BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 951
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Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 951 (Medina) - As Amended: April 10, 2013
SUBJECT : Educational Rights of Homeless Children
SUMMARY : Requires local educational agencies (LEAs) to take
specified actions relating to homeless children and youth in
accordance with the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance
Improvements Act of 2001 (McKinney-Vento Homeless Act).
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires LEAs, upon designation of a liaison for homeless
children and youth (liaison) pursuant to the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Act, to ensure the liaison is properly trained
regarding the rights of homeless children and youth to receive
educational services.
2)Requires the liaison to provide notice to homeless families,
at schools and in the greater community, of the educational
rights of homeless children and youth.
3)Requires the liaison to facilitate access of homeless children
and youth and their families to school services including, but
not limited to, transportation services.
4)Makes annual training of a school's administrators,
certificated staff, and classified staff regarding the
educational rights of homeless children and youth a condition
of receiving a grant under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines "homeless children and youth" as individuals who lack
a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. This
definition also includes:
A) Children and youth who are sharing the housing of other
persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a
similar reason;
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B) Children who may be living in motels, hotels, trailer
parks, shelters, or awaiting foster care placement;
C) Children and youth who have a primary nighttime
residence that is a public or private place not designed
for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping
accommodation for human beings;
D) Children and youth who are living in cars, parks, public
spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or
train stations, or similar settings, or;
E) Migratory children who qualify as homeless because they
are children who are living in similar circumstances to
those listed above.
1)Specifies the purpose of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act is to
ensure that homeless children and youth have access to the
education and other services that they need so that they may
have the same opportunities to meet the same challenging State
student academic achievement standards to which all students
are held.
2)Makes many of the provisions of the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Act applicable to all LEAs, regardless of whether the LEA
receives additional grant monies through the program.
3)Requires, as a condition of receiving grant monies under the
McKinney-Vento Homeless Act, each LEA to identify a liaison.
This liaison with the duty to ensure that homeless children
and youth are identified by school personnel and, through
coordination activities with other entities and agencies, that
homeless children and youth enroll in, and have a full and
equal opportunity to succeed in, schools of that LEA.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author, national data suggests that
between 1.6 and 2.8 million youth leave their homes each year,
generally due to severe dysfunction in their families such as
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abuse, neglect, and other circumstances that put their safety
and well-being at risk. Over 50 percent of youth in shelters and
on the streets have reported that their parents either told them
to leave or knew they were leaving but did not care. These youth
end up in a variety of temporary situations such as sharing the
housing of friends or relatives ("couch-surfing"), living in an
emergency shelter or transitional living program, living in a
car or campground, or staying in a park, abandoned building,
train or bus station, under a bridge, or in another public
place.
Homelessness places youth at extreme risk of victimization and
violence. Crowded living situations and exposure to the elements
lead to higher rates of illness, and the mental and emotional
stress of homelessness leads to increased risks of substance
abuse, depression, and even suicide.
California reported 248,904 homeless children and youth enrolled
in school in the 2011-12 school year. However, the number of
homeless students in the state is undoubtedly larger. Many
schools have reported homeless students in the single digits. In
some cases, school districts that are located next to each other
report vast discrepancies in the number of homeless students
enrolled. During the 2012-13 fiscal year, 82 LEAs received grant
money under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act in amounts ranging
from $220 to $24,308. Yet, in an independent survey conducted
by the California Research Bureau, three quarters of
California's homeless youth were not in school. Most of the 54
youth surveyed were between 17 and 24, yet only six had
graduated from high school or attained a GED. At the same time,
a majority of California youth surveyed expressed the desire to
return to school and had life goals (such as becoming a teacher,
social worker, or working in the medical field) that require
extensive education to achieve.
Factors that contribute to schools not identifying homeless
students may include inadequate training on data collection and
inadequate training on McKinney-Vento Homeless Act requirements.
School personnel may not interview enrolling students
appropriately to solicit information about potential
homelessness. Further, legitimate privacy issues may impede
accurate data collection, as many homeless youth hesitate to
disclose their living situations or may request that counselors
or teachers not share information about their living situations.
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An unintended consequence of inadequate training may lead to
school personnel failing to provide homeless students with the
services to which they are entitled.
In order to serve those youth who are not enrolled in school,
homeless liaisons and other service providers emphasize that any
dropout recovery program must include hands-on outreach in the
community by adults who are trained in effective communication
with homeless youth, the challenges and needs of this population
and responsive services and activities that schools can provide.
These providers must be prepared to meet young people where they
are physically and emotionally and must be equipped to respond
to their most urgent needs immediately, either through resources
at school or collaborations within the community.
Increased training within LEAs via the liaison would enhance
compliance with the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act by making sure
that information is extended to all administrators, certificated
staff, and classified staff on how to reach out, identify, and
assist homeless children and youth. Information offered on
statewide procedures for enrolling homeless youth and
determining educational decision-making for them would help
schools implement a student's enrollment and participation.
Pending Legislation: AB 1068 (Bloom), pending in Assembly
Appropriations Committee, restricts the release of directory
information for pupils who are identified as a homeless child or
youth and allows access of pupil records to specified
individuals for those pupils who are identified as homeless.
This measure passed out of the Assembly Education Committee by a
vote of 7-0.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Coalition for Youth
California Federation of Teachers
California Teachers Association
Children Now
Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH)
Junior League of California
National Association of Social Workers - California Chapter
Opposition
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087