BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 409
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Date of Hearing: April 9, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Das Williams, Chair
AB 409 (Quirk-Silva) - As Amended: April 2, 2013
SUBJECT : Student veterans: services.
SUMMARY : Requires the California State University (CSU) and
the California Community Colleges (CCC) to convene a task force
to evaluate and report to the Governor and the Legislature how
best to serve the transitional needs of postsecondary student
veterans, as specified, and encourages the University of
California (UC) to participate in the task force. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires the CSU and the CCC, on or before June 30, 2014, to
convene a task force in order to develop a report for the
Governor and the Legislature relating to student veterans'
transition to postsecondary education and encourages the UC to
participate.
2)Specifies that the task force shall address specific issues
related to student veterans' transition to postsecondary
education, including, but not limited to, all of the
following:
a) Reviewing the best practices for meeting the needs of
student veterans and ensuring that all campuses offer
veterans' counseling services;
b) Evaluating how the campuses of the UC, CSU, and the CCC
currently assist student veterans in understanding the
effects of postwar stress, posttraumatic stress disorder,
and traumatic brain injuries;
c) Evaluating the existing resources offered by the
segments for veterans and ways to ensure that veterans are
aware of the resources; and,
d) Assessing whether additional services for veterans are
needed, such an online course addressing postwar effects on
veterans.
3)Specifies the final report of the task force shall be
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completed and distributed to the Governor and the Legislature
on or before January 10, 2015.
4)Requires CCC districts to be reimbursed for costs if the
Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains
costs mandated by the state.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the CSU and the CCC and encourages the UC to
coordinate services for qualified students who are veterans or
members of the military by clearly designating Military and
Veterans Offices and individuals to provide specified services
to qualified students. Current law defines "qualified
student" as a student who is any of the following: an active
duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States, the
California National Guard, a reserve component of the Armed
Forces of the Unites States, a veteran of the Armed Forces of
the United States, and/or a family member of a person (as
described above) who is a legal dependent under 28 years of
age or living in the household of that person and eligible to
be claimed as a dependent on federal or state tax returns
(Education Code [EC] � 69785).
2)Requests the UC, CSU, the CCC to report annually to the
California Department of Veterans Affairs the number of
qualified students assisted by a Military and Veterans Office;
the number of qualified students assisted who are active duty
members of the Armed Forces of the United States, the
California National Guard, or a reserve component of the Armed
Forces of the United States, or are veterans of the Armed
Forces of the United States; and the total education benefits
by all qualified students assisted by an office (EC � 69786).
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill is double-referred to the Assembly
Veterans Affairs Committee.
Background . According to a recent survey by the National Center
for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah, veteran students
are six times more likely to attempt suicide than the general
student population. Nearly 50% of the 525 veteran students
surveyed reported having had suicidal thoughts some time in
their lives. Twenty percent of these veteran students said they
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had suicidal thoughts with a plan; this is a rate three times
higher than general college students who seriously considered
suicide. Experts in this field agree that suicidal thinking
with a plan is considered a very severe suicidal risk. The
majority of individuals with serious suicide risks deal with
posttraumatic stress symptoms such as: significant anxiety,
intrusive thoughts, sleep disturbances, and recurrent images
from combat.
According to the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder (Center), last year, nationwide over 660,000
undergraduate students were veterans, constituting about 3% of
all undergraduates. Additionally, last year, approximately
215,000 undergraduate students were military service members on
active duty or in the reserves, constituting about 1% of all
undergraduates. Increasing numbers of military service members
are using Government Issued (GI) education benefits for
postsecondary education. The Center reports that approximately
40% of military service members used their veteran education
benefits in 2007-2008.
Need for the bill . According to the author's office, the CSU
and the CCC have on-campus Veterans' Centers that provide
assistance to prospective and enrolled veteran students on
accessing their state and federal educational and GI benefits
(housing, tuition, books, etc.), as well as completing the
admission application process. Additionally, student veterans
receive aid on the evaluation of their military transcripts.
The author contends that some institutions offer additional
services to help students on the transition back to school or
students who are entering college for the first time, but that
it appears as if some of the campuses could improve on offering
specific services to student veterans.
The author believes this measure is a step in the right
direction in continuing to ensure that all veteran students have
their specific needs met as they endeavor to earn a
postsecondary education.
Segment Policies .
1)The UC total enrollment of veteran students was 958 in
2011-2012. Even though they have a relatively small
population of veteran students, individual campuses have and
continue to develop programs and practices such as special
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orientations, priority campus housing, and mental health
counseling services for veterans students.
2)The CSU enrolled 11,577 student veterans (including 6,250
active duty and 5,327 dependents) in the fall of 2010,
representing 2.8% of the CSU student body. The CSU Student
Veteran Research Project in the spring of 2011, reviewed the
23 campuses veteran services offerings and released several
recommendations aimed at increasing access and success among
veteran students. The recommendations included employing at
least one full-time point person on a campus to coordinate
veterans' services, identifying key data points and tracking
data to evaluate success, strategies, and policies, and
providing student leadership opportunities and designated
multipurpose space for veteran students.
3)The CCC serves the majority of veteran students in California
and according to the CCC Chancellor's Office (CCCCO), in
2009-2010 academic year, 36,896 veterans utilized education
benefits at a CCC, a 40.8% growth since 2008-09. While the
level of support for veterans varies throughout the CCC
system, the number of veteran students attending has led the
CCCCO and many individual districts to look to expand support
services for this growing population.
The CCCCO has also (1) organized a regional representation
structure and hosts regular meetings to identify student
veteran needs and share innovative ideas across the system,
(2) established a systemwide email list to communicate
strategies relating to veterans services to the 112 campuses,
and (3) redesigned its veterans' web page to better support
colleges. Additionally, the CCCCO is engaged in several
projects to expand services to veterans.
Previous legislation . SB 1375 (Alquist) of 2012, which died in
the Senate Education Committee, encouraged the CCC, the CSU and
the UC to offer on-campus counseling services for student
veterans by utilizing the resources of existing campus military
and veterans offices.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Legion - Department of California
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AMVETS - Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
California State Commanders Veterans Council
National Association of Social Workers - California Chapter
VFW - Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of America - California State Council
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960