NCSL Child Welfare Policy Update
State Response to the Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2008
Transitional Planning for Older Youth in Foster Care Provision
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (H.R. 6893/P.L. 110-351) was signed on Oct. 7, 2008. This law helps to: connect foster children with their relatives; better coordinate the health care and education of foster children; support permanent families through relative guardianship; and enhance adoption subsidies and supports to older youth in foster care. To view a summary of the act, click here.
Background
The National Resource Center for Youth Development (NRCYD) states that systemic support of transitional planning is a necessity for youth aging out of the foster care system. Creating policies that require the use of transitional planning for all youth emancipating from the system can create consistency for those receiving services and strengthen the sustainability of such services in common practice. Services must be the result of a collaborative effort on behalf of all agencies currently involved in a young person’s life, as well as those that the young person will be involved with in the future. These may include mental health systems, educational entities at both secondary and post-secondary levels, and correctional systems.
Skilled professionals’ administration of transitional planning needs to be supported by the system they are working within. Barriers to cross-systems information sharing must be overcome in order for all services to work together to serve youth and adults holistically, instead of the ongoing fragmented plans and services operating in isolation of each other.
Transitional Planning for Older Youth Provision in the Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2008
The Act amends the case review system at section 475(5) of the Social Security Act to create a new planning requirement. During the ninety (90) day period immediately prior to a youth’s emancipation from the foster care system, a caseworker must provide the child with assistance and support in developing a personalized transition plan.
Additional Respurces:
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TRANSITIONAL PLANNING FOR OLDER YOUTH PROVISION OF THE
FOSTERING CONNECTIONS TO SUCCESS ACT OF 2008
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STATE & BILL
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SUMMARY (2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009)
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2012 |
Louisiana
SB 152, Act 730 |
Requires that at least six months prior to the release of a child from foster care, the department shall prepare a written, individualized, and thorough transitional plan developed in collaboration with the child and any agency or department assuming his custody, care, or responsibility. |
Tennessee
HB 2337, Chapter 653 |
Continues the Transition Planning Program for older youth aging out of foster care. |
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2011
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Arkansas
SB 625, Act. 591
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The department shall develop a transitional plan with every juvenile in foster care not later than the juvenile's seventeenth birthday or within ninety days of entering a foster care program for juveniles who enter foster care at seventeen years of age or older.
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Nebraska
LB 177
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Determines that when a child placed in foster care turns sixteen years of age or enters foster care and is at least sixteen years of age, a written independent living transition proposal shall be developed by the Department of Health and Human Services at the direction and involvement of the child to prepare for the transition from foster care to adulthood.
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2010
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California
AB 12
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Requires the court to ensure that the child's transitional case plan is reviewed periodically and includes a plan for the child to meet one or more criteria that would allow the child to remain a non-minor dependent, and to ensure that the child has been informed of his or her right to seek the termination of dependency jurisdiction.
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Georgia
HB 1085, Chap. 469
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Establishes that the Division of Family and Children Services of the Department of Human Services provide the child with assistance and support in developing a transition plan that is personalized at the direction of the child; includes specific options on housing, health insurance, education, local opportunities for mentors and continuing support services, work force supports and employment services; and is as detailed as the child may elect in the 90 day period immediately prior to the date on which the child will attain 18 years of age.
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2009
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Arkansas
SB 359, Act 391
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Establishes that the Department of Human Services shall develop a transitional plan with every juvenile in foster care not later than the juvenile’s seventeenth birthday or within ninety days of entering a foster care program for juveniles who enter foster care at seventeen years of age or older. Mandates the department to assist the child aging out of foster care with obtaining health insurance and employment, among other items.
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Colorado
SB 104, Chap. 218
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Requires each county or city and county responsible for a youth in foster care to provide that youth with verifiable documents, such as a certified birth certificate and a social security card, on or before the youth’s 18th birthday and at no cost to the youth.
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Illinois
HB 4054, Public Act 581
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Creates the Foster Youth Successful Transition to Adulthood Act. Establishes a program of transitional discharge from foster care for teenage foster children, enabling former foster youths under the age of 21 who encounter significant hardship upon emancipation to reengage with the Department of Children and Family Services and the Juvenile Court, in order to secure essential supports and services available to foster youth seeking to learn to live independently as adults.
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Iowa
SB 152
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Revises transition planning for older children in foster care who are age 16 or older and approaching adulthood to include health care coverage planning, opportunities to have a mentor, and education and housing assistance.
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Minnesota
SR 666, Chap. 106
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Allows certain foster children between the ages of 18 and 21 to request, and requires the local agency to develop, a specific plan related to the foster child's vocational, educational, social, or maturational needs, and must ensure that any foster care, housing, or counseling benefits are consistent with that plan.
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North Dakota
HB 1044, Chap. 415
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Requires the Department of Human Services to develop or contract for a program providing services to transition-aged youth at risk. Identifies services, including individualized assessments, coordinated services, self-advocacy training, vocational rehabilitation, in-home support and independent living skills training. Provides the use of a wraparound planning process. Appropriates funds from the general fund for the program and pilot project.
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New Mexico
SB 248, Chap. 239
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Includes in the New Mexico Children's Code that prior to the foster child's 18th birthday the court shall review the transition plan and determine whether the department has made reasonable efforts to have a complete transition plan for the youth.
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Texas
SB 983, Chap. 57
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Requires the Department of Family Protective Services (DFPS) to provide to foster children aging out of the system certain documents within 30 days before the date of discharge, including a Department of Public Safety (DPS) personal identification certificate or driver’s license, a social security card, and proof of enrollment in Medicaid, if appropriate. These documents are in addition to those already required, such as the foster youth’s birth certificate and immunization records. In addition, the bill requires the DFPS, in cooperation with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and DPS, to develop a plan to ensure that each foster child in permanent managing conservatorship is provided the opportunity to complete a driver’s education course and to obtain a driver’s license before leaving conservatorship.
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Texas
HB 1912, Chap. 407
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Creates the Transitional Living Service Program, to include and expand upon the existing Preparation for Adult Living program, which eases the transition from foster care to independent living by providing instruction in money management, job skills, housing and transportation for foster children aging out of the system who are at least 16 years of age. The Transitional Living Service Program will assist foster youth or alumni between ages 14 and 21 in obtaining experiential life-skills training to improve their transition to independent living. The training will be individually tailored to a youth’s skills and abilities and may include practical skills such as grocery shopping, meal preparation and cooking, using public transportation, performing basic household tasks and balancing a checkbook.
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Washington
HB 1961, Chap. 235
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Allows for the continued foster care or group care and necessary support and transition services to youth ages eighteen to twenty-one years who are enrolled and participating in a post high school academic or vocational program.
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Wisconsin
SB 347, Act 79
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Establishes that during the 90 day period immediately prior to a child aging out of foster care that a caseworker must provide the child with assistance and support in developing a transition plan which includes plans for housing, education, health care, and work force supports.
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