Bill Text: CA SB9 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Raising the Age for Extended Foster Care Pilot Program Act of 2023.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2023-06-27 - From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (June 27). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. [SB9 Detail]
Download: California-2023-SB9-Amended.html
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Amended
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Senate
May 18, 2023 |
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Amended
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April 20, 2023 |
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Amended
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March 08, 2023 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 9
| Introduced by Senator Cortese (Principal coauthor: Senator Wahab) (Coauthors: Senators Ashby, Newman, and Wiener) |
December 05, 2022 |
An act to amend Sections 303, 366.31, 388, 388.1, 391, 450, 452, 11363, 11386, 11400, 11403, 11403.1, 11405, 11464, 16120, and 16501.1 of add Section 460 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to foster care.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 9, as amended, Cortese.
Raising the Age for Extended Foster Care Pilot Program Act of 2023.
Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which is permitted to adjudge certain children to be dependents of the court under certain circumstances until the dependent child attains 21 years of age. Existing law also authorizes the juvenile court to resume jurisdiction over a nonminor who has attained 18 years of age, but not yet attained 21 years of age, and for whom the court has dismissed dependency, delinquency, or transition jurisdiction.
Existing law, the California Fostering Connections to Success Act, revises and expands the scope of various programs relating to the provision of cash assistance and other services to and for the benefit of certain foster and adopted children, and other children who have been placed in out-of-home care, including children who receive Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care
(AFDC-FC), Adoption Assistance Program (AAP), California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs), and Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) benefits. Among other provisions, the act extends specified foster care benefits to nonminor dependents up to 21 years of age, if specified conditions are met. Existing law defines a nonminor dependent for these purposes as a foster child who is a current dependent child or ward of the juvenile court, or who is a nonminor under the transition jurisdiction of the juvenile court pursuant to a voluntary reentry agreement, and in accordance with a transitional independent living case plan who has attained 18 years of age while under an order of foster care placement by the juvenile court and is not older than 21 years of age.
This bill would expand the dependency and transitional jurisdiction of the juvenile court to a nonminor who has not attained 22 years of age if the court makes a finding on the record by a preponderance of the evidence that the nonminor is experiencing
homelessness or is at reasonable risk of homelessness if they are not under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, among other requirements. The bill would also expand the eligibility of foster care benefits by revising the definition of nonminor dependent to include a foster child who meets the above-described requirements and is not older than 22 years of age if the court makes that same finding. The bill would also make these nonminors eligible for benefits under AFDC-FC, CalWORKs, Kin-GAP, and AAP. The bill would also make related conforming changes. By expanding the application of county administered programs, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the AFDC-FC and CalWORKs programs.
This bill would provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
This bill would, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute for this purpose, require the State Department of Social Services to administer a 3-year pilot program in at least 3 counties that choose to participate to extend foster care services to nonminor dependents up to 22 years of age if the nonminor dependent is experiencing homelessness or is at reasonable risk of homelessness if they are not under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. Under the pilot program, the bill would expand the jurisdiction of the juvenile court to include, as a nonminor dependent, a nonminor who is 21 years of age and who was previously under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court if the juvenile court makes a finding on the record by a preponderance of the evidence that the nonminor is experiencing homelessness or is at reasonable risk of homelessness if they are not under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, among other requirements,
would expand the eligibility of foster care by revising the definition of nonminor dependent to include a foster child who meets the above-described requirements and is 21 years of age if the court makes that same finding, and would make these nonminor dependents eligible for benefits under AFDC-FC, CalWORKs, Kin-GAP, and AAP.
Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program.
This bill would provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program:Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Raising the Age for Extended Foster Care Pilot Program Act of 2023.SEC. 2.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(1) The federal government passed the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-351), which enabled states to extend juvenile court jurisdiction over minors beyond 18 years of age to 21 years of age.
(2) The Legislature passed legislation that implemented provisions of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 on September 30, 2010,
thereby extending foster care for youths beyond 18 years of age to 21 years of age.
(3) The impact of this legislation to extend foster care has been carefully evaluated by researchers from the Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago under the California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study (CalYOUTH), and this research reveals that the extended foster care has benefited the youths who participated in this program.
(4) The Chapin Hall research found that youth who participated in extended foster care significantly increased the probability that youth completed a high school credential by about 8 percent, increased their expected probability of enrolling in college by 10 to 11 percent, increased the number of quarters that youth were employed and the amount youth had earned between their 21st and 23rd birthdays, increased the amount of money youth had in bank accounts by about
$650, and increased the odds that youth felt they had enough people to turn to for social support.
(5) Further, the Chapin Hall research reveals that each additional year in extended foster care significantly decreased the odds of the youth being food insecure in the past 12 months by about 21 percent, decreased the odds of being homeless or couch surfing when the youth is between 21 to 23 years of age, inclusive, by about 19 percent, decreased the number of times youth had been homeless and the number of days youth had been homeless when the youth is between 21 to 23 years of age, inclusive, and decreased the odds that youth had been arrested since their last CalYOUTH interview by about 28 percent.
(6) As of 2019, the San Francisco Bay area-based Youth Law Center estimates that approximately 45 percent of former foster youth are homeless within one year of leaving the foster care
system.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide similar positive benefits to California’s most at-risk nonminor dependent young people by enacting a pilot program to extend the jurisdiction of the juvenile court beyond 21 years of age for extended foster care to 22 years of age for nonminor dependents who are experiencing homelessness or at reasonable risk of homelessness if they are not under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
SEC. 3.
Section 460 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:460.
(a) Subject to an appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute for this purpose, the State Department of Social Services shall administer a three-year pilot program to extended foster care services to nonminor dependents up to 22 years of age if the nonminor dependent is experiencing homelessness or is at reasonable risk of homelessness if they are not under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.(b) A county that would like to participate in the pilot program may apply to the department. The department shall select at least three counties to participate in the pilot program.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, all of the following shall apply for each
participating county:
(1) The juvenile court may have within its jurisdiction as a nonminor dependent, as defined in subdivision (v) of Section 11400, any nonminor who is 21 years of age and was previously under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court if the juvenile court finds by a preponderance of the evidence and on the record that the nonminor is experiencing homelessness or is at reasonable risk of homelessness if they are not under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
(2) A nonminor who has not attained 22 years of age and is experiencing homelessness or is at reasonable risk of homelessness if they are not under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, may petition the juvenile court in the same action in which the nonminor was previously found to be under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, for a hearing to resume the dependency jurisdiction pursuant to subdivision
(e) of Section 388, or to assume dependency jurisdiction pursuant to Section 388.1, or to assume or resume transition jurisdiction pursuant to Section 450.
(3) At each review hearing for a nonminor dependent between 20 to 21 years of age, inclusive, the social worker shall include in the report for the hearing the nonminor dependent’s housing and whether the nonminor dependent is experiencing homelessness or is at reasonable risk of homelessness if they are not under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
(4) A nonminor who is 21 years of age and experiencing homelessness or are at reasonable risk of homelessness if they are not under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court may be considered a nonminor dependent, as defined in subdivision (v) of Section 11400, if they meet all other requirements of that provision.
(5) A nonminor dependent under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court pursuant to paragraph (1) is eligible to receive Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC), Adoption Assistance Program (AAP), California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs), and Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) benefits if they meet all other requirements.
(d) A nonminor who is 21 years of age and participates in a county guaranteed income program shall not be eligible for extended foster care services pursuant to this section.
