16007.
(a) On or before January 1, 2020, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the State Department of Social Services shall establish the California Foster Youth Enrichment Grant Pilot Program to provide grants to foster youth to participate in activities that enhance their skills, abilities, self-esteem, or overall
well-being, including, but not limited to, lessons in music, dance, or drama, school trips, college campus visits, test preparation courses or materials, summer camp attendance, sports league participation, school-sponsored formal dance attendance, and participation in school graduation activities, as well as other age-appropriate activities chosen by the foster youth.(b) On or before July 1, 2020, the department shall allocate the funds appropriated to it for these purposes in the annual Budget Act to four county child welfare agencies that submit a two-year plan by a request for proposal developed by the department. The department shall select two rural counties and two urban counties to participate in the pilot program. In selecting the pilot counties, the department shall promote diversity among the participating counties
in terms of size and geographic location and shall prioritize counties with high child poverty rates. For each year of the two-year pilot, the department shall allocate to the selected pilot counties five hundred dollars ($500) for each child or youth in care in the pilot counties on March 31, 2020. If the resulting allocation for the four pilot counties, in total, would exceed twelve million five hundred thousand dollars ($12,500,000), the department shall distribute twelve million five hundred thousand dollars ($12,500,000) proportionately among the pilot counties based on the number of children and youth in care in the pilot counties on March 31, 2020.
(c) A child welfare agency shall indicate its interest in participating in the pilot program by submitting a two-year plan on
or before May 1, 2020, which shall be developed in consultation with foster youth, resource parents, and other interested community parties and shall include all of the following:
(1) The county’s plan to conduct outreach to foster youth and resource parents regarding the availability of the grant, including, for example, outreach through child and family team meetings, independent living programs, and foster youth liaisons.
(2) The county’s plan to collaborate with tribes, consortia of tribes, or tribal organizations to ensure Indian children access funding through the pilot program.
(3) The county’s plan for disbursement of funds that maximizes the amount of funds disbursed.
(4) An accountability mechanism to ensure that grants are expended for extracurricular or enrichment activities. The accountability mechanism shall not include limiting grants to reimbursement for funds already expended.
(5) A statement that funds shall not be used to fund administrative activities associated with the pilot program.
(d) Pilot Until funds allocated by the department are exhausted, pilot counties shall award grants of five hundred dollars ($500) or less to a foster child or youth who does both of the following:
(1) Requests the
grant to fund an extracurricular or enrichment activity and any directly related costs.
(2) Submits an application containing a description of the proposed use of the grant and the anticipated cost of the activity and directly related costs.
(e) A resource
parent An individual responsible for applying the reasonable and prudent parenting standard, as defined in Section 362.05, may submit an application on behalf of a foster child or youth.
(f) A foster youth may receive a maximum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) annually through the pilot program.
(g) A county participating in the pilot program shall annually submit the following data to the State Department of Social Services:
(1) Data on the number of applications received and grants awarded, aggregated by year.
(2) Data on the activities and directly related costs
the grants were used to fund, aggregated by year.
(h) (1) On or before October 1, 2022, the department shall submit a report to the Legislature that
includes the data submitted by participating counties.
(2) The report required pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(3) It is the intent of the Legislature to utilize the report required pursuant to paragraph (1) to evaluate options for continuing and expanding the program after December 31, 2022.
(i) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2023, and as of that date is repealed.