"To Touch a Life Forever"
CALIFORNIA STATE FOSTER PARENT ASSOCIATION, INC.
Representing All California Resource Families
LEGISLATION
At California Alliance of Caregivers Day in the Capitol, foster and relative caregivers share their stories with staff. Pictured left to right: Joyce Hammerich, Jenn Rexroad, Greg Peterson, Assembly Member Grayson, Brian Fitzgerald, and Ernie Loveless
Important Legislation for Children in Foster Care!
SB 12: Foster Youth Financial Aid Assistance
This bill will require the student aid commission to work with CDSS to verify a student’s status as a foster youth to aid in the processing of a student’s financial aid and will expand financial aid consulting services to foster youth.
SB 213: Criminal History Exemptions
SB 213 allows children to be safely placed with relatives in a more timely manner. It streamlines the criminal history exemption process for prospective caregivers and simplifies criminal history law by aligning the state and federal government lists of non-exemptible crimes. Federal and state lists of non-exemptible crimes currently overlap to create a complex and confusing criminal exemption system that creates unnecessary delays in placing children in foster care with relatives and limits the number of placements available for youth in foster care. Placement with any person who has been convicted of a serious or violent felony and convictions dealing with drugs or alcohol, assault and battery, child abuse or neglect, or violence will continue to be prohibited without exception.
SB 233: Caregiver Access to Youth’s Education Records
Clarifies that caregivers have the right to access their child’s current and most recent education records in order to help address their child’s educational needs, monitor their academic progress, and ensure the child is receiving the educational services they need. SB 233 also provides a technical statutory alignment with the Rules of Court, requiring Child Welfare case plans to include necessary educational contact information in the child’s health and education summary.
AB-507 (Rubio): Pre-approval Training and Annual Training
This bill will require the annual resource family caregiver training to be based upon a collaborative plan developed by the child and family team in the best interest of the child or youth in the resource family. The bill will require the plan to specify the annual training requirement and identify potential relevant placement disruptions, as specified.
AB 1006: Foster Youth Permanency
This bill will require permanency findings in the court report for children who have been in foster care for an extended time; training for social workers on permanency services, and will require information to be provided to prospective adoptive families regarding mental health treatment information.
AB 1164: Establishing the Emergency Child Care Bridge Program
The bill is no longer in the legislative process because the Emergency Child Care Bridge Program was approved as part of the 2017-18 budget. The governor approved $31 million in the state budget to create the Emergency Child Care Bridge Program. With this funding, counties will be able to provide caregivers and parenting youth with immediate access to up to six months of crucial child care services. The program will also provide child care navigators to help families develop long-term child care plans. Lastly, the program will provide funding to deliver trauma-informed training to child care programs for better service to foster youth. **Counties Must Opt In** Please contact your county welfare director about opting into this program.