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California bills · 2025-2026 Regular Session

California AB 896

Foster care: placement transition planning.

  1. Introduced
  2. In committee
  3. Passed House
  4. Passed Senate
  5. To Governor
  6. Became law

Sponsors

Cosponsors (1)

Summary

Official abstract published by the California legislature· summary

Existing law generally provides for the placement of foster youth in various placement settings. Existing law requires, prior to making a change in the placement of a dependent child, a social worker or probation officer to develop and implement a placement preservation strategy to preserve the dependent child's placement. This bill would, among other things, require each county child welfare agency to adopt a placement transition planning policy for supporting foster children who are transitioning between placement settings and who are transitioning from foster care to reunification, and requires that the policy ensures that foster children are provided the opportunity to provide input on their placement transition and provides guidance to social workers for obtaining input and sharing information in placement transition planning. The bill would require, if a child's placement cannot be preserved, the social worker to ensure that there is appropriate placement transition planning, consistent with the county's adopted policy. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to issue guidance to county child welfare agencies to describe best practices and strategies for successful placement transition planning, and would require county child welfare agencies to submit to the department its placement transition planning policy, as specified. By imposing new duties on counties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Text versions

Roll-call votes

State vote data last updated Oct 16, 2026, 8:06 PM.

DateVoteResultYour legislators
Sep 12, 2025
House		AB 896 Elhawary Concurrence in Senate AmendmentspassSet your home in California to see
Sep 11, 2025
Senate		Special Consent AB896 Elhawary et al. By AshbypassSet your home in California to see
Aug 29, 2025
Senate		Do pass as amendedpassSet your home in California to see
Jun 30, 2025
Senate		Placed on suspense filepassSet your home in California to see
Jun 16, 2025
Senate		Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent CalendarpassSet your home in California to see
May 15, 2025
House		AB 896 Elhawary Consent Calendar Second DaypassSet your home in California to see
May 7, 2025
House		Do pass. To Consent Calendar.passSet your home in California to see
Apr 29, 2025
House		Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent CalendarpassSet your home in California to see

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