Foster youth.

(1) Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which is permitted to adjudge certain children to be a ward or a dependent of the court under certain circumstances, and authorizes the juvenile court to retain jurisdiction over those persons until they attain 21 years of age. Existing law authorizes nonminors who have not yet attained 21 years of age and who exited foster care at or after the age of majority to petition the court to resume dependency jurisdiction or to assume transition jurisdiction over the nonminor. Under existing law, the county welfare department is required to submit reports at the first regularly scheduled review hearing after a dependent child has attained 16 years of age, at the last regularly scheduled review hearing before a dependent child attains 18 years of age, and at every regularly scheduled review hearing thereafter, verifying that specified information, documents, and services have been provided to the child or nonminor. This bill would require certain additional verifications to be included in those reports, including, among other things, verification that specified information has been included in the child's or nonminor's case plan. Existing law prohibits the court from terminating jurisdiction over a nonminor dependent who has attained 18 years of age until the county welfare department has submitted a report verifying that it has provided all of the information, documents, and services referred to above to the nonminor dependent, or in the case of a nonminor dependent who, after reasonable efforts by the county welfare department, cannot be located, verifying the efforts made to make that information and those documents and services available to the nonminor dependent. This bill would additionally prohibit jurisdiction from being terminated over a nonminor dependent who has attained 21 years of age until the county welfare department has provided the nonminor dependent that information and those documents and services and, if the nonminor dependent has not secured housing, until the county welfare department has submitted a report to the court verifying that specified requirements have been met. The bill would extend the authority of the court to retain jurisdiction over a nonminor dependent who has attained 21 years of age for the limited purpose of complying with those requirements. The bill would authorize a nonminor dependent over whom jurisdiction has been extended pursuant to that authorization to continue receiving the support and services they were entitled to receive immediately prior to attaining 21 years of age, and benefits equal to the amount of Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program benefits, until jurisdiction has been terminated. By imposing additional duties on county welfare departments, this bill would impose a state-mandated program. (2) Existing law establishes the AFDC-FC program, under which counties provide payments to foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in foster care. Existing law establishes a schedule of basic rates to be paid for the care and supervision of each foster child. Existing law also establishes the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program (Kin-GAP) , which provides aid on behalf of eligible children who have a kinship guardianship, and the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Program (ARC) , which provides payments to approved relative caregivers who are caring for children and nonminor dependents who are ineligible for AFDC-FC payments. Existing law requires, when a child is living with a parent who receives AFDC-FC or Kin-GAP benefits, or ARC payments, that the rate paid to the foster care provider on behalf of the parent include an additional amount, known as an infant supplement, for the care and supervision of the child. Existing law makes a pregnant minor or nonminor dependent eligible for the infant supplement, referred to in this instance as an expectant parent benefit, for the 3-month period immediately prior to the month the birth is anticipated. This bill would expand eligibility for the expectant parent benefit to include minors and nonminor dependents who are under the dependency jurisdiction of the juvenile court and who would be eligible to have foster care benefits paid on their behalf but for the minor or nonminor dependent not residing in an approved placement. The bill would require the department to develop and implement automated payments for these purposes, as specified. Because counties would administer these extended benefits, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law authorizes a county to pay, in addition to the basic rate, a clothing allowance to provide additional clothing for a child. This bill would require a county, if the county opts to provide a clothing allowance, to provide the clothing allowance to a minor or nonminor dependent who is under the dependency jurisdiction of the juvenile court and who would be eligible to have foster care benefits paid on their behalf but for the minor or nonminor dependent not residing in an approved placement. The bill would require the department to develop and implement automated payments for these purposes, as specified. (4) 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.