CA Governor to Sign Historic Legislation for Disabled Youth in Foster Care

Sacramento, CA: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign historic legislation today that leads the nation in ensuring that disabled youth in foster care receive the necessary assistance when they exit the State's foster care system. The legislation, Assembly Bill 1331, authored by Assemblymember Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa), creates a safety net for severely physically and mentally disabled foster youth by requiring county child welfare agencies to screen all youth in foster care at age 16.5 for a mental or physical disability and apply for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) on behalf of those who are likely to qualify. SSI is a federal program that provides a monthly cash benefit to low-income, seriously disabled individuals.

Prior to passage of AB 1331, youth with disabilities as serious as mental retardation, paraplegia and schizophrenia commonly "aged out" of California's foster care system without a place to live or a source of income. AB 1331 will ensure that seriously disabled youth in each of the State's 58 counties exit foster care with the vital support of SSI, along with the supportive services SSI entitles them to, such as affordable housing and rehabilitative services.
In passing AB 1331, California is the first state in the nation to develop a solution to the barriers preventing youth in foster care from exiting foster with SSI in hand. Congressman Pete Stark (D-California) has introduced federal legislation that may bring California's solution to the rest of the nation.

According to Staff Attorney Angie Schwartz of the Public Interest Law Project in Oakland, up to 15% of youth in California's foster care system suffer from a serious physical or mental disability, and yet the vast majority of these youth are exiting foster care without SSI. "Without financial and other supports in place, these youth will likely become homeless or incarcerated, beginning a chronic cycle of poverty. We can stop this cycle by ensuring that youth emancipate with the critical support of SSI."

According to Attorney Laura Streimer, of Los Angeles-based Alliance for Children's Right, the issue is a lack of knowledge about the SSI program. "Unfortunately, eligible foster youth exit care without this necessary benefit in place because county agencies have been poorly informed about the SSI program or the application process itself," says Streimer, whose organization, together with the Public Interest Law Project, California Child Welfare Director's Association and the John Burton Foundation were co-sponsors of the legislation. "AB1331 will play a critical role in overcoming these barriers."

The issue of youth "aging out" of foster care is a growing one, and particularly serious for youth with serious physical and mental disabilities. According to the Washington D.C.-based Kids Are Waiting Campaign, the number of youth aging out of care nationally is at an all time high. Data from the UC Berkeley Center for Social Services Research indicates that California is matching that trend, with a 40% increase in the number of youth who age out of foster care annually between 1998 and 2006. County child welfare agencies are noticing the growth and regard access to SSI as a vital resource to ensure disabled youth make a successful transition.

"County child welfare agencies recognize of importance of ensuring that youth with disabilities receive the best care possible," said Frank Mecca, Executive Director of the California Child Welfare Director's Association, located in Sacramento. "We've been glad to create new guidelines that help counties do a good job of identifying those who may be eligible for SSI benefits and are happy to co-sponsor legislation that makes California a leader in helping youth leave foster care with these benefits in place."

AB 1331 will go into effect on January 1, 2008, and many expect that the policy will be a net financial savings for the State of California. A study from the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research found that homelessness among mentally ill people costs an average of $40,500 in publicly-funded services every year.
"We have got to do more for these children," said John Burton, former President Pro Tem of the California State Senate and founder of the John Burton Foundation for Children without Homes. "We wouldn't begin to treat our own children this way. The State of California is the parent for children and youth in foster care and with AB 1331, we can begin to live up to that serious responsibility."

Hittng the M.A.R.C. - Establishing Foster Care Minimum Adequate Rates for Children

In October 2007, Children’s Rights, the National Foster Parent Association and the University of Maryland School of Social Work released the first-ever nationwide, state-by-state calculation of the real cost of supporting children in foster care. The report reveals widespread deficiencies in reimbursement rates across the nation—and major disparities among the states—and proposes a new standard rate for each state to use in fulfilling the federal requirement to provide foster parents with payments to cover the basic needs of children in foster care, including food, shelter, clothing and school supplies. Read more.

Update from Systems Subcommittee

The committee plans to meet regularly and will post their meetings on the SB 64 blog. One meeting will always be at 7:30 am prior to the regularly scheduled SB 64 task force meeting. All meetings will take place at Mile High United Way

The committee reviewed their charge and discussed the following areas:

-Consult with CDHS on CFSR
-How to mediate conflicts
-Identify Best Practices and promising approaches
-Prevision of competent mental health services for children
-Issue of appropriate response to institutional abuse

The following items have been added to their agenda to discuss in more detail:

-Separating subsidies from the block grant
-Children moving from one school district to another losing credit within High School
-Identify best practice being used in mediation of conflicts with the goal of managing, nurturing placements
-Identify best practice recruiting, supporting foster parents /kinship and caring for children

For a copy of the complete meetings notes please e-mail kippi.clausen@unitedwaydenver.org

SB 64 Committee members:
Sharen Ford
Andi Leopoldus
Bunny Nicolson
Shari Shink
Jerri Spears

Tuesday, October 9, 2007 -SB 64 Task Force Agenda

Meeting Time: 9:30 - 1:30
Location: Mile HighUnited Way - Founders Room

Agenda
I. Welcome

II. Review and Approval of Minutes

III. Public comment

IV. Presentations

-CPA
-Youth Panel
-Kempe Foundation

V. Subcommittee Reports and Discussion

VI. Interim Tasks

VII. Announcements and Close

For a copy of previous meetings minutes e-mail kippi.clausen@unitedwaydenver.org

Update from Child Wellbeing and Permanency Subcommittee

The subcommittee plans to meet at 8:00 before the regularly scheduled SB 64 taskforce meetings. Meetings will last 1 1/2 hours and be held at Mile High United Way. The committee welcome others to join them for their meetings.

