Foster youth: transitional housing.

Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, requires the State Department of Social Services to license and regulate transitional housing placement providers pursuant to the act. Under existing law, a transitional housing placement provider is an organization licensed by the department to provide transitional housing to foster children at least 16 years of age and to nonminor dependents to promote their transition to adulthood. Existing law requires a transitional housing unit to meet certain housing and supervision requirements, which may include a host family certified by a transitional housing placement provider with whom a participant lives in an apartment, single-family dwelling, or condominium. Under existing law, a violation of the act is a misdemeanor. This bill would require a transitional housing unit with a host family to include supervised transitional housing services provided by the licensed transitional housing placement provider. With respect to a transitional housing placement program serving nonminor dependents, the bill would additionally authorize certain entities, including a resource family approved by a foster family agency or a county, a licensed foster family home, a certified family home, an approved relative caregiver, or a nonrelative extended family member of a participant to operate as a host family. The bill would authorize a transitional housing placement provider to provide supportive services to a nonminor dependent placed in a certified family home or resource family of a foster family agency if that provider signs a memorandum of understanding with the foster family agency. Because a violation of the act is a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law establishes the supervised independent living placement as an independent supervised setting that is specified in a nonminor dependent's transitional independent living case plan and in which the nonminor dependent is living independently. Existing law defines a supervised independent living setting to include a supervised independent living placement, a residential housing unit certified by a transitional housing placement provider, and a transitional living setting approved by the county, as specified. This bill would expand the definition of a supervised independent living setting to include a transitional housing unit in which a host family lives with a nonminor dependent who is a participant of a transitional housing placement program, including an apartment, single-family dwelling, or condominium owned, rented, or leased by the host family, with supervised transitional housing services provided by the licensed transitional housing placement provider. The bill would authorize a county to allow a licensed transitional housing placement provider to provide supportive services to assist a nonminor dependent in their supervised independent living setting. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 11400 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 640 to be operative only if this bill and AB 640 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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.