11403.5.
(a) (1) The State Department of Social Services shall convene a working group to examine the extended foster care program and funding authorized by Section 303 and Section 11403. The working group shall make recommendations for improvements to the program and shall submit a report to the Legislature with the recommendations on or before July 1, 2022.(2) The report required to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(b) (1) The working group shall include representatives from the appropriate fiscal subcommittees and policy committees of the Legislature, the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the Department of Finance, the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, the State Department of Developmental Services, the State Department of Education, the Office of Youth and Community Restoration, the County Welfare Directors Association of California, the California Behavioral Health Directors Association, the Judicial Council, the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the State Foster Care Ombudsperson, the recognized exclusive representative of county child welfare social workers and public health nurses, foster youth or former foster youth, dependency counsel, child welfare advocacy organizations, advocacy and legal service organizations serving homeless youth or youth at risk of homelessness, provider organizations, tribal representatives, and other groups and stakeholders that provide benefits, services, and advocacy to families and children in the child welfare and foster care systems.
(2) The working group may consult with other individuals, groups, or organizations for additional insight or expertise on issues under consideration by the working group.
(c) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that this working group begin their work by looking back to the passage of Assembly Bill 12 (Chapter 559 of the Statutes of 2010), and set a foundation for the working group’s efforts by clarifying the intended goals of the extended foster care program.
(2) It is also the intent of the Legislature that the working group explore and respond to the impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on California’s nonminor dependents, particularly the long-term impacts extending from the economic downturn and associated trauma.
(d) (1) The working group shall evaluate and provide recommendations on all of the following:
(A) The overall functioning of the extended foster care system and ways to increase collaboration with other systems of care, including regional centers, housing service providers, county departments of mental health, and the Social Security Administration. This shall also take into account the impact of changes resulting from the federal Family First Prevention Services Act.
(B) Higher education opportunities and supports for nonminor dependents.
(C) Job training and employment opportunities and supports for nonminor dependents.
(D) Housing access and protection and enforcement of nonminor dependent housing rights.
(E) The needs of youth transitioning from short-term residential therapeutic programs.
(F) Access to health care and mental health services, including sexual and reproductive health care.
(G) Transition support for nonminor dependents exiting from care, including, but not limited to, family finding, housing services, assistance with accessing government benefits and health care services, long-term supportive relationships, and permanency options.
(H) Supports and services for pregnant and parenting youth and their children.
(I) For all of the extended foster care services and supports described in subparagraphs (A) to (H), inclusive, any disparities in access or outcomes for youth who identify as members of marginalized groups, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(i) Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
(ii) Commercially sexually exploited children.
(iii) Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ).
(2) The working group’s recommendations shall consider how they can best be implemented in light of the 2011 realignment cost sharing requirements.
(e) Recommendations shall reflect a consensus of the working group. The working group shall establish how consensus will be determined during its initial meetings and create a guiding framework for that process.