After reviewing their charge the following items were discussed during this meeting and will be incorporated into the existing charge of this committee.
-Reunification with Bio Families
-Transition for 18 year olds
-OPPLA

Additional Data the Subcommittee would like:

% of youth who return home
% who are adopted
% who are in kinship
% OPPLA
% of re-entries
% of failed adoptions% of re-unifications

Areas to compare/discuss

-Paid vs unpaid kinship
-Custody vs no custody
-Voluntary vs D & N
-Prevention strategies to reduce placement(s)
-Circumventing access to foster care for Kinship
-Communication strategies to get information out to parties involvedKinship adoption

Areas to explore to get a better understanding

-Types of services available for later issues that arise after a child is adopted
-Mental Health services – access if youth request – pre and post adoption
-Dual permanency planning process available in Colorado
-SB 07- 226 – youth/ child voice in case planning and permanency planning
-Support Services for pre/post adoption, kinship, re-unification and families in crisis

SB 64 Subcommittee Members:
“Skip” Barber
Ember Beamon
Deborah Cave
Senator Moe Keller
Marlin Peterson
Heather Taussig

New From South Carolina

SOUTH CAROLINA: “Sanford Names Rest of Adoption Task Force” By: Joel Sawyer South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has named all members of the Children in Foster Care and Adoption Services Task Force. This group has been put in place to identify ways to improve the state’s foster care and adoption processes. The group’s main focus is to reduce the amount of time it takes to find permanent adoptive homes for foster children. The group’s existence was initiated when a recent study found that an agency adoption takes nearly four years to finalize while most South Carolinians expect the process to take no more than two years. Scpols.com, August 28, 2007 For Full Article Click Here

Update from Care Giver Subcommittee

The subcommittee has established meeting dates and posted them on the SB 64 blog. Interested community members are invited to attend. The subcommittee will be using this outline as a guide to accomplish their charge:

RECRUITMENT: Certification Issues.

1. How to find more foster/adoptive families
2. What are appropriate motivations for parents
3. How to determine parent motivation
4. “Types” of parents: those who only want to foster, those who desire to adopt
5. Review SAFE home study tool
6. Urban vs. rural recruitment
7. Paperwork standardization
8. Standards for foster parents – what are the current ones/what ones need to be there (e.g. IQ tests)

TRAINING: Are Care Takers prepared for the journey?

1. Standards/quality of training differs county-to-county
2. Standardization of training
3. Consider different types of parents in training
4. Reduce moves for children
5. Topics required for training
6. Expectations for parents
7. Getting medical/behavioral info on the children in care

RETENTION: How do we retain parents and support permanent placements?

1. Ongoing support
2. Ongoing training
3. Reduce moves for children
4. Counseling/therapy
5. Respite care
6. Subsidy issues
7. Community support services

For a copy of the complete minutes from the subcommittee please e-mail kippi.clausen@unitedwaydenver.org .

Subcommittee Members from the SB 64:
Adoree Blair: Foster Parent (Asso.)
Sheri Danz: Chief Justice Appt.
Sister Michael Deloros Allegri:Foster Parent (Asso.)
Honorable K. Jerry Frangas: General Assembly
Carol A. Lawson: Non-profit serving children
Paula K. McKey: County Dept. Rep.
Sarah Padbury: Adoptive Parent (no Asso.)

Congress passes education legislation benefiting youth adopted from foster care.

The Fostering Adoption to Further Student Achievement Act, introduced by Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) as an amendment to the Higher Education Access Act, has now passed both houses of Congress and awaits President Bush's signature. The act, intended to encourage the adoption of older children by not forcing a teenager to choose between a loving family and financial aid for college, corrects current law, which allows youth who "age out" of the foster care system to qualify for virtually all college loans and grants while essentially penalizing those who are adopted before they age out.

The Coleman-Landrieu amendment to the Higher Education Access Act expands the definition of "independent student" as defined in current law to include youth in foster care who are adopted after their thirteenth birthday. This allows a student's financial aid eligibility to be determined solely by that student's ability to pay, regardless of his or her adoptive family's income level, as many families who adopt teenagers and pre-teens may have done so without being able to shoulder the entire burden of college tuition.

"All children deserve a loving, permanent family of their own, and teenagers adopted out of foster care should not lose out on financial aid opportunities for college simply because they were adopted. No child should have to choose between their education and having a loving family," says Pamela Davidson, NCFA's Vice President of Government Relations and director of the Adoption Leader Engagement Project.

