BILL NUMBER: SB 1576 AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 26, 2006 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 17, 2006 INTRODUCED BY Senator Murray (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Bass) (Coauthor:SenatorSpeierCoauthors: Senators Alquist, Romero, and Speier ) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Chan,Hancock,Cohn, Hancock, Jerome Horton, Shirley Horton, Koretz, Lieber, Pavley, and Wolk) FEBRUARY 23, 2006 An act to amend Section 11403.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to public social services. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1576, as amended, Murray Foster care: transitional housing. Existing law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide payments to foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in foster care. Existing law authorizes payment for certain transitional housing services to eligible foster youth between 16 and 18 years of age from available moneys in the Transitional Housing for Foster Youth Fund, which is continuously appropriated, or the annual Budget Act. Existing law extends eligibility for these transitional housing placement program services to a person less than 24 years of age who has emancipated from the foster care system in a county that has elected to participate in a transitional housing placement program for youths between 18 and 24 years of age, provided that the person has not received these services for more than a total of 24 months. Existing law provides that the state shall pay 40%, and the county shall pay 60%, of the share of costs for these transitional housing services. This bill would eliminate the requirement for the county to pay a share of the cost for transitional housing services for persons between 18 and 24 years of age, and would limit funding for these services to the amount appropriated in the annual Budget Act. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 11403.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read: 11403.3. (a) (1) Subject to subdivision (b), a transitional housing placement program, as defined in Section 11400, that provides transitional housing services to an eligible youth in a facility licensed pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1559.110 of the Health and Safety Code, shall be paid a monthly rate that is 75 percent of the average foster care expenditures for foster youth 16 to 18 years of age, inclusive, in group home care in the county in which the program operates. (2) Subject to subdivision (c), a transitional housing placement program, as defined in Section 11400, that provides transitional housing services to an eligible youth in a facility certified pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 1559.110 of the Health and Safety Code, shall be paid a monthly rate that is 70 percent of the average foster care expenditures for foster youth 16 to 18 years of age, inclusive, in group home care in the county in which the program operates. (b) Payment to a transitional housing placement program for transitional housing services provided to a person described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 11403.2 shall be subject to the following conditions: (1) An amount equal to the base rate, as defined in subdivision (d), shall be paid for transitional housing services provided. (2) Any additional amount payable pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be contingent on both of thefollowing:following conditions: (A) The availability of moneys in the Transitional Housing for Foster Youth Fund established in Section 11403.4, or appropriated for this purpose in the annual Budget Act for the cost of the program, to pay the state share of cost of the additional amount. (B) Election by the county placing the youth in the transitional housing placement program to participate in the costs of the additional amount, pursuant to subdivision (g). (c) (1) Payment to a transitional housing placement program for transitional housing services provided pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 11403.2 shall be subject to the following conditions: (A) Any Supportive Transitional Emancipation Program (STEP) payment payable pursuant to Section 11403.1 shall be paid for transitional housing services provided. (B) Any amount payable pursuant to subdivision (a) to a transitional housing placement program for services provided to a person described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 11403.2 shall be paid contingent on the availability of moneys appropriated for this purpose in the annual Budget Act for the cost of the program. (2) The department may limit new participants into transitional housing placement programs if costs for this subdivision are projected to exceed moneys appropriated for this purpose in the annual Budget Act. (d) (1) As used in this section, "base rate" means the rate a transitional housing placement program was approved to receive on June 30, 2001. If a program commences operation after this date, the base rate shall be the rate the program would have received if it had been operational on June 30, 2001. (2) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), no transitional housing placement program with an approved rate on July 1, 2001, shall receive a lower rate than its base rate. (e) Any reductions in payments to a transitional housing placement program pursuant to the implementation of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) or subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) shall not preclude the program from acquiring from other sources, additional funding necessary to provide program services. (f) The department shall develop, implement, and maintain a ratesetting system schedule for transitional housing placement programs pursuant to subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive. (g) Funding for the rates payable under this section for persons described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 11403.2 shall be subject to the sharing ratios specified in subdivision (c) of Section 15200.