BILL ANALYSIS AB 1933 Page A Date of Hearing: March 24, 2010 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Julia Brownley, Chair AB 1933 (Brownley) - As Introduced: February 17, 2010 [This bill is double referred and will be heard by the Assembly Human Services Committee as it relates to the issues under its jurisdiction.] SUBJECT : Foster children: education SUMMARY : Requires a local educational agency (LEA) to allow a child in foster care to remain in his or her school of origin for the duration of the court's jurisdiction. Specifically, this bill : 1)Requires a LEA, at the initial detention or any subsequent change in placement of a foster child, to allow that child to remain in his or her school of origin for the duration of the court's jurisdiction, rather than for the duration of the academic school year. 2)Provides that a LEA shall allow a child in foster care that remains in his or her school of origin, following initial detention or following a change in placement, to attend the secondary schools designated for matriculation in accordance with the established feeder patterns of the school district when that child is transitioning between school grade levels. 3)Stipulates that if jurisdiction of the court has terminated prior to the end of an academic school year, that a child shall be allowed to remain in his or her school of origin for the duration of the academic school year. EXISTING LAW: 1)Allows a foster child to remain in his or her school of origin for the duration of the school year when his or her residential placement changes and when remaining in the same school is in the child's best interest. 2)Requires that case plans for children in the child welfare system promote educational stability by taking into consideration proximity to the child's school attendance area AB 1933 Page B in selecting the most appropriate home that will meet the child's special needs and best interests. 3)Requires each LEA to designate a staff person as the educational liaison for foster children to ensure and facilitate the proper educational placement, enrollment in school, and checkout from school of foster children, and to assist foster children when transferring from one school to another or from one school district to another in ensuring proper transfer of credits, records, and grades. 4)Provides that the foster youth liaison, in consultation with and the agreement of the foster child and the person holding the right to make educational decisions for the foster child may, in accordance with the foster child's best interests, recommend that the foster child's right to attend the school of origin be waived and that the foster child be enrolled in any public school that pupils living in the attendance area in which the foster child resides are eligible to attend. 5)Specifies that prior to making any recommendation to move a foster child from his or her school of origin, the foster youth liaison shall provide the foster child and the person holding the right to make educational decisions for the foster child with a written explanation stating the basis for the recommendation and how this recommendation serves the foster child's best interest. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : Placement in foster care or changes in placement while in foster care often result in school changes for foster children, and these school changes are disruptive to the educational achievement of these children. As a 2009 research synthesis on school mobility points out, "School mobility can contribute to low school performance and related difficulties because it introduces discontinuities in learning environments that alter or weaken instructional, school, and peer ecologies. Subject-matter curricula and expectations in the classroom can differ dramatically across schools, which in addition to the process of adjustment itself, can adversely affect learning. AB 1933 Page C This often carries over to learning in the classroom."<1> Research supports that students who change schools frequently are affected psychologically, socially and academically from changing schools and that mobile students also face greater risk of declines in academic achievement. Every time a child is moved to a new school, he or she loses four to six moths of educational attainment.<2> Furthermore, a 1999 study by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley found that high school students who changed schools even once were less than half as likely to graduate even when controlling for other variables that affect high school completion.<3> Prior legislative efforts have sought to address issues of school stability for foster children. As a result of AB 490 (Chapter 862, Statutes of 2003), current law allows a foster child to remain in his or her school of origin for the duration of the school year when his or her residential placement changes and when staying in their school of origin is in the best interest of the child. Current law also provides that all decisions regarding educational placements for children in foster care should be made in the best interest of the child. Additionally, recent federal law, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (H.R. 6893/P.L. 110-351) requires state child welfare agencies to improve educational stability for children in foster care. The federal law requires child welfare agencies to coordinate with local education agencies to ensure children remain in the school in which they are enrolled at the time of placement into foster care, unless it is not in the child's best interests. The Fostering Connections Act also provides some assistance with transportation costs to assist children in remaining in their original schools. This bill, consistent with the Fostering Connections Act, ensures foster children can remain in their school of origin for the duration of the court's jurisdiction. In addition, because current law allows a foster child to remain in his or her school of origin only for the duration of a school --------------------------- <1> Arthur J. Reynolds, Chin-Chih Chen, and Janette E. Herbers. School Mobility and Educational Success: A Research Synthesis and Evidence on Prevention. University of Minnesota: 2009 <2> Homeless in America: A Children's Story- Part One. Homes for the Homeless and Institute for Children and Poverty. 