Task Force Creates Committees

SB 64 has created subcommittees. These committees are open to the public. Interested community members are welcome to participate in committee meetings; however, only task force members can vote on recommendations to be forwarded to the whole task force for approval. All meetings will take place at Mile High United Way.

Here is a list of the Sub-Committees and focus:

1. System Sub-Committee:
Meeting Dates: October 9, 7:30 – 9:00, October 31, 10:00 -12:00; November 13, 7:30 – 9:00, November 27, 7:30 – 9:00; December 11, 7:30 -9:00.

a. 26-6-504 – 3 consult with the department to consider actions the department may take for the purpose of complying with the measures of federal child and family service review pursuant to 42 U.S.C> sec 1320a -2a.

b. 26-6-504 – 4 g. mediate conflicts between foster or adoptive parents and child placement agencies, biological parents or county departments.

c. Explore best practices and promising approaches, cultural competency, kinship, county grievance process, adoption, mental health, support systems, accountability and caseworker loads and training

2. Care Giver Sub-Committee
Meeting Dates: All meeting will take place from 9:00 to 12:00 for this committee. September 25, October 2, October 23, November 6, November 20, December 4, December 18

a. 26-6-504 – 4 a. ensure that foster children and adoptive children are placed in homes that become permanent and comfortable homes, thereby reducing the number of children who are moved repeatedly into foster homes and adoptive arrangements

b. 26-6-504 – 4 b. how to evaluate the motivations of foster parent applicants to ensure that the applicants are motivated by reasons that are in the best interest of children.

c. 26-6-504 – 4 c. how to encourage retention of foster parent who practice foster are for reasons that are good for children.

d. 26-6-504 – 4 d. how to provide foster or adoptive parents will all the available information about a foster child’s behavior before the child is place with the foster or adoptive parents, including contact information for the child’s previous foster or adoptive parent.

e. Explore recruitment, retention, training and support service for foster parents, refining kinship care, bio parents and practice standards and subsidy.

f. Attention should be given to the three types of foster caregivers:

i. Foster families with no intent to adopt
ii. Foster families with an
intent to adopt and
iii. Foster families who have adopted.

3. A Permanency and Child Wellbeing Sub-Committee
Meeting Dates: All meetings will take place from 8:00 – 9:30. October 9, November 13, December 11.

a. 26-6-504 – 4 e. how to ensure that adoptive subsidies remain sufficient to meet the needs of an adoptive child and his or her adoptive parent as the child grows older

b. 26-6-504 – 4 f. how to improve the rate of permanency among individuals who are at least fourteen years of age but younger then twenty-four years of age and who are in the state foster care system or in placement in residential placements.

c. Explore barriers, support services, reunification with bio families, transition for those aging out, OPPLA, community support, kinship care, mental health needs, and statewide adoption.

SB 64 - September 18, 2007 - Meeting Agenda

Meeting Time: 9:00 am – 3:00pm
Location: Mile High United Way - Founder Room

I. Welcome and Introductions of Task Force Members

II. Review of Minutes from 8-28-07

III. Public Comment

IV. County Department Panel Presentation

V. Review and discussion of foundation materials
· Report of the state auditor – Foster Care Program Department of Human Services
· CRFS data review and questions

VI. Review of federal legislation

VII. Sub Committees
· Review of charge to sub committees
· Sub committee meetings
· Report out of committee work

VIII. Next Steps
· Creation of agenda for 10-9-07 meeting
· Interim assignments and task

IX. Announcements and Close

Current Federal Legislation Before the 110 Congress

Listed below is information on the three federal bills that were identified during the last meeting of SB 64 that are currently before the 110 congress.

S. 1512: Foster Care Continuing Opportunities Act
Expands federal eligibility for children in foster care who have reached age 18 and elect to remain in foster care until reaching age 19, 20, or 21. The bill, through amending Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, provides federal funding to states to continue providing essential services such as food and housing. Such supports help these youth to achieve a better transition into adulthood.
Press release: http://boxer.senate.gov/news/releases/record.cfm?id=275098
Full Text: Full-text of S. 1512: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgibin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:s1512is.txt.pdf
Tracking: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-1512

H.R. 2669 Higher Education Access Act of 2007
The amendment provides adopted foster children full access to college grants and loans regardless of their adoptive parents' income.
Press Release: http://landrieu.senate.gov/~landrieu/releases/07/2007723920.html
Full-text of H.R. 2669: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgibin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:h2669rh.txt.pdf

H.R. 1376 The Medicaid Foster Care Coverage Act of 2007
Amends the Medicaid Program to establish independent foster care adolescents as a mandatory category of individuals for coverage under state Medicaid programs.
Full Text: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgibin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:h1376ih.txt.pdf

Link for a list from the Children’s Defense Fund
http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/DocServer/Pending_Legislation_June_2007.pdf?docID=4521

Additionally, the reauthorization of McKinney-Vento provides an opportunity to ensure the current protections under this act are available to all children in foster care, with special accommodation for the needs and family dynamics that face children in foster care.