Assembly Concurrent Resolution
No. 124
CHAPTER 193
Relative to Court Adoption and Permanency Month.
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Filed with
Secretary of State
September 25, 2017.
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LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 124, Limón.
Court Adoption and Permanency Month.
This measure would designate November 2017 as Court Adoption and Permanency Month, and would encourage the courts and their local communities to promote safe, stable, and permanent homes for children.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
NO WHEREAS, Consistent with its commitment to support practices and procedures that promote access to justice and improved case outcomes for California’s children and families, the Judicial Council has recognized November as Court Adoption and Permanency Month every year since 1999; and
WHEREAS, Half a million incidents of child abuse and neglect are reported each year in California, and about 24,100 children enter child welfare-supervised foster care for the first time; and
WHEREAS, Nearly 60,900 children in California live apart from their families in child welfare-supervised out-of-home care; and
WHEREAS, Forty percent of the children in foster care in California have lived apart from their families for two or more years; and
WHEREAS, Twenty-three percent of the youth in care are transitional-age youth 16 to 20 years of age, inclusive; and
WHEREAS, Of the more than 28,900 California children who left foster care in the 12 months preceding December 2016, 50 percent were reunited with their families, 23 percent were adopted, and 7 percent exited foster care without reunifying or obtaining a permanent home by the time they reached the age of majority; and
WHEREAS, Local courts and communities throughout California have created programs promoting permanency that have resulted in a reduction in the number of children waiting to live in safe, stable, and permanent homes; and
WHEREAS, The Judicial Council remains committed to working with the Governor, the Legislature, and local courts and communities to ensure that every abused or neglected child finds a safe, stable, and permanent home with a loving family as quickly as possible; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates November 2017 as Court Adoption and Permanency Month, during which the courts and their local communities are encouraged to join in activities to expedite permanency for children; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.