BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2276
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 30, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 2276 (Bocanegra) - As Amended: April 21, 2014
SUBJECT : Pupils: transfers from juvenile court schools
SUMMARY : Makes a number of changes regarding the transfer of
pupils from juvenile court schools to district schools.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that a pupil who has been enrolled in a juvenile
court school, upon release, shall not be denied immediate
enrollment in a public school for any of the reasons specified
in Education Code Section 48853.5(e)(8)(B), including, but not
limited to, a delay in the transfer of educational records.
2)Encourages local educational agencies (LEAs) to enter into
memoranda of understanding and create joint policies, systems,
including data sharing systems, transition centers, and other
joint structures, create uniform systems for calculating and
awarding course credit, and allow for the immediate enrollment
of pupils transferring from juvenile court schools.
3)Specifies that as part of their existing responsibilities for
coordinating education and services for youth in the juvenile
justice system, the county office of education (COE) and
county probation department shall develop a transition
planning policy that includes collaboration with relevant LEAs
to improve communication regarding dates of release and the
educational needs for pupils who have had contact with the
juvenile justice system, to coordinate immediate school
placement, and to ensure that probation officers in the
community have the information they need to support the return
of pupils who are being transferred from juvenile court
schools to public schools in their communities.
4)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) and
the Board of State and Community Corrections to convene a
statewide group with stakeholders from the community, advocacy
organizations, and education and probation department leaders
to develop a model and study existing successful county
programs for the immediate transfer of educational records,
uniform systems for calculating and awarding credits,
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transition planning, and immediate enrollment of pupils who
are being transferred from juvenile court schools.
5)Requires, on or before January 1, 2016, the statewide group to
report its findings and provide recommendations for state
action to the Legislature and appropriate policy committees.
Requires the report to be submitted consistent with the
procedures for submitting reports to the Legislature. Repeals
the provisions requiring the report on January 1, 2020.
6)Finds and declares that pupils who have had contact with the
juvenile justice system are often denied credit or partial
credit earned during enrollment in juvenile court schools.
Delays in school enrollment and loss of earned credit can
result in improper class or school placement, denial of
special education services, and school dropout.
7)Specifies that the proper and timely transfer between schools
of pupils in foster care is the responsibility of both the
LEA, including the COE for pupils in foster care who are
enrolled in juvenile court schools, and the county placing
agency, which includes the county probation department.
8)Requires, a county placing agency or a county board of
education to contact the appropriate person at the LEA of the
pupil as soon as the county placing agency or county board of
education becomes aware of the need to transfer a pupil in
foster care out of his or her current school. Specifies that
the county placing agency, which includes the county probation
department, is required to notify the LEA of the date that the
pupil will be leaving the school and request that the pupil be
transferred out.
9)Specifies that upon receiving a transfer request from a county
placing agency, which includes the county probation department
or LEA, including the COE for pupils in foster care who are
enrolled in juvenile court schools, the receiving LEA shall,
within two business days, transfer the pupil out of school and
deliver the educational information and records of the pupil
to the next educational placement.
10)Specifies, for the purposes of the provisions regarding pupil
records that a "pupil in foster care" includes, but is not
limited to, a child who has been enrolled in a juvenile court
school.
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11)Specifies, for the purposes of the provisions regarding
courses of study for pupils in grades 7-12, that a "pupil in
foster care" includes, but is not limited to, a child who has
been enrolled in a juvenile court school.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Specifies that public schools or classes in any juvenile hall,
juvenile home, day center, juvenile ranch, juvenile camp,
regional youth educational facility, or Orange County youth
correctional center, or in any group home housing 25 or more
children and operating one or more additional sites under a
central administration, with acceptable school structures at
one or more centrally located sites to serve the single or
composite populations of juvenile court school pupils shall be
known as juvenile court schools. (Education Code (EC)
Section 48645.1)
2)Requires the county board of education to provide for the
administration and operation of juvenile court schools by the
county superintendent of schools or by contract with the
respective governing boards of the elementary, high school, or
unified school district in which the juvenile court school is