional foster care funding from the federal government.
AB 1712 was created with input from counties, foster family agencies, and myriad other stakeholders, all with a
singular goal in mind: To make foster care services as accessible and efficient as possible for all youth and
non-minor dependents that need them.
While the bill contains a number of very technical provisions, it also has an important provision that could make a
substantial difference for youth participating in AB 12, depending on their date of birth. Because of the manner in
which the original law was written, the AB 12 eligibility was phased in by age group, moving in 18-year-olds as
of January 2012, 19-year-olds as of January 2013; and 20-year-olds as of January 2014 if funds allow.
Some youth who are already participating in AB 12 extended care are turning 19 during calendar year 2012 and
are not able to remain in their placements, depending on their case circumstances and county that they live in.
While some courts and counties have been able to allow some of their youth to remain in care, not every county
has been able to provide this extension because associated funds were not built into the program's fiscal
assumptions.
This provision has a small one-time cost associated with it. However, the bill also achieves savings in a number of
ways that offset the cost associated with allowing these youth to remain in care for a few extra months before the
January 2013 phase-in to age 20 takes effect. The author has submitted amendments to clarify that the bill closes
this gap only for youth participating in AB 12 extended care who turn 19 during 2012, and that the bill is not
otherwise eliminating the phase-in provisions of current law, which further reduces costs. The Brown
Administration is proposing to extend care to age 21 on the regular phase-in schedule and build this funding into
the County Realignment base over the next three years, demonstrating the Governor’s support for this program.
The Assembly Human Services Committee made technical amendments to AB 1712 on April 24 and passed the
measure. AB 1712 passed out of the Assembly on May 30, 2012 and is now pending in the Senate. CSAC
supports this bill.
At its June 7, 2012 meeting, the Legislation Committee reviewed the bill and recommended that it be supported.
However, the Committee requested that the letter of support communicate the County's concerns about the
funding.
Attached is the Assembly Floor analysis of the bill. (The bill is 239 pages and is not attached for that reason.)
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT:
ATTACHMENTS
AB 1712 Assembly Floor Analysis
AB 1712 Assembly Floor Analysis
2011 CA A 1712: Bill Analysis - Assembly Floor - 05/30/2012
BILL ANALYSIS
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1712 (Beall)
As Amended May 25, 2012
2/3 vote. Urgency
HUMAN SERVICES 5-0 APPROPRIATIONS 12-0
Ayes: Beall, Ammiano, Grove, Ayes: Fuentes, Blumenfield,
Hall, Portantino Bradford, Charles
Calderon, Campos, Davis,
Gatto, Ammiano, Hill,
Lara, Mitchell, Solorio
SUMMARY: Makes various technical and clarifying changes to the California Fostering Connections to Success Act of
2010 (AB 12). Specifically,this bill:
1)Makes the nonminor dependents or youth participating in AB 12 (Beall and Bass), Chapter 559, Statutes of 2010,
eligible for the court-appointed special advocate (CASA) program so that volunteer CASAs can provide designated services
and support to youth under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
2)Allows 18 year-olds currently receiving extended AB 12 foster youth services who turn 19 in the current calendar year
to continue to receive those services.
3)Exempts a parenting youth from referral by the county child welfare department to the local child support agency for
the payment of child support while in foster care.
4)Clarifies that the social worker or probation officer should give notice of review hearings in dependency proceedings to
nonminor dependents and any known siblings.
5)Includes Transitional Housing Program Plus - Foster Care (THP-Plus FC) within the definition of a community care
facility for purposes of the Community Care Facilities Act.
6)Transfers the approval of THP-Plus FC providers serving nonminor dependents from the counties to the State
Department of Social Services (DSS).
7)Declares this an urgency measure to take effect immediately upon signature of the Governor.
8)See Assembly Human Services Committee analysis for more information on this measure.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the California Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010 (AB 12) which, among other provisions:
a) Provides a voluntary program for youth who meet specified work and education participation criteria for the
extension of transitional foster care to eligible youth up to age 19 in 2012, age 20 in 2013, and upon appropriation by the
Legislature, age 21 in 2014; and,
b) Conforms to federal revisions to the Kin-GAP program in order to allow for federal financial participation in the
program.
2)Defines a "nonminor dependent" as, on or after January 1, 2012, a current or former foster child between the ages of
18 and 21 who is in foster care under the responsibility of the county welfare department, county probation department, or
Indian Tribe and is participating in a transitional independent living plan.
3)Provides that a nonminor ages 18-21 shall continue to receive foster care assistance under certain conditions,
including that the nonminor is otherwise eligible for Aid to Families with Dependent Children - Foster Care (AFDC-FC)
benefits, has signed a mutual agreement, and when one or more of the following conditions exist:
a) The nonminor is working toward their high school education or an equivalent credential;
b) The nonminor is enrolled in a postsecondary institution or vocational education program;
c) The nonminor is participating in a program or activity designed to promote, or remove barriers to employment;
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d) The nonminor is employed for at least 80 hours per month; or,
e) The nonminor is incapable of doing any of the activities described in a) through d) above, due to a medical condition,
and that incapability is supported by regularly updated information in the case plan of the nonminor.
