Bill Text: CA AB719 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Transitional food stamps for foster youth.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Passed) 2009-10-11 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 371, Statutes of 2009. [AB719 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB719-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 719	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 19, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Beall, Hall, John A. Perez,
Portantino, Skinner, and Torres)

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2009

   An act to add Section 18901.4 to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to public social services.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 719, as amended, Bonnie Lowenthal. Transitional food stamps for
foster youth.
   Existing law declares the duty of the state to care for and
protect the children that it places into foster care. Under existing
law, the State Department of Social Services has various powers and
duties relating to ensuring that the needs of foster children are
met.
   Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care
Services, if, and to the extent that, all necessary federal approvals
are obtained for federal financial participation, to implement a
federal option to extend Medi-Cal benefits to independent foster care
adolescents, as defined in federal law.
   Existing law provides for the federal  Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly the  Food Stamp 
Program,  Program),  under which each county
distributes  food stamps provided by the federal government
  nutrition assistance benefits  to eligible
households. The  Food Stamp Program   SNAP 
is administered at the state level by the State Department of Social
Services.
   This bill would require the department to  create the
  propose a  Transitional Food Stamps for Foster
Youth  Program   demonstration project  ,
effective July 1, 2010. The  program  
demonstration project  would provide independent foster care
adolescents  ,  who are not eligible for CalWORKs or SSI
benefits, with eligibility for food stamps without regard to income
or resources.
   This bill would require the department to implement its provisions
by  all county   all-county  letter or
similar instructions, and would prescribe additional duties of the
department in connection with the transitional food stamp 
program   demonstration project, including obtaining
  necessary federal approvals  . This bill would be
implemented only to the extent that federal financial participation
is available.
   By increasing county duties, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
   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, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:  
   (a) Foster youth who emancipate from foster care face a
disproportionately higher rate of unemployment. Fifty-one percent of
emancipated foster youth are unemployed within two to four years of
emancipation.  
   (b) Fewer than four in 10 foster youth had at least two hundred
fifty dollars ($250) in cash upon emancipating.  
   (c) Forty-six percent of emancipated foster youth have not
completed high school.  
   (d) Sixty-five percent of foster youth emancipate without a place
to live.  
   (e) Forty percent of persons living in homeless shelters are
former foster youth.  
   (f) Nearly 50 percent of emancipated foster youth suffer from
chronic health conditions such as asthma, visual and auditory
problems, dental decay, and malnutrition.  
   (g) Competing priorities for limited economic and social resources
force emancipated foster youth who cannot meet their basic needs to
prioritize their needs for food, housing, and health care. 
   SECTION 1.   SEC. 2.   Section 18901.4
is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
   18901.4.  (a) Effective July 1, 2010, the department shall
 create   propose  a Transitional Food
Stamps for Foster Youth  program   demonstration
project  under which independent foster care adolescents, as
defined in Section 1905(w)(1) of the federal Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. Sec. 1396d(w)(1))  and  who are not eligible
for  CaLWORKs   CalWORKs  or Supplementary
Security Income program benefits, shall be eligible without regard to
income or resources  , subject to federal law authorizing
demonstration projects pursuant to Section 2011 and following of
Title 7 of the United States Code  .
   (b) An individual eligible for the program  created
  proposed  pursuant to this section shall receive
the maximum benefit amount allotted for a household size of one for
the initial certification period, which shall remain constant for the
entirety of the initial certification period. The food stamp case
shall be established and maintained in the county of jurisdiction
designated by the terminating foster care case. 
   (c) An individual eligible pursuant to this section shall be
entitled to a 12-month certification period and shall be exempt from
any quarterly or semiannual reporting requirement during the
certification period.  
   (c) The demonstration project proposed pursuant to this section
shall maximize access to benefits and minimize interim reporting
requirements during the certification period. 
   (d) Notwithstanding any other provision  of  law, Chapter
4.6 (commencing with Section 10830) of Part 2 of Division 9 shall
not apply to individuals eligible under this section during the
12-month transitional food stamp  program  
demonstration project  certification period.
   (e) Not later than March 1, 2010, the department shall seek all
necessary federal  waivers   approvals  to
implement this section  as a demonstration project  for
these beneficiaries. This section shall be implemented only to the
extent that federal financial participation is available.
   (f) The department shall implement this section by an  all
county   all-county  letter (ACL) or similar
instruction from the director and shall adopt regulations as
otherwise necessary to implement this section no later than January
1, 2011. 
   (g) The department shall establish a new aid code for individuals
receiving benefits pursuant to this section, in order to
differentiate these cases from the standard Non-assistance Food Stamp
(NAFS) case. 
   SEC. 2.   SEC. 3.   If the Commission on
State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by
the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for
those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section
17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.