Senate Standing Committee on Human Services

Senate Human Services Committee will come to order. Good morning. We're holding our committee hearings today in the Capitol Building Room 113. We ask members to come, but we also particularly ask our authors to come join us here so we can so that we can get going. Good point.

I will ask to call a a roll.

Becker? Here. Becker, here. Achopoag? Here.

Achopoag here. Laird? Here. Laird here. Perez?

Weber Pearson?

We have a quorum. Quorum is present. Okay. We will go in a brief recess while we wait for authors. Okay.

We have an author and a good one at that, Senator Padilla. We have a SB534. You can go ahead when ready.

Good morning, Mister chairman, members. Thanks for your patience. Pleased to present SB 534, which require requires counties to provide foster youth before they turn 18 the last known whereabouts and contact information for their parents and siblings. After exiting the foster care system, many young people face years marked by housing instability, unemployment, and economic hardship. California law currently requires counties to provide youth aging out of foster care with essential information, including identification, proof of citizenship, and guidance on housing and employment.

However, when counties possess contact information for birth parents or extended family, there is no current requirement to share this information even when the child requests it. Studies have shown that many foster youth say they wish to get more information about their from their caseworkers related to their birth family or their family history before exiting the system. Further research has also found that maintaining or reestablishing these relationships has a critical role in young person's stability, identity, and long term well-being.

This bill promotes informed choice, strengthens relationships, ex ensures access to family contact information, and supports better long term outcomes for youth transitioning out of foster care. This bill passed the Assembly four with bipartisan support.

I'm pleased to have with me today Ed Howard on behalf of the Children's Advocacy Institute.

Good morning, Mister Chair members. Ed Howard, senior counsel at the Children's Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego School of Law. The principle behind this bill, we think, is a simple one. Everybody everybody deserves a chance at having a family, especially our former foster children. Respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Okay. Thank you. Are there anyone else in sorry. In support? Anyone else in support?

Anyone who'd like to come to the mic in opposition? Seeing none, we'll take it back to the committee. Any comments? Senator Lohren?

I think it's a good bill, and I would move the bill.

Okay. I appreciate that. Yeah. This will certainly make the information easier for youth to access, for those who want it. So I'll be supporting the bill today.

I appreciate that. Would you like to close?

Thank you, Mister chairman. Respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Okay. We have a motion from, Senator Laird. Do you wanna please call the roll?

File item one, SB 534. Motion is that the Assembly amendments be concurred in. Becker? Aye. Becker, aye.

Achobog? Laird? Laird, aye. Perez, Weber Pearson?

Okay. That is two to zero, and we will keep it open. Thank you, Senator Fevella. Thank you, Mister Chair.

Thanks for your patience. Okay.

Thank you. Alright. We will go into another brief recess while we wait for our final author. Good morning. Well, which team are you a fan of?

I was gonna be supportive of that. We'll we'll see. Well, let's let's let's let the evidence We should've waited

to see that. Exactly. Until after the vote. Yes. Yes.

We'll let

the evidence Senator Richardson, please, we'd love to have you come up and present SB 1322.

And I have a representative, Chris, with the tribal business

of mine. Okay.

Okay. Alright. Good morning, Mister Chair and members. California is home to a 109 federally recognized Native American tribes. Tribal communities are more than twice as likely to experience poverty and homelessness compared to the rest of the state's population, not to mention the lack of safe water, basic utilities, and working plumbing systems.

While the Department of Social Services has taken steps to address this reality, its community care expansion program remains complex for tribal applicants seeking to navigate state regulations, property ownership rights, and preserving tribal sovereignty. To cut to the chase of this, because I know we have all many competing meetings, I was actually at a meeting and heard that the application that we have at the state oftentimes puts a tribal nation in a difficult position of having to relinquish sovereignty to be able to get these grants.

And that certainly should not be the intention. And so the Federal Government apparently has a very good program. We want to mirror that.

And in order to do that, we need representatives who understand the tribal nations, understand their rights, their sovereign property, and so this bill enables them to do so. And with that, I'm gonna close and respectfully ask for your support. The reason why we came back is the department changed, which is why it's my understanding we're here in this committee at this late hour.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Would you

Chris mic to stay up all night.

And it's early.

Chris Lundstrom, executive officer of the California Tribal Business Alliance. We're in support. Also here on behalf of Polibanda Mission Indians, who's the sponsor in in support. And essentially, if I put it in in a nutshell, AB 1010, Eddie Garcia, 2019 kind of opened tribes eligibility for housing programs. And, you know, these tribes had generally worked with the Federal Government on programs, and the state began to offer its services and and programs out to the tribes.

And this is just applying a best practice that would help, you know, recognize tribal sovereignty, things they can and can't do with the land. They can't collateral collateralize federal land, things like that, and include the tribes in the development of these grants. And so it's a process that would use best practices. And Senator Richardson came down to a meeting, listened and said, hey. I was in Congress.

I get it. So let's do it.

Excellent. Excellent. Any and and support? I see none. Anyone else in opposition?

Anyone who would like to come in opposition to the bill? Okay. Well, we'll take it back to the committee.

I think it's appropriate. I moved it.

Alright. We have a motion. I wanna thank you, St. Richards. Thank you for your work on this bill.

Thank you for coming back to our committee. We are in support of Bill. I'm in support of the Bill. Would you like to close?

In respect to all of my Northern California friends, I respectfully ask for your aye vote on 1322.

Well, I gotta really think about this one now. It's a tough it's becoming very tough I don't know. Yeah. It's become a

tough one. We did a budget Zoom last week where she Zoomed from the Rams game. So, oh, wow. This is sincere.

Yeah. Well, especially because it was a pre season game. So you know it's definitely sincere. Yeah. Definitely sincere.

Okay. We will we have a motion. Will you please call the roll? Sure.

File item two, SB 1322. The motion is that the Assembly amendments be concurred in. Becker?

Becker, Aye. Achobog. Laird? Laird, Aye. Perez.

Hi.

Weber Pearson.

Okay. We'll put that on call, but it's 2-0. Thank you.

We have a brief recess.

We'll wait for at least one more vote.

Okay. We'd like to open the roll on our two items starting with SB534.

File item one, SB 534. The motion is that the Assembly amendments be concurred in.

[roll call]

3-0. We will keep that on call. And how about file item two SB 1322?

File item two SB 1322. The motion is that that Assembly amendment be concurred in.

[roll call]

3-0. We'll keep that on call too. Thank you. Thank you for getting over promptly.

Alright. We will reopen the roll and call absent members starting with file item one, SB 534 by Senator Padilla.

File item one, SB 534. The motion is that Assembly amendments be concurred in.

[roll call]

4-0. That bill is out.

File item two, SB 1322. The motion is that the Assembly amendments be concurred in.

[roll call]

4-0. That bill is out as well. Thank you, Senator Perez. This concludes what I believe will be our final meeting of the Human Services Committee. Thank you to the team.

We are adjourned.