In the month of October, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed four Alliance sponsored bills promoting placement and housing stability. The Alliance greatly appreciates the Governor’s leadership and the dedication of Senator Skinner and Assemblymembers Friedman, Rubio, and Stone in addressing these critical issues. These victories continue the Alliance’s commitment to reform and improve foster care and child welfare. #KeepFamiliesTogether
Placement Stability:
AB 366 (Rubio):
- Strengthens the statutory protections that keep siblings together by specifying that an approved resource family shall be presumed to have the size and space to place siblings together unless there is a safety risk.
SB 354 (Skinner):
- Ensures that courts can order placement with a relative, regardless of the status of any criminal exemption or resource family approval, if the court finds that placement does not pose a risk to the health and safety of the child;
- Waives income requirements when appropriate and supports prospective caregivers in accessing necessary supplies, such as cribs, car seats and booster seats for prospective relative and non-relative extended family member caregivers.
AB 260 (Stone):
- Ensures that probate courts and dependency courts work in concert and protect the due process interests of parents and children, and supports information sharing to help inform family decision making;
- Limits hidden foster care cases by ensuring that guardianship laws and the probate court operate seamlessly with juvenile court laws and the dependency court.
Housing Stability:
AB 592 (Friedman):
- Allows families already licensed as a resource family to be eligible to serve as a host family and to divide the Transition Housing Program (THP) payment between the caregiver, nonminor dependent and provider;
- Allows counties to offer supportive services to nonminor dependents through a licensed transitional housing provider while the youth resides in a supervised independent living setting.
Visit our Policy and System Reform page to view more of our past and recent victories, and how our work has improved outcomes for children and youth in foster care and those who care for them.
