California’s AB 12: Good For American-Indian Foster Children

California’s legislature recently passed AB 12, a bill that if signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would – among other things – allow the state to draw down federal funding and provide financial assistance to relative caregivers. For our Indian children this could mean living with qualifying family members instead of being placed into foster care with strangers. For the State of California it would mean a savings of $50 million per year.

Providing funding to relative caregivers is not a new concept in California. Currently, California’s state-funded Kin-Gap program provides a subsidy for relative guardians, but the child is required to live with the family for an entire year before the caregivers receive any financial assistance. AB 12 would change this by reducing that waiting period in the caregiver’s home from one year to six months.

This six-month difference represents a critical resource for most Indian caregivers and families. It means the difference between a child remaining with family instead of a foster care placement simply because the relative cannot afford the high cost of raising the child.

AB 12 also changes the way that funding is distributed to guardians. Under California’s current Kin-GAP program, families receive a standard amount of money each month without the possibility of an increase regardless of circumstances.

Why is this important to our Indian kinship caregivers?

Here’s an example: An Indian toddler, Jennifer, is removed from her home because her parents are on the wrong path. Fortunately, Jennifer is able live with her grandmother who finds a way to support her for one year without any outside financial assistance. Under the current program, Jennifer’s grandmother would be eligible to receive a subsidy to provide basic needs to her granddaughter after one year.

However, as Jennifer grows from a toddler and is enrolled in Head Start, the grandmother finds out Jennifer has a disability – something that is common for Indian children in foster care. The grandmother is then faced with expenses related to her grandchild’s disability. Under AB 12, the grandmother would be able to renegotiate the subsidy rate she receives for Jennifer due to the disability and begin receiving financial assistance after six months – rather than 12 months.

Aside from providing financial supports to relative caregivers, AB 12 would also extend foster care support until the age of 21. For our Indian foster youth – and all foster youth in California – this would provide them with the choice to remain in care during their transitional years and into adulthood, something most people take for granted. This choice has significant bearing on long-term success for foster youth. According to a five-year study, youth who received support after age 18 were twice as likely to be working towards completion of a high school diploma, and three times more likely to be enrolled in college. While during the same period, the arrest rates and incarceration rates of these young adults were cut in half.

This legislation is also important to Indian and non-Indian children and families outside of California. If this legislation passes, California would be one of the first states to access federal funds via the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act – laying the foundation for other states to follow and for more of our Indian foster children and youth to be served in a better way.

Let’s urge Gov. Schwarzenegger to sign AB 12. It makes financial sense for his struggling state and it’s good for all of California’s vulnerable children and youth. It offers them the stability of living with their relatives while staying outside the foster care system as much as possible and it gives choices to our foster youth when they need it most.