Foster care payments: reasonable travel reimbursement for school.

Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and other social services to needy families through the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant program, state, and county funds. Existing law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide to foster care providers a per-child, per-month rate, established by the State Department of Social Services, for the care and supervision of the child or nonminor dependent placed with the provider. Existing law also requires counties to provide payment to an emergency caregiver who is not yet a foster care provider on behalf of a child or nonminor dependent placed in the home of the caregiver that is equivalent to that per-child, per-month rate. This bill would additionally require a county to provide to those emergency caregivers a payment to cover the cost of reasonable travel for the child to remain in the school in which the child or nonminor dependent is enrolled at the time of placement. The bill would also require a county, at the time of placement, or within 3 business days after identifying the school in which the child or nonminor dependent is enrolled, to notify an emergency caregiver if a child or nonminor dependent is eligible for that reasonable travel reimbursement, as specified, or notify a foster care provider if the provider is eligible to receive transportation reimbursement in addition to the basic rate. By expanding the duties of, and imposing new requirements 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.