Nonminor dependents.

Existing law provides aid and services to children placed in out-of-home care through various social service programs, including California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) , Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) , Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program (Kin-Gap) , and the Adoption Assistance Program. Under existing law, a person continues to be eligible for those programs as a nonminor dependent until 21 years of age if, among other requirements, the person is under the jurisdiction or transitional jurisdiction of the juvenile court and, when the person attained 18 years of age, they were under an order of foster care placement by the juvenile court. This bill would require each county to collaborate with the Department of Housing and Community Development, among other entities, to form a multidisciplinary team to serve nonminor dependents, and would require each county to submit an annual report to the State Department of Social Services that includes documentation of those collaborative efforts and specified status information for each nonminor dependent under its jurisdiction, including the educational and housing status. The bill would require the department to submit an annual report to the Legislature on the status of nonminor dependents and recommendations to improve foster care services for nonminor dependents, as specified, to post that report on its internet website, and to annually present the information from the annual report at appropriate child welfare conferences, forums, and other events. The bill would also require the department, in consultation with the California Youth Connection, among others, to establish a working group to, by January 1, 2022, develop curricula for child welfare professionals and providers who work with nonminor dependents and ensure that all of the existing system tools and requirements for the provision of foster care to nonminor dependents are functioning with fidelity and in the best interest of each nonminor dependent. By imposing new duties on counties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.