Governor Jerry Brown Jr. Monday signed legislation to help protect the most vulnerable Californians —homeless children and adults and foster youth.
The Governor signed the following bills:
• AB 388 by Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D-Arcata): Clarifies how juvenile courts may consider a child’s dependent minor status when determining whether to place that child in delinquency and requires The California Department of Social Services (DSS) to make public additional information about licensing and monitoring requirements for child welfare placements, including group homes.
• AB 1089 by Assemblymember Ian C. Calderon (D-Whittier): Establishes procedures for transferring foster children from one regional center to another.
• AB 1658 by Assemblymember Reginald B. Jones-Sawyer, Sr. (D-Los Angeles): Requires county child welfare agencies to help protect foster youth from identity theft by requesting from the three major credit rating agencies credit reports for foster youth aged 16 or older.
• AB 1701 by Assemblymember Jim Patterson (R-Fresno): Makes changes to adoption processes.
• AB 1733 by Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton) : Allows persons who can verify their status as homeless to obtain an identification card from the California Department of Motor Vehicles without a fee.
• AB 1761 by Assemblymember Isadore Hall III (D-Compton): Permits social workers to place children who have been removed from the custody of their parents in the homes of relatives or non-relative extended family members after a detention hearing and pending the dispositional hearing.
• AB 1790 by Assemblymember Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento): Requires the DSS to convene a stakeholder meeting to identify barriers to mental health services for foster children and children who are adopted or enter guardianship. A signing message can be found here.
• AB 1806 by Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica): Applies, to students who are homeless, policies and procedures for students in foster care for graduation requirements, completed coursework, suspension and expulsion.
• AB 1978 by Assemblymember Reginald B. Jones-Sawyer, Sr. (D-Los Angeles): Enacts the Child Welfare Social Worker Empowerment and Foster Child Protection Act, which allows social workers to voluntarily disclose to DSS when they believe a policy, procedure or practice of a county child welfare agency endangers the health or well-being of children.
• AB 2454 by Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton): Allows former non-minor dependents who had received certain assistance to re-enter extended foster care upon approval of the juvenile court and if their guardians or adoptive parents are not providing ongoing support.
• AB 2668 by Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton): Permits non-minor dependents who are themselves parents to enter into a parenting support plan.
• SB 1023 by Senator Carol Liu (D-Glendale): Authorizes the Chancellor’s Office of the California Community Colleges to establish the Cooperating Agencies Foster Youth Educational Support program with up to 10 community college districts.
• SB 1099 by Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento): Encourages visitation with siblings for children in the dependency and juvenile justice system.
• SB 1252 by Senator Norma J. Torres (D-Chino): Authorizes counties to extend transitional housing to former foster youth up to age 25 who are completing secondary education or are enrolled in an institution that provides postsecondary education.
• SB 1460 by the Committee on Human Services: Requires counties to recruit to be foster parents individuals who reflect the ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity of foster children, and conforms to federal laws.
For full text of the bills, visit: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
