After 18 Months, How is Extended Foster Care Going in California?

Yesterday, the
Children's Advocacy
Institute releaseda
new report,
"California's Fostering
Connections: Ensuring
that theAB 12Bridge
Leads toSuccess for
Transition Age Foster
Youth." Authored by
attorney Melanie
Delgadothe report
reviews the first 18
months of extended
foster
care implementation
inCalifornia,
interviewing officials
from 10counties,
current andformer
fosteryouthanda
wide range of child
welfare stakeholders
from aroundthe
state.

The report highlights
areas where the
legislationis going
well.These include
the re-entry process,
which both
practitioners and
youthcite as user-friendly. Youth
participants stated
that they appreciate
the opportunity to
continue their
education and
establishthemselves
inhousing.

The report also
highlights are for
improvement.These
include whether
fundingwillbe
adequate, giventhe
higher-than-expected
participationrate and
the implementation of
2011Realignment,
which placesthe full
cost of non-federally
eligibleyouthonthe
counties. Another
issue of concern
identifiedby the report
was whethersocial
workers have received
adequate trainingon
AB 12andthe adult
systems utilizedby
Non-Minor
Dependents.The
delayinTHP+FC was
also identifiedas an
area of concern,
togetherwith
questionsas to
whetheryouthfrom
the juvenile probation
system are fully
utilizing extended
fostercare.

The report includes a
fullset of
recommendations to
overcome the
obstacles identifiedin
the report, which
include reducing
social worker and
court caseloads,
reinstatingdual
jurisdiction, ensuring
the adequacy of the
Transitional
Independent Living
Case Plan, increasing
supports for parenting
dependents and
revisiting the
readiness assessment
usedfor the
Supervised
Independent Living
Placement, among
others.

According toDelgado,
the report is aneffort
to keepCalifornia
moving forwardin its
effort tosupport older
youthinfoster
care. “The passage of
AB 12is only the
beginning. To ensure
that ourfoster youth
can thrive once they
exit California’s
fostercare system,
California must
continue toact to
improveAB 12
implementation andto
remove obstacles to
the
success of foster
youth,” notedMelanie
Delgado. Toreadthe
fullreport, visit this
following LINK.