[from the San Francisco Chronicle, 8/22/08]
The California Budget Project has released a new report, “Stretched Thin 2008: State Budget Cuts Undermine CA’s Human Services Programs.” The report was cited in an article in the San Jose Mercury News.
STATE POLICY
2008 State Legislation
[from New Ways to Work YTAT News Blast August 2008]
Bills Signed by the Governor: 07/08
• AB 2310 by Assemblymember Bill Maze (R-Visalia) requires every county welfare department to make sure documentation that includes any known information regarding a youth’s Indian heritage and family photographs are provided at the time they age out of the foster care system. It also requires that these youth be provided a “proof of dependency” letter that includes pertinent information and documentation to help them obtain benefits and services, such as extended Medi-Cal eligibility, and declares that a driver’s license satisfies the requirement that youth exiting foster care are provided a form of state identification.
• The Governor also signed AB 2483 by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), which requires that minor parents who are in the foster care system consult with their counsel prior to voluntarily placing their own child into foster care or into a family maintenance program. This will ensure they are aware of their rights and options as a parent in the process.
Signed 10/07: Foster Care
• AB 1331 by Assemblymember Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) which ensures foster youth with disabilities access to critical services that will support them in their transition to adulthood. It requires counties to screen foster youth between the age of 16 ½ and 17 ½ to determine their potential eligibility for federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits and to make applications for those who may be eligible.
• AB 1453 by Assemblymember Nell Soto (D-Ontario) which convenes calls for the development and testing of a plan to transform the current system of group care for foster children and for children with serious emotional disorders into a system of residentially based services (RBS) that is focused on improving outcomes.
• SB 785 by Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) that facilitates access to mental health services for foster children who are placed outside of the original county of jurisdiction, including those being adopted or entering into a guardianship with a relative.
• SB 39 by Senator Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) that allows the public release of specified portions of juvenile case files of any child who has suffered a fatality as the result of substantiated abuse or neglect.
• AB 340 by Assemblymember Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) which creates the Resource
Family Pilot Program to establish a unified approval process for foster family homes, foster care providers and adoptive families. This program will streamline applications and reduce the duplicative process that foster and adoptive families must complete before foster youth can be placed in a safe, permanent home.
• AB 1512 by Assemblymember Alberto Torrico (D-Fremont) that creates an expedited process to ensure the continued provision of health benefits when foster youth are transferred from a county organized health system to an out-of-county placement.
State Initiatives – California Independent Living Program Transformation Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC)
Some of you may have heard about the Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC), and specifically that your counties may be applying for the upcoming BSC on California ILP. Click here to find out more what this initiative means.
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