Foster care: enrichment activities.

Under existing law, every child adjudged a dependent child of the juvenile court is entitled to participate in age-appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, and social activities. Existing law requires a short-term residential therapeutic program or a group home administrator, a facility manager, or their responsible designee, and a caregiver, to use a reasonable and prudent parent standard in determining whether to give permission for a child residing in foster care to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, and social activities. This bill would establish the California Foster Youth Enrichment Grant Pilot Program, to be administered by the State Department of Social Services. The bill would require the department to develop an application for the program and to solicit applications from foster youth. The bill would authorize foster youth to use grant money to participate in various activities to enhance their skills, abilities, self-esteem, or overall well-being. The bill would make those provisions operative upon appropriation by the Legislature.