“The funds represent a commitment that will enable us to address the gaps that currently exist in the System,” states Assemblymember Karen Bass, chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Foster Care. “This legislation will continue to move the needle forward as we address the needs of the state’s foster youth. There is still a lot of work to do and I call on the Governor to support our efforts by signing this legislation, which will provide foster youth with needed support and resources as well as increase the System’s standards and accountability.

The legislation sent to the Governor, introduced by the Select Committee, includes:

• AB 1979 (Bass) – Helps recruit volunteer mentors for foster youth by waiving the fees for background checks
  
  
• AB 2031 (Cohn) – Requires the establishment of a stakeholder group to draft best practice guidelines for the use of technology to assist counties in identifying relatives and non-relative extended family members for foster youth
  
  
• AB 2195 (Bass) – Helps keep foster youth with relatives or extended family members during emergency circumstances and require health and safety checks for placement
  
  
• AB 2216 (Bass) – Helps ensure effective management and accountability the Foster Care System by building a new leadership structure
  
  
• AB 2480 (Evans) – Provides foster youth with adequate legal representation for juvenile cases
  
  
• AB 2488 (Leno) – Establishes a process for reconnecting siblings that have been separated by adoption and reduces the age at which they may seek information about their siblings from age 21 to 18
  
  
• AB 2985 (Maze) – requires a county welfare department to request a consumer credit disclosure on a foster youth turning 16 and to refer that foster youth to a credit counseling organization upon any indication of a disclosure revealing negative items or evidence of identity theft

Legislation developed by the Senate making its way through the process includes:

• SB 1641 (Soto) – Convenes a workshop to review regulations and statutes of foster care placements to identify barriers and requirements which may stigmatize foster families or result in unnecessary restrictions on foster youth
  
  
• SB 1667 (Kuehl) – Specifies that foster parents must be notified of planned hearings relating to adoption and legal guardianship and must be given the opportunity to attend these hearing and present information to the court; it also requires child welfare agencies to send the Judicial Council Caregiver Information Form to foster parents to notify them of court hearings
  
  
• SB 1688 (Bowen) – Creates a four year pilot program in two counties that will offer foster parents the resources and materials to help them prepare their three, four and five year old children for success in school and beyond

This year’s foster care reform addresses emancipation, health, education, relative/kinship issues, social worker workload, court issues, state oversight, and caregiver support. On September 22nd, the Select Committee will hold a Foster Care Summit at the State Capitol to develop a work plan to continue efforts to improve the System for the 2007 legislative session.

“Its our responsibility to ensure that California’s foster youth have the opportunity to become productive citizens," states Bass. “The momentum has to continue if we want to positively impact the System and the implement effective and tangible change.”