Foster care supplement.

Assembly Member Dixon's foster care legislation introduces inflation adjustments to supplemental payments provided when children live with parents receiving state assistance. Beginning July 1, 2026, the current $489 monthly supplement paid to foster care providers on behalf of parents receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC), Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP), or Approved Relative Caregiver (ARC) benefits will be adjusted according to the California Necessities Index.

The measure maintains the existing framework of foster care payment rates while adding this new adjustment mechanism specifically for the supplemental amount. Counties administering these programs must implement the revised calculation method, though their obligation extends only to the level of state funding provided through the annual Budget Act. The supplement remains contingent on budget appropriations, with the inflation adjustment applying to the base amount established in 2016.

This modification to Section 11465 of the Welfare and Institutions Code operates alongside other payment provisions for special circumstances, such as teen parents and expectant parents, which continue unchanged. The bill's administrative provisions specify that while it creates a state-mandated local program, counties are only required to provide services at the level for which state funding is available.