1999. <3> A Road Map for Learning: Improving Educational Outcomes in Foster Care. Casey Family Programs. 2004. AB 1933 Page D year, that child may not be allowed to attend the corresponding secondary schools which other children in that school attend and thus remain in the attendance area of their school of origin. AB 1933 would give foster children the opportunity to matriculate from one grade level to the next with their peers. Lastly, this bill gives children for whom the court's jurisdiction ends prior to the end of the school year, the ability to remain in the school of origin for the remainder of that school year. This provision is intended to allow children that are reunified or adopted the opportunity to also have some stability in educational placement, in acknowledgement that children who are returned home also experience a move that can often times be disruptive. Suggested amendment : It has been noted that there are cases in which a child returns home but the court's jurisdiction is not dismissed, and in those cases some might argue that the child would cease being a "foster" child. The language in current statute could be interpreted to require that the child must be a "foster child" (i.e. currently placed out of home) to have the right to the stability of a school placement provided by current law and by this bill. To address this issue, staff recommends the following amendment on page 2 lines 3-9: 48853.5. (a) This section applies toanyafosterchild who has been removed from his or her home pursuant to Section 309 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, is the subject of a petition filed under Section 300 or 602 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or has been removed from his or her home and is the subject of a petition filed under Section 300 or 602 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, hereinafter "foster child." Arguments in Support : Public Counsel writes, "The law currently provides for school stability for the duration of each individual school year or longer, if it is in the child's best interest. Unfortunately, existing law does not ensure that youth will attend school with their peers as they progress through school levels; it has also been read by some as limiting a foster youth's ability to stay at a school only until the end of the academic school year, even if it is in their best interest to stay longer. This means that the problems stemming from school placement change are merely delayed until the child is next uprooted from his or her school." AB 1933 Page E The California Court Appointed Special Advocates Association writes, "AB 1933 gives children- and those that care about them- the option to keep the child in the school of origin until the case stabilizes, and therefore not mandating a change in schools until it makes sense to do so. This will give the child a chance to make and maintain lasting connections with peers, teachers, coaches, counselors, and others met through school. It is these connections to caring individuals that really makes the difference." Related legislation : SB 1353 (Wright) indicates that the "best interests of the child" includes, but is not limited to, minimal disruptions to school attendance and educational stability, as specified. Requires the foster youth liaison to consult with the county placing agency in making school transfer decisions for pupils in foster care and require that minimal educational disruption result from the transfer in order for a transfer to take place. Requires a child's case plan contain assurances that all efforts are made to eliminate or reduce the need for transfer from the school of origin during the academic year, semester, or term of instruction when a foster child's placement is changed. SB 1353 is pending in the Senate Education Committee. Previous legislation : AB 1067 (Brownley) of 2009, conforms state law to federal law intended to ensure educational stability for children in foster care, including requiring local education agencies to allow foster children to remain in the school in which they were enrolled at the time of foster care placement and requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to take all reasonable actions to maximize eligibility for available federal funding for reasonable travel costs for children in foster care, in accord with federal law. AB 1067 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. AB 490 (Steinberg), Chapter 862, Statutes of 2003, created new duties and rights related to the education of dependents and wards in foster care, including giving foster youth the right to remain in their school of origin for the duration of the school year when their residential placement changes and remaining in the same school is in the child's best interest. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : AB 1933 Page F Support Alliance for Children's Rights Angel's Flight At Risk Youth Services California Alliance for Child and Family Services California Court Appointed Special Advocates Association California Rural Legal Assistance California State PTA California Youth Connection Children's Advocacy Institute Common Ground Compton Unified School District Families in Schools Learning Rights Law Center My Friend's Place National Center for Youth Law Public Counsel United Friends of the Children Youth Law Center Individuals Opposition None on file. Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi?a / ED. / (916) 319-2087