Your Rights, Records, & the Courts

As you become an adult, there are many issues surrounding legal matters that you experienced as a minor. If you are a foster youth, when you become emancipated, you have legal rights that other teenagers do not have. You also have new responsibilities that most teenagers do not have to worry about. You should weigh these rights and responsibilities carefully as you think about emancipation.

If you are currently in foster care, you may be aware of some of the many legislative acts which have been enacted in an effort to improve the system, among them AB 705 (requiring that siblings removed from their homes be placed together when appropriate), AB 899 ( requires Social Workers to inform foster youth every six months of their rights in the system), and AB 408, which eases restrictions so that foster youth can "...participate in age-appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, and social activities...". Click on the top link of the column to the right, entitled Current Legislation Affecting You, to learn more about this important Assembly Bill.