BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                                                                  AB 1933
                                                                  Page A
          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 1933 (Brownley)
          As Amended  August 20, 2010
          Majority vote
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |ASSEMBLY:  |74-0 |(May 6, 2010)   |SENATE: |35-0 |(August 24,    |
          |           |     |                |        |     |2010)          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
            
           Original Committee Reference:    ED.  

           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. 

          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. 

          4)Specifies that the provisions in paragraphs 2 and 3 noted  
            above, shall not be construed to require a school district to  
            provide transportation services to allow a child to attend a  
            school or school district, unless required by federal law and  
            further specifies that this language should not be construed  
            to prohibit a district from, at its discretion, providing  
            transportation services.

          5)Expresses the intent of the Legislature that the provisions of  
            this bill shall not supersede or exceed other laws governing  
            special education services for eligible foster children. 









                                                                  AB 1933
                                                                  Page B

           The Senate amendments:

           1)Stipulate that the specified provisions shall not be construed  
            to require a school district to provide transportation  
            services to allow a child to attend a school or school  
            district, unless otherwise required by federal law and specify  
            that this language should not be construed to prohibit a  
            district from, at its discretion, providing transportation.

          2)Express the intent of the Legislature that the provisions of  
            this bill shall not supersede or exceed other laws governing  
            special education services for eligible foster children. 

           AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY  , this bill was substantially similar  
          to the version passed by the Senate.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Senate Appropriations  
          Committee, likely minor costs. 

           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 their  
          educational achievement.  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.  
          This often carries over to learning in the classroom."<1>

          Recent federal law, the Fostering Connections to Success and  
          Increasing Adoptions Act (H.R. 6893/P.L. 110-351) (Fostering  
          Connections Act) 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  

          ---------------------------
          <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  








                                                                  AB 1933
                                                                  Page C
          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 as long as they are under the jurisdiction  
          of the court.  

          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  
          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.

           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 the school of origin for the duration of the school  
          year when the residential placement changes and remaining in the  
          same school is in the youth's best interest.  

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Marisol Avina / ED. / (916) 319-2087 

                                                               FN: 0006623