Bill Text: AZ HB2801 | 2023 | Fifty-sixth Legislature 1st Regular | Introduced


Bill Title: Extended foster care service model

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-02-20 - House APPROP Committee action: Do Pass Amended, voting: (12-0-2-1-0-0) [HB2801 Detail]

Download: Arizona-2023-HB2801-Introduced.html

 

 

 

REFERENCE TITLE: extended foster care service model

 

 

 

 

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-sixth Legislature

First Regular Session

2023

 

 

 

HB 2801

 

Introduced by

Representative Gress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Act

 

amending title 8, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding chapter 7; appropriating monies; relating to extended foster care

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 


Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Title 8, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding chapter 7, to read:

CHAPTER 7

EXTENDED FOSTER CARE COMPREHENSIVE SERVICE MODEL

ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

8-1001. Definitions

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Department" means the department of child safety.

2. "Young adult" means a person who is at least seventeen and one-half years of age and under twenty-one years of age and who participates or will participate in the extended foster care program established pursuant to section 8-521.02.

START_STATUTE8-1002. Extended foster care comprehensive service model; extended foster care success coaching program; rules

A. WIthin ten days after the effective date of this section, the department shall prepare A scope of work for an extended foster care comprehensive service model that includes SUPportive services and required case management provided by contracted community providers for young adults who participatE in the extended foster care program.  The extended foster care comprehensive service model scope of work shall include:

1. Monthly engagement with each young adult.

2. Life skills training.

3. Mental and physical health and well-being.

4. Relational permanency.

5. Education and enrollment assistance.

6. Assistance with accessing safe housing attainment and stability for young adults.

7. Career and employment planning and readiness.

8. Assistance with accessing transportation services for young adults. 

b. The extended foster care comprehensive service model shall include EXTENDED foster care success coaches for young adults in the extended foster care program. Each extended foster care success coach shall have a caseload of not more than twenty young adults.  the extended foster care success coaching program shall be based on a practice that is youth driven and shall do the following:

1. PROMOTe PERMANENT CONNECTIONS.

2. sUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION AND SKILL SET that enables YOUNG ADULTS TO GAIN AND MAINTAIN EMPLOYMENT to SUPPORT their FINANCIAL NEEDS.

3. eNSURe THAT YOUNG ADULTS RESIDE IN SAFE, STABLE AND SECURE HOUSING.

4. liNK YOUNG ADULTS TO APPROPRIATE SERVICES THAT ADDRESS PHYSICAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH NEEDS.

5. bUILD SKILLS FOR DEVELOPing PERSONAL AGENCY.

6. eNSURe that YOUNG ADULTS HAVE THE COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL COMPETENCIES ESSENTIAL TO SURVIVAL.

C. THE DEPARTMENT SHALL SUPERVISE AND MONITOR the SUCCESS OF THE EXTENDED FOSTER CARE SUCCESS COACHING PROGRAM. 

D. Each extended foster care success coach shall:

1. Successfully complete a department-administered foster care success coach training program.

2. Possess a bachelor's or associate's degree or have equivalent credits equal to an associate's degree. The degree or credits shall be in the fields of social work, psychology, counseling, marriage and family therapy, behavioral health or education.  In lieu of a degree or credits, an extended foster care success coach may possess skills that the coach acquired through alternative routes such as relevant job training, community college attendance, military service or an apprenticeship.

3. Be at least twenty-one years of age.

4. Have experience working with youth or young adults who are fourteen through twenty-six years of age and who are involved in systems of care, which may include:

(a) Foster care.

(b) juvenile justice.

(c) runaway and homeless youth programs.

5. exhibit the belief that all young adults have the capacity to be successful in life.

E. The extended foster care success coaching program shall:

1. Operate from an EVIDENCE-based framework.

2. Ensure that the young adults served are aware of their rights to normalcy.

3. assist young adults to advocate with caregivers to experience activities and opportunities that meet individual interests.

4. Support caregivers in identifying root causes of behaviors that present barriers to transition and provide opportunities that assist young adults in healing and addressing underlying trauma.

5. Develop feedback that allows young adults to communicate their needs and satisfaction with provided services.

6. Deliver interventions that are tailored to each young adult's strengths and experiences.

7. Contract with a public university to evaluate the effectiveness of the vendor's delivery of the extended foster care success coaching program.

F. The department shall solicit agencies to administer the extended foster care comprehensive service model within THIRTY days after the effective date of this section and select an agency within NINETY days after the effective date of this section.  The department shall implement the extended foster care comprehensive service model within one hundred fifty days after the effective date of this section. 

g. The department shall adopt rules to implement this chapter. END_STATUTE

START_STATUTE8-1003. Extended foster care quality review committee

The department shall establish an extended foster care quality review committee within the department.  members of the committee consist of department staff members. The committee shall confirm that a young adult who participates in extended foster care meets all of the following:

1.  Eligibility criteria.

2. Has connections to a permanent family and supportive adults who are actively involved in the young adult's life.

3. Has a person-centered case and transition plan that supports the young adult's identified goals and FUTURE planning.

4. Is ACQUIRING individualized skills to develop the tools that are needed to thrive outside of the foster care program. END_STATUTE

START_STATUTE8-1004. Reporting requirements

A. Within one hundred fifty days after the effective date of this section, the department shall submit to the joint legislative budget committee, the Senate health and human services committee and the house of representatives health and human services committee a report on the extended foster care comprehensive service model developed pursuant to section 8-1002.  THe report shall include data and statistics on:

1. The support and services to be offered by the extended foster care comprehensive service model.

2. The extended foster care program's Eligibility requirements.

3. The young adult's program responsibilities.

4. Case and transition planning opportunities.

5. Health insurance coverage for young adults in the extended foster care program.

6. Educational opportunities for young adults in the extended foster care program.

7. Opportunities for mentors through the extended foster care program.

8. Transportation services for young adults in the extended foster care program, including obtaining a driver license.

9. Housing, including semi-supervised living arrangements if such arrangements best meet the young adult's needs.

b. The DEPARTMENT shall provide to the joint legislative budget committee a quarterly report that includes all of the following:

1. The number of young adults served in the extended foster care comprehensive service model.

2. The young adult's PARTICIPATION in regular reviews with extended foster care staff.

3. Other performance measures as updated by the extended foster care quality review committee established pursuant to section 8-1003 and as determined by the chairperson of the joint legislative budget committee.  END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Appropriations; department of child safety; extended foster care comprehensive service model; exemption

A. The sum of $15,000,000 from the state general fund, $8,000,000 from expenditure authority and seven FTE positions are appropriated in fiscal year 2023-2024 to the department of child safety to implement the extended foster care comprehensive service model established pursuant to section 8-1002, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act.

B. The appropriations made in subsection A of this section are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190, Arizona Revised Statutes, relating to lapsing of appropriations.

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