We are writing to you in support of SB 68 (Minor Parents: Reunification Services). In most cases of Child Protective Services intervention (child removal due to maltreatment, abuse or neglect), the parent(s) will have an opportunity to regain custody through court-allocated reunification services. This important bill provides valuable support for dependent teen parents in the California foster care system and will allow for an additional six months of reunification services for those parents that show significant improvement and progress towards family reunification.

Currently, the State recognizes and considers barriers to successful family reunification for incarcerated parents, immigrant parents and parents in substance abuse treatment programs, and has increased the time period of reunification for these families. Similarly, minor parents also experience legal and systematic barriers that impede family reunification. Major obstacles include finding the means to navigate all court orders while at the same time trying to balance: education, unemployment, child care, housing, financial burdens and other challenges experienced by teen parents.

Hence, SB 68 will require the courts to recognize these barriers, protect these families and enhance the reunification process for children and their minor parents, giving them their greatest opportunity to succeed at reunifying their family.

Moreover, it is estimated that maintaining a child in foster care with all the ancillary services is approximately $44,000 per child per year. For that reason, it’s important to support SB 68 because the bill will support reunification and therefore, save the state and counties money while keeping families together.

Thank you for all your effort to improve children’s lives in California.

Sincerely,

CSUN Advocacy Coalition