4)See Assembly Human Services Committee analysis for more information on existing law.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1)Costs for removing the phase-in for 19-year olds already in extended foster care will be approximately $1.6 million
($1.1 million General Fund (GF)) in 2012-13 and $260,000 ($175,000 GF) in 2013-14 for the administrative and grant
costs associated with allowing the youth to remain in care.
2)GF savings of over $1 million in 2012-13, growing to over $15 million by 2016-17 due to the increased federal
financial participation associated with expanding the definition of "kin" and allowing more families to move from non-
related legal guardian status (NRLG) to the kinship guardianship program.
3)Up to $200,000 ($68,000 GF) per year in administrative savings in the child welfare program for every 25 non-minor
dependents who leave the child welfare system through adult adoption or tribal customary adoption.
NOTE: Amendments taken in the Assembly Appropriations Committee substantially reduce the costs associated with
paragraph one above regarding the removal of the phase-in for 19-year olds. Specifically, the amendments limit extended
AB 12 foster youth services eligibility to 18-year olds who turn 19 in the 2012 calendar year and were previously receiving
those services, rather than all otherwise former foster youth who are 19 years of age in 2012.
COMMENTS:
California Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010: AB 12 (Beall and Bass) Chapter 559, Statutes of 2010, was a
landmark piece of child welfare legislation in California opting the state into two provisions of the federal Fostering
Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Fostering Connections Act) (P.L. 110-351). Specifically, AB
12:
1)Re-enacted California's existing state and county-funded Kin-GAP program to align it with new federal requirements
and allow the state to bring federal financial participation into our kinship guardian assistance program for the first time;
and,
2)Provides transitional foster care support to qualifying foster youth ages 18 to 21, phased-in over three years,
beginning in 2012.
The goal of AB 12 is to assist foster youth, or "nonminor dependents" as they are referred to in statute, in their
transition to adulthood by providing them with the opportunity to create a case plan alongside their case worker tailored to
their individual needs, which charts the course towards independence through incremental levels of responsibility. It is a
voluntary program grounded in evidence of how the option of continued support to age 21 can counter the dismal
outcomes faced by youth who are forced to leave the foster care system at age 18, including high rates of homelessness,
incarceration, reliance on public assistance, teen pregnancy, and low rates of high school and postsecondary graduation.
In order to be eligible to continue foster care benefits up to age 21, a nonminor dependent youth must: continue under
the jurisdiction of the juvenile court; sign a mutual agreement which commits both the nonminor and the placing agency
to certain responsibilities; reside in an approved, supervised placement; work alongside their caseworker to prepare and
participate in their transitional independent living case plan; and have their status reviewed every six months.
Need for this bill: According to the author, as AB 12 and its follow-up measure AB 212 (Beall), Chapter 459, Statutes of
2011, have been reviewed and assessed for implementation by various stakeholders following enactment, requests for
needed clarifying and technical changes have emerged. As implementation has commenced and additional federal
guidance has been received, the need for subsequent legislation has become clear and thus the need for this bill.
As AB 12 was initially enacted, it authorized the county to review and approve transitional housing program providers as
an initial step in making available placements and services for youth. An urgency clause is necessary so that the transfer
of the THP-Plus FC program to Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) can be implemented as quickly as possible so
these critical placements can be made available to youth and to avoid the numerous obstacles counties have in attempting
to perform the approval.
Support: The California Coalition for Youth writes that about "80,000-95,000 homeless youth are currently living on the
streets of California and about 60% of youth being served are either self-emancipating from a foster home or have been
prior to this year aging out of the foster care system at eighteen without shelter. The bill will treat the THP-Plus Foster
Care program as the State treats other residential care facilities and will promote consistency across the state for
providers, without having each county potentially develop different requirements."
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The County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) writes that "[e]nsuring that AB 12 is properly implemented and that
the affected youth have an opportunity to succeed in life is high on the list of priorities for our organization's membership.
For these reasons CWDA is pleased to be a CO-SPONSOR" of AB 1712."
Aspiranet writes that this bill "provides clarification over inter-county transfers, allowance for adult adoptions of
nonminor dependents, their rights to their records and other issues that have arisen as the state implements the extension
of foster care. Most foster youth leaving the system do not have a good support system that would prevent them from
becoming homeless or entering the criminal justice system, which further costs the state. We need to give them the best
opportunity to succeed."
Analysis Prepared by: Chris Reefe / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
FN: 0003982
Copyright (c) 2012 State Net. All rights reserved.
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