Full-Time School
California adoption aid could last until 19 for some teens
AB 2769 creates a fourth eligibility category for older teens who were already in full-time school or training before turning 18. The bill keeps the current age rules in place for everyone else.
The bill would extend adoption assistance for a narrow group of California teens as they finish school or job training. Available vote records show the measure advanced without recorded no votes.
- Some adopted 18-year-olds could keep aid while they finish school or training.
- The new eligibility path is limited to agreements that began before age 16.
- Coverage would end at 19 or when the program ends, whichever comes first.
- Existing AAP age rules would stay in place for other children and teens.
- A narrow group of adopted 18-year-olds in California could keep receiving adoption assistance after they reach adulthood if they are still in school or approved vocational training
A narrow group of adopted 18-year-olds in California could keep receiving adoption assistance after they reach adulthood if they are still in school or approved vocational training. AB 2769 would add a fourth eligibility lane to the state’s Adoption Assistance Program, which is meant to help provide the stability and security of permanent homes.
The bill is aimed at teens who are not yet fully self-supporting but also should not lose help the moment they turn 18. It would keep support in place while they finish high school, an equivalent vocational or technical program, or work toward a high school equivalency certificate.
The extra year
The added coverage would apply only if the adoption assistance agreement took effect before the young person’s 16th birthday. The teen would also have to have been in full-time school or training before turning 18, continue that attendance, keep living with the adoptive parent and remain otherwise eligible.
Benefits would last until the program ends or the teen turns 19, whichever comes first. That gives families a little more runway through the stretch between legal adulthood and real financial independence.
Built on an existing program
AB 2769 does not replace the program’s current age rules. California already covers children under 18, some people under 21 with a mental or physical handicap, and some older teens who met other conditions before age 16.
Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens authored the bill, with Assemblymember Steve Bennett as coauthor. The measure also amends Welfare and Institutions Code Sections 16120 and 16123.