BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1518
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          Date of Hearing:   May 14, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                 AB 1518 (Eggman) - As Introduced:  January 16, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                              Veterans  
          AffairsVote: 9-0
                         Education                                     7-0

          Urgency:     NO                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill authorizes the Adjutant General of the California  
          Military Department to establish a National Guard Youth  
          ChalleNGe Program in northern California, subject to an  
          appropriation. Specifically, this bill:

          1)Requires the program to consist of at least a 22-week  
            residential program and a 12-month post-residential mentoring  
            period to serve at-risk teens in areas of the state,  
            including, but not limited to, the San Joaquin Valley and  
            Northern California.

          2)States the program is designed to improve life skills and  
            employment potential 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  
            helping participants gain a high school diploma or equivalent.

          3)Specifies the Military Department shall enter into a  
            memorandum of agreement with an appropriate school district or  
            a county office of education to provide 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.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Annual GF cost of about $1.5 million, assuming a program similar  








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          in size to the existing programs (about 750 students). Federal  
          funding would account for about $4.5 million for the balance of  
          the program. The educational component of the program is  
          supported by local school districts and/or the County Office of  
          Education via existing K-12 average daily attendance.  

          Current law specifies a new program may only be established if  
          funds are appropriated for this purpose. This bill is keyed  
          nonfiscal.

          The Assembly has added this project to the 2014-15 budget bill.  
          The Senate has not. 

           COMMENTS  
           
          Rationale  . The author references existing Youth ChalleNGe  
          programs in central California (Camp San Luis Obispo) and  
          southern California (Los Alamitos, Orange County) and cites a  
          2012 RAND study, A Cost-benefit Analysis of the National Guard  
          Youth Challenge Program, which concluded:

             a)   Admission to the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program,  
               an intensive residential and mentoring program for high  
               school dropouts ages 16-18, is projected to increase the  
               present discounted lifetime earnings of ChalleNGe admittees  
               by $43,514 ($2010).

             b)   ChalleNGe admission generates labor market earnings and  
               other benefits of $2.66 for every dollar expended on the  
               program and an estimated return on investment of 166  
               percent.

             c)   This cost-benefit analysis supports public investment in  
               the program as currently operated and targeted.

            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."



           Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 








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