AB 12: Allows California to Receive Matching funds for Children Placed with Relatives

Foster care children who establish long-term attachments to relatives or individuals fare much better than those who do not have permanent connections with someone in their lives. In 2008, the federal government enacted the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (Public Law 110-351), a new law that gives states the ability to establish relative guardianship programs with federal financial participation in the costs. PL 110-351 also makes federal funds available for foster care, kinship-guardianship, and adoption assistance benefits to youth who meet certain conditions (e.g., employment and education related requirements) until age 21. PL 110-351 provides California with an unprecedented opportunity to access federal funding to improve the lives of our state’s most vulnerable youth.

I am hopeful in reporting that AB 12 (Beall and Bass), a bill co-sponsored by the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, our state association, has passed out of its first Senate policy committee, Senate Human Services, on a 3-0 vote and now moves on to the Judiciary Committee. Senators Liu (D-Glendale), Yee (D-San Francisco) and Runner (R-Antelope Valley) voted for the bill; two committee members were absent.

This Assembly Bill would allow California to receive matching funds for children placed with relatives in KinGAP and would permit California to take advantage of recently enacted federal support for youth who wish to remain in foster care to age 21. Through the federal Fostering Connections to Success Act, which provides matching federal funds to states that place children in guardianship and extends federal support for foster care to age 21, AB 12 provides the vehicle to take advantage of both changes in federal law. The legislation would ensure that California opts into these essential federal funding opportunities. AB 12 would: 1) re-enact our existing Kin-GAP program to align it with new federal requirements and 2) provide transitional support to qualifying foster youth until age 21. This would benefit many of the children and youth we serve and may provide new opportunities to Hillsides to support parents and relative caregivers to address the challenges that their children confront.

These measures would assist California to utilize federal funds to meet costs currently borne by the state and counties, and would realize proven savings from declines in unemployment, homelessness, teen pregnancy, public assistance, and the other costly outcomes for young adults who “age out” of foster care. The benefit to transitional age youth means a successful transition into adulthood.

For those interested in following these efforts and receive more information contact the John Burton Foundation at www.johnburtonfoundation.org.

According to the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, after being heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 22nd, AB 12 moves to the Appropriations Committee, then on to the Senate floor for final approval. Once out of the Senate, the bill moves back to the Assembly for concurrence on amendments taken in the Senate. It must be sent to the Governor for signature by August 31st and signed by September 30th. If signed, the law would take effect on January 1, 2012.