BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1518 Page 1 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 AB 1518 Page 2 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 AB 1518 Page 3