Mindful of exorbitant housing costs and the ongoing struggles of former foster youth, California lawmakers hope to upgrade a decades-old program designed to prepare young people raised in government custody for independence.
Proposed reforms to the state’s independent living programs would allow thousands of young adults exiting foster care to continue receiving services an additional two years, through age 23. If approved by the Legislature and the governor, California would follow dozens of other states that have already expanded eligibility.
Independent living programs vary from county to county. Los Angeles County, for example, uses funds to pay for transitional housing beds and paid internships. Butte County uses the federal money to operate a thrift store that provides foster youth with donated clothing and household items. Other counties provide online workshops that offer money-management tips and coaching on how to prepare a resume.
But a recent survey of current and former foster youth shows these efforts fall far short of the need. Earlier this year, one-third of foster youth surveyed told the advocacy group Children Now that they needed more secure housing options and more robust and timely assistance from independent living programs.
“Far too many transition age youth currently or formerly in foster care experience housing instability and homelessness, which leads to further trauma, negatively impacts their well-being, and impedes their successful transition into adulthood,” the report reads.
Independent living programs, funded by a 1999 federal law, are currently available to foster youth ages 16 to 20. But the bill now before the Legislature would extend the age range to 23, expanding the offerings for thousands of former foster youth attempting to live on their own in one of the nation’s costliest states.
Assembly Bill 369 would also require the state to create a plan to update and standardize independent living programs up and down the state, making sure that counties offer a more consistent set of classes best tailored to the needs of young people exiting foster care. An additional provision of AB 369, authored by Democratic Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur of Los Angeles County, amends current state law to guarantee that young people who have managed to save $10,000 or more would not be disqualified from services otherwise available to them as foster youth.
Susanna Kniffen, senior managing director for child welfare and government relations at Children Now, described the urgent need for the legislation.
“Foster youth face a pretty steep cliff at age 21 where they lose pretty much everything — all their supports and services and help,” she said. “But their needs don’t just stop there.”
AB 369 is supported by Children Now and a host of other leading advocacy groups, including the Alliance for Children’s Rights, California Coalition for Youth, as well as Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties. To date, the bill faces no opposition.
For Jazzmin Marquez, a former foster youth who now helps manage San Diego County’s independent living program with YMCA Youth & Family Services, the key to success is guiding young adults to reach important milestones.
When Marquez aged out of the foster care system at age 18, she said her caseworker with the local independent living program was the only supportive person in her life. At the time, she was working at McDonald’s while also attending community college to obtain a medical certificate. But her foster care-arranged housing was ending, and she had little meaningful support at the time.
Against all odds, Marquez found her way to stable housing and a bachelor’s degree at West Coast University. But she said it took much longer than it should have, and she could have benefited greatly from extended support from her independent living services caseworker.
“Having this person for another two to three years would have greatly assisted with my ability to navigate complex adult systems and situations,” Marquez said.
Independent living programs are typically administered by a caseworker who may be part of a child welfare agency or a nonprofit organization contracted to work with transition-age youth. These providers play a different role than a foster youth’s county social worker. While social workers are required to check in at regular intervals, given sizable caseloads, they may not always be able to coordinate the full range of services these young adults often need as they approach adulthood.
“Foster youth face a pretty steep cliff at age 21 where they lose pretty much everything — all their supports and services and help. But their needs don’t just stop there.”
— Susanna Kniffen
Congress created the first federal Independent Living Initiative in 1985, providing states Title IV-E funding to assist young adults leaving foster care. In 1999, the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program allowed states greater latitude to tailor such support and services to their local needs.
California received roughly an annual $16 million from these federal funds last year, offerings combined with state money to craft local plans for living skills, housing, employment and education.
A report released in March by Children Now found that services provided in the counties vary widely, with some counties using up to 30% for housing, while others emphasize classes or workshops — in-person or online — that enhance independent living skills. Other counties focus on one-on-one case management meetings, or a hybrid approach of offerings.
Relatively little research exists on how effective these services are in California, though a 2020 study of independent living programs nationwide that was published in the journal Child Welfare found that young people who received services were more likely to achieve higher levels of education. Linking young people to post-secondary education was also associated with better outcomes, including a greater chance of employment and lower likelihood of homelessness.
Advocates see a need to update these programs, including offering them to older youth. Originally, independent living programs were intended to prepare high-school age teens to to age out of foster care at age 18. Now, with many California foster youth staying in the extended foster care until 21, supporters of the bill say the program should be adjusted across the state to ensure young adults are paired with housing, education and career support — even after they leave the supervision of a child welfare agency.
California’s effort is supported by a major shift in federal funding for child welfare services that is playing out in different ways across the country. Among its many new provisions, the 2018 Family First Prevention Services Act extended independent living funding through age 23 — a money stream states are now beginning to tap into. To date, about 30 other states have elected to extend independent living services an additional two years.
Two previous efforts over the past three years to extend the age in California have failed in the Legislature. The bills passed both houses, but were vetoed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who cited cost concerns and a preference that the issue be pursued through the budget process.
Advocates for AB 369 say this year’s bill offers a different approach, driven by the state’s tight fiscal outlook. Unlike in years past, the current version of the bill this year would allow interested counties to opt into an arrangement allowing services through age 23, but would not require it. The bill faces a Sept. 1 legislative deadline to pass the state Senate and be sent to Newsom’s desk.
There is no dollar amount attached to the recent bill, though it would incur a small cost to convene a workgroup to develop a set of best practices. Bill proponents suggest counties would save money over the long run, despite the initial investment, by preventing more costly taxpayer expenditures for former foster youth who end up homeless, hospitalized or in other emergency settings.
“Having this person for another two to three years would have greatly assisted with my ability to navigate complex adult systems and situations.”
— Jazzmin Marquez
Zbur’s bill is part of a wave of legislative and budgetary efforts in California aimed at stemming the rising tide of homelessness among foster youth in a state where housing costs have soared over the past decade.
In June, the governor increased the amount of money foster youth receive for independent housing placements as part of this year’s state budget. And earlier this year, Democratic state Sen. Dave Cortese of Santa Clara County introduced legislation that would allow some young people to stay in the state’s foster care system for an extra year — to age 22 — under certain conditions, though the state’s tightened fiscal outlook could make the proposal a hard sell.
Like other states, California is also extending timelines for former foster youth to receive some safety net services, including after they leave the system. For example, last year the state overturned an age cap that had prevented foster youth from receiving financial aid after age 25. The state’s “transitional housing program plus” offers housing until age 25 for youth who’ve been on probation or in foster care.
Former foster youth and program lead Marquez has gone from being a young person in need of greater help to the person delivering the assistance — for things like finding reliable transportation to work, how to get a driver’s permit, setting up a bank account, and finding transitional housing.
Marquez, now 32, said social work practices must be updated to best serve young adults in foster care, who may need different sorts of help than they did a generation ago. Different developmental stages must also be carefully considered, she added.
“If you are talking to someone who’s 23, they may be ready to open up that door and heal or speak or get connected to services in a way they weren’t at age 16 or 18,” Marquez said. “But even at an older age, it’s really hard to reach economic stability and a degree without having a social network and when you don’t have a family involved.”
