$300
million package
was cut to $18 million because of the budget short fall from the
energy crisis
ASSEMBLY
DEMOCRATS UNVEIL FOSTER CARE REFORM PACKAGE
$300 Million Package Offers Help to Foster Parents, New Hope for Foster
Children SACRAMENTO -Assembly Speaker Robert M. Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys)
and a coalition of Assembly Democrats introduced a 13-bill reform package
that would help foster youth to prepare for college and careers, give
foster parents and children more training and resources, and hold state
foster-care agencies accountable for their results. "This package
of legislation will provide some common-sense reform -and a helping hand
to foster youth as they prepare themselves to become productive citizens,"
Speaker Hertzberg said. "California cannot afford to fail these kids."
Today's foster
care system has a reputation for creating obstacles, rather than opportunities.
Roughly 45 percent of foster youth are unemployed after leaving the system;
50 percent do not complete high school, according to the California Partnership
for Children. "There is life and hope after foster care," said
Assemblymember Migden. "Developing independent living skills among
emancipated foster youth is both humane and cost effective in the long
run. This package will give skills to young people, enabling them to be
successful and productive adults."
"When I was emancipated from the state's foster care system two months
ago, I was left feeling unprepared, lost and completely overwhelmed,"
said Heather Jacobson, 18, from Pasadena, Calif., and a member of California
Youth Connection, a sponsor of the legislative package. "The system
should empower California's foster youth by preparing us for the real
world before we turn 18 and then guiding us once we're on our own. "
The l3-bill
legislative package would devote $300 million to improving three parts
of the state's child welfare system:
Holding
government foster care agencies more accountable for their results.
Providing
new resources for foster children and parents-.
Encouraging
youths leaving foster care to complete job training.
"We're
making it very clear that foster care reform will remain a top priority
this year, despite the impact the energy situation is having on the budget,"
Assemblymember Cardenas said. "As Budget Committee Chairman, I intend
to keep this issue in the forefront as the process continues."
"It
is not acceptable that 40 to 50 percent of foster children are high school
dropouts and that most of these children end up unemployed, homeless,
or incarcerated," said Majority Leader Kevin Shelley.
"Meeting
foster children' s education needs should be front and center of any legal
guardian ' s efforts. "
The Assembly
Democrats' proposal would help foster care children prepare for college
and careers by:
Doubling
the amount a foster youth may save toward independent living from $5,000
to $10,000.
Extending
the transition age for foster youth attending college or vocational
training programs.
Establishing
an Internet-based passport system so foster children's records move
with them.
Expanding
the housing options for foster youths over age 18.
"We
cannot improve outcomes for foster youth if we do not address the foster
care system's severe resource crisis: overwhelming social worker caseloads,
an acute shortage of foster parents, meager educational services to youth,"
said Assemblymember Aroner. "As a parent, I know when my child is
doing poorly in school, is sick, or needs care and comfort. Foster youth
are the state's kids, it is time we took our parenting responsibilities
seriously. The package ofbills we present today will end our cycle of
neglect of the state's foster youth. "
The package
would improve the existing foster care program by:
Providing
better training and information for prospective adoptive parents-
Helping
c6unties find more foster parents through the Foster Parent Recruitment
and Retention Program.
Raising
provider rates by 5 percent each year for the next four fiscal years-
Strengthening
resources for parents and foster care children, and reducing case loads
for child welfare workers.
"The
state of California currently does not even track outcomes for foster
children, let alone assure good ones," said Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg
(D-Sacramento). "Multiple agencies at the state and local level are
each assigned a different piece of foster children's broken lives, and
they rarely talk to one another. We must coordinate all the individual
efforts and value the contribution each makes to the well-being of every
child."
AB 333
(Wright) Independent Living
Problem: Youth should be as prepared as possible for independent living
once they are forced to exit from foster care at age 18.
Solution: Increases, from $5,000 to $10,000, the maximum amount a foster
youth may save toward independent living.
AB 1119
(Hertzberg) Emancipating Foster Youth /Health & Education Passport
Problem: Foster youth encounter problems after leaving foster care, including
unemployment and homelessness. In addition, foster youth's health and
education records are difficult to keep track of and easily lost.
Solution: (1) Extends foster care assistance for emancipated foster youth
attending an educational or vocational training program up to age 23.
(2) Establishes an Internet-based health and education passport system
for foster children.
AB 1261
(Migden & Cardenas) Transitional Foster Youth Housing
Problem: Within 12 to 18 months of exiting foster care, 25 percent of
emancipated foster youth are homeless and 45 percent are unemployed.
Solution: (1) Raises rates for transitional housing programs in order
to expand the housing options for emancipating foster youth.
(2) Increases, from $5,000 to $10,000, the maximum amount a foster youth
may save toward independent living.
AB 1666
(Keeley) Transitional Foster Youth Housing
Problem: Within 12 to 18 months of exiting foster care, 25 percent of
emancipated foster youth experience homelessness, and 45 percent are unemployed.
Solution: Changes the rate setting formula for the foster youth Transitional
Housing Placement Program to reflect actual costs in order to expand the
housing options for emancipating foster youth.
CHILD
WELFARE SYSTEM- SUPPORT AND RESOURCES
AB 364
(Aroner) Child Welfare Worker Caseloads
Problem: Child welfare social worker caseloads are two times the recommended
levels in most categories making it impossible to provide children and
families with services necessary to reunite the family or improve the
life of the child.
Solution: Requires the state to implement reduced minimum workload standards
for county social workers, to be phased in over five years.
AB 538 (Cardoza) Adoption of Foster Youth
Problem: Many potential adoptive parents are asked to adopt foster youth
with very little information.
Solution: This measure would provide prospective adoptive parents with
greater information about the adoptive children and their families.
AB 557
(Aroner) Foster Parent Recruitment
Problem: Counties are losing foster family providers faster than they
can recruit them due to an inability to provide foster parents with adequate
support.
Solution: Establishes the Foster Parent Recruitment and Retention Program
to assist counties in providing services to foster parents.
AB 797
(Shelley) Foster Youth Educational Services
Problem: 75 percent of foster youth work far below grade level and need
supportive educational services, and less than 50 percent graduate from
high school.
Solution: Expands the Foster Youth Services program to serve all foster
youth in all counties.
AB 1105
(Simitian and Shelley) Foster Parents: Child Care
Problem: Counties cannot recruit families to be foster parents when both
parents work, a particularly severe problem in areas with high housing
costs.
Solution: Requires the Department of Social Services to provide child
care assistance to licensed foster parents and relative caregivers who
are working out of the home.
AB 1330
(Steinberg) Foster Family Home Provider Rates
Problem: Counties are losing foster family providers faster than they
can recruit them due to an inability to provide foster parents with adequate
support.
Solution: Raises foster family home provider rates by 5 percent each year
for the next four fiscal years and establishes a higher rate for highly
trained foster parents.
AB 1449
(Keeley) Foster Care: Family Reunification
Problem: Families that successfully reunify with their children after
foster care are charged for the cost of providing foster care. This places
an unnecessary strain on already unstable families.
Solution: Allows the Department of Child Support to compromise the debt
that reunified families are assessed.
CHILD
WELFARE SYSTEM-OUTCOMES AND ACCOUNTABILITY
AB 899
(Liu) Foster Youth Bill of Rights
Problem: Entering foster care is scary and intimidating. Because foster
youth are not informed of their rights and responsibilities, they are
subject to mistreatment and feel they have no control over their own lives.
Solution: Articulates specific rights and responsibilities of children
in foster care.
AB 636
(Steinberg) Child Welfare System
Problem: The child welfare system is judged by inputs and processes rather
than child and family outcomes and results.
Solution: Enacts the Foster Care Improvement and Accountability Act of
2001, which would review and measure county child welfare agencies based
on child and family outcomes.
