Bill Text: CA AB1984 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Foster youth: enrichment activities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From committee without further action. [AB1984 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB1984-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1984 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Linder
FEBRUARY 16, 2016
An act to add and repeal Section 16007 to
of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to foster youth.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1984, as amended, Linder. Foster youth: enrichment activities.
Existing law provides that it is the policy of the state that all
minors and nonminors in foster care have specified rights, including,
among others, the right to attend school and participate in
extracurricular, cultural, and personal enrichment activities,
consistent with the child's age and developmental level, with minimal
disruptions to school attendance and educational stability.
This bill would require the State Department of Social Services,
on or before March 1, 2017, to convene a workgroup and would require
the workgroup to develop an implementation plan for the California
Foster Youth Enrichment Grant Program. The bill would require the
department, on or before January 1, 2018, upon appropriation by the
Legislature and in consideration of the implementation plan, to
establish that program in order to provide grants of $500 or less to
qualified foster youth to enable the foster youth to participate in
activities that enhance the foster youth's skills, abilities,
self-esteem, or overall well-being. The bill would specify
eligibility criteria for receipt of a grant and the authorized uses
of a grant. The bill would require a recipient, within 6 months after
receipt of a grant, to submit documentation that describes how the
grant was used and the actual cost, supported by copies of receipts,
of the program, product, or service, and directly related costs,
purchased with the grant. The bill would require the department, on
or before January 1, 2021, to submit a report to the Legislature
containing the addresses, among other things, data on the
number of applications received and the number of grants awarded. The
bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2022.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) California foster youth face many challenges. Approximately
three-fourths of youth in foster care have spent two or more years in
the system between birth and 12th grade. While in foster care, about
70 percent of youth had three or more placements. Less than half of
all foster youth complete high school.
(b) Although the state has seen a reduction in the number of
children in foster care and a decreased reliance on group homes, it
continues to struggle to find stable, fulfilling families for
children.
(c) Participating in enrichment activities, including, but not
limited to, sports leagues, camps, college preparation courses, arts,
music, and formative social experiences, can greatly contribute to a
foster youth's sense of normalcy and increase the likelihood of a
successful transition to adulthood.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 16007 is
added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
16007. (a) (1) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(A) California foster youth face many challenges. Approximately
three-fourths of youth in foster care have spent two or more years in
the system between birth and 12th grade. While in foster care, about
70 percent of youth had three or more placements. Less than half of
all foster youth complete high school.
(B) Although the state has seen a reduction in the number of
children in foster care and a decreased reliance on group homes, it
continues to struggle to find stable, fulfilling families for
children.
(C) Participating in enrichment activities, including, but not
limited to, sports leagues, camps, college preparation courses, arts,
music, and formative social experiences, can greatly contribute to a
foster youth's sense of normalcy and increase the likelihood of a
successful transition to adulthood.
(2)
16007. (a) The purpose of this section is
to establish the California Foster Youth Enrichment Grant Program,
which will provide grants to foster youth to participate in
activities that enhance their skills, abilities, self-esteem, or
overall well-being.
(b) On or before March 1, 2017, the State Department of Social
Services shall convene a workgroup composed of individuals and groups
that represent the interests of foster youth. The workgroup shall
develop an implementation plan to maximize the California Foster
Youth Enrichment Grant Program's impact.
(c) On or before January 1, 2018, upon appropriation by the
Legislature and in consideration of the plan developed pursuant to
subdivision (b), the State Department of Social Services shall
establish the California Foster Youth Enrichment Grant Program to
provide grants to qualified foster youth to enable the foster youth
to participate in activities that enhance the foster youth's skills,
abilities, self-esteem, or overall well-being.
(d) Grant applicants shall meet all of the following criteria
immediately prior to approval of a grant:
(1) Be a California foster youth between six years of age and 17
years of age, inclusive, or a California nonminor dependent.
(2) Be placed in a foster family home, certified family home, or
group home.
(3) Be enrolled in a California school.
(d) A grant shall be awarded to a foster youth who meets all of
the following eligibility criteria:
(1) Is in foster care under the placement and care responsibility
of a county welfare department, county probation department, Indian
tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization that has entered
into an agreement pursuant to Section 10553.1.
(2) Is 6 years of age to 21 years of age, inclusive.
(3) Is enrolled in an elementary, middle, or high school, or an
equivalent educational program, or in a postsecondary educational
institution in California.
(e) (1) Grants
(e) Grants awarded under this
section for activities that contribute to the enhancement of an
individual foster youth's skills, abilities, self-esteem, or overall
well-being shall be five hundred dollars ($500) or
less and less. Grants shall be used to fund a
program, service, or product, and any directly related costs, that
provide any of the following to a foster youth:
(A)
( 1) Skill development, including, but not
limited to, lessons in music, dance, or drama, and the rental or
purchase of equipment needed to further skill development.
(B)
( 2) Academic or school-related assistance,
including, but not limited to, school trips, college campus visits,
Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exam fees, test
preparation courses or materials, and books.
(C)
( 3) Recreational or social participation,
including, but not limited to, summer camp attendance, sports league
participation, school-sponsored formal dance attendance, and
participation in school graduation activities.
(2) Grants shall not be awarded to fund any activity that does not
directly contribute to the enhancement of an individual foster youth'
s skills, abilities, self-esteem, or overall well-being, including,
but not limited to, either of the following:
(A) Child care expenses for the foster youth or his or her child.
(B) A vacation with the foster youth's foster family.
(f) Applications for grants under this section shall be on forms
developed by the department, and shall include, at a minimum, all of
the following:
(1) Evidence that the applicant meets the eligibility criteria
specified in subdivision (d).
(2) A description of the need for and proposed use of the grant,
the anticipated cost of the program, product, or service, and
directly related costs, and the projected benefit to the foster
youth.
(3) Any other information that the department determines is
necessary to further the intent of this section.
(g) Within six months after a grant is awarded, the recipient
shall submit documentation, on forms developed by the department,
that describes how the grant was used and the actual cost, supported
by copies of receipts, of the program, product, or service, and
directly related costs, purchased with the grant. A foster youth
shall not be eligible for a subsequent grant until this documentation
is received.
(h) (1) On or before January 1, 2021, the department shall submit
a report to the Legislature that addresses, at a minimum, all of the
following:
(A) Data on the number of applications received, aggregated by
year.
(B) Data on the number of grants awarded, aggregated by year.
(C) Data on the programs, products, or services, and directly
related costs, the grants were used to fund, aggregated by year.
(D) A description of the documentation a recipient is required to
submit pursuant to subdivision (g).
(E) Data on the number of recipients who provided the
documentation required pursuant to subdivision (g) and who did not
provide the documentation required by subdivision (g), aggregated by
year.
(2) The report required pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(i) It is the intent of the Legislature that the department
explore the feasibility of transitioning the program to private
funding and control.
(j) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2022, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2022, deletes or extends
that date.
