Voter registration: foster youth.

Existing law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide payments to foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in foster care and to nonminor dependents up to 21 years of age. Existing law requires, in order to be provided AFDC-FC benefits, one of several conditions to be satisfied, including, for a nonminor dependent, that he or she has been placed pursuant to a mutual agreement or is reentering foster care placement pursuant to a voluntary agreement. Existing law requires a county social worker to create a case plan for foster youth within a specified timeframe after the child is introduced into the foster care system. Existing law requires the case plan to include prescribed components, including, among other things, when appropriate, for a child who is 16 years of age or older and for a nonminor dependent, a transitional independent living plan (TILP) . This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to include specified information relating to voter registration, including the voter registration page on the Secretary of State's Internet Web site, on a flyer for the Independent Living Program, on the form used for a nonminor dependent to enter into a mutual agreement or a voluntary reentry agreement, on the form used to create a TILP, on the department's Internet Web site for the Independent Living Program, and on the Office of the Foster Care Ombudsman's Internet Web site. The bill would authorize a county social worker to provide a voter registration form to a child 16 years of age or older or a nonminor dependent concurrent with the provision of any of those forms. The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific these provisions by means of an all-county letter or similar instructions, without taking any regulatory action.