BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1518
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          Date of Hearing:   May 7, 2014

                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                                Joan Buchanan, Chair
                 AB 1518 (Eggman) - As Introduced:  January 16, 2014
           
           [Note:  This bill was double-referred to the Assembly Committee  
          on Veterans' Affairs and was heard by that committee as it  
          relates to issues under its jurisdiction.]
           
          SUBJECT  :   Military:  National Guard:  youth challenge program
           
          SUMMARY  :   Codifies authority for the existing California  
          National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program, and requires certain  
          geographic areas be served subject to funding, as specified.   
          Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)   Requires the Adjutant General of the California National  
               Guard (Adjutant General) to conduct a civilian youth  
               opportunities program pursuant to Section 509 of Title 32  
               of the United States Code and subject to the availability  
               of funding. 

          2)   Directs that the program shall be known as "National Guard  
               Youth ChalleNGe Program," (Program).  

          3)   Mandates that the Program shall consist of at least a  
               22-week residential program and a 12-month post-residential  
               mentoring period.   

          4)   Requires the Program to serve at risk teens in areas of the  
               state, including, but not limited to, the San Joaquin  
               Valley and Northern California.

          5)   States that the Program shall be subject to all of the  
               following:

               (A) The Program shall seek to improve life skills and  
                 employment potential of participants by providing  
                 military-based leadership development, promoting  
                 fellowship and community service, developing life-coping  
                 skills and job skills, improving physical fitness,  
                 providing health and hygiene training, and assisting  
                 participants to receive a high school diploma or its  
                 equivalent.








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               (B) The Adjutant General may accept federal funding to  
                 implement the Program. The Adjutant General may appoint a  
                 director and other service members and employees,  
                 permanent or temporary, to operate the Program.

               (C) The Military Department shall enter into a memorandum  
                 of agreement with an appropriate school district or a  
                 county office of education for the purpose of providing  
                 educational services for students enrolled in the  
                 Program. The school district or county office of  
                 education with which the department contracts shall be  
                 responsible for ensuring compliance with any applicable  
                 requirements imposed by the Education Code.

               1.         Mandates that a new Program, except for the  
                    California Cadet Corps, may only be established as if  
                    funds are appropriated for that purpose.
            
           EXISTING LAW  

          Section 509 of Title 32 of the United States Code provides that  
          the Secretary of Defense may use the National Guard to conduct a  
          civilian youth opportunities program, to be known as the  
          "National Guard Youth Challenge Program", which shall consist of  
          at least a 22-week residential program and a 12-month  
          post-residential mentoring period. 

          Military and Veterans Code section 532 provides that the  
          "?Adjutant General may enter into a cooperative agreement with  
          the governing board of a school district or a county office of  
          education for the purpose of establishing, pursuant to existing  
          statutory authority in the Education Code, a military academy to  
          be operated as a charter school, pursuant to Part 26.8  
          (commencing with Section 47600) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the  
          Education Code, or as one of the existing alternative education  
          options, available under the Education Code. The program would  
          provide a structured, disciplined environment that would be  
          conducive to learning in a college preparatory environment. In  
          additional to academic skills, students would develop  
          leadership, self-esteem, and a strong sense of community. An  
          academy established pursuant to this section shall comply with  
          the Education Code."  

          This section further states that a "?new California National  








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          Guard Youth Program, except for the California Cadet Corps, may  
          only be established as provided by this section if funds are  
          appropriated for purposes of the new program in the annual  
          Budget Act or any other act."

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   This bill is keyed non-fiscal, however, the  
          Assembly Appropriations Committee has requested this bill be  
          referred to them.  If this bill is passed by the Assembly  
          Education Committee, it will be referred to the Committee on  
          Appropriations to consider the fiscal implications.

           COMMENTS  :   This bill codifies in state law the requirement that  
          the Adjutant General conduct a Program in California subject to  
          funding.  There are two existing Programs already being so  
          conducted in California, the Grizzly Youth ChalleNGe Academy,  
          located near San Luis Obispo and the Sunburst Youth Challenge  
          Academy located in Los Alamitos, California.  These programs  
          serve students from all over California, but National Guard  
          staff state that many parents and students prefer not to be  
          extremely distant from one another.   This bill  requires that  
          Programs serve students in all areas of the state but also  
          specifically in the San Joaquin Valley and Northern California. 

          The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program is a national  
          program.  The program, an intensive residential and mentoring  
          program for high school dropouts ages 16-18, currently operates  
          in 27 states and Puerto Rico.   The ChalleNGe program is  
          authorized and funded through the Department of Defense, with  
          management and oversight from the National Guard Bureau.  The  
          federal ChalleNGe  program provides federal matching funds at 75  
          percent of the program cost to the implementing state.

          Program participants, called cadets, are housed together, often  
          on a National Guard base or at a training center, for the first  
          22 weeks of the Program. During these weeks, the program  
          immerses cadets in a quasi-military environment in which they  
          focus on discipline, academic excellence, teamwork, physical  
          fitness, leadership, and service to the community. 

          The program encourages cadets to obtain a GED and to seek  
          further education and training or employment during the one-year  
          post-residential phase of the program. Individuals ages 16-18  
          who have dropped out or been expelled from high school and are  
          U.S. citizens or legal residents, un- or underemployed, drug  
          free, physically and mentally capable of participating in the  








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          program, and have either no police record or a police record  
          limited to juvenile status offenses are eligible to apply for  
          admission to a program in their state of residence.

          A report released by the California Department of Education in  
          2009 shows that over a lifetime, high school dropouts have  
          increased dependence on public assistance, lower earnings,  
          poorer health, and higher rates of unemployment, mortality,  
          criminal behavior, and incarceration. According to the  
          California Research Project, all these factors generate  
          substantial economic losses to the nation, state, and local  
          communities. 

          A 2009 National Labor Market study reported that California has  
          714,000 dropouts between the ages of 16-24 and is ranked the 6th  
          worst in the nation. This crisis gained presidential attention  
          in March of 2009 when President Barrack Obama stated "My budget  
          invests in developing new efforts to give dropouts who want to  
          return to school the help they need to graduate; and new ways to  
          put those young men and women who have left school back on a  
          pathway to graduation."  (President Barack Obama, March 10,  
          2009.)

          According to the author:

               The high school dropout rate in San Joaquin County is  
               15.4%, exceeding the statewide average of 13.1%. There is a  
               strong correlation between dropout rates and violent crime,  
               and San Joaquin County also leads the state's other  
               counties in youth and young adult homicides, with a per  
               capita rate nearly three times California's overall rate.

          In 2012 the RAND Corporation published, A Cost-Benefit Analysis  
          of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program.  RAND determined  
          the Youth ChalleNGe Program is extremely cost effective, with a  
          return on investment of $2.66 for every dollar spent.

          The two existing Programs are limited to graduating 750-800  
          students annually.  As a result, these Programs must turn down  
          more than 800 otherwise qualified candidates out of the more  
          than 1,600 who apply each year.  There is thus documented demand  
          for the Programs far in excess of existing capacity.

          With more than 100,000 California high school students dropping  
          out each year, adding a third Program would continue the  








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          investment of serving California's high risk youth population.  

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   
           
          Support 
           None received

           Opposition 
           None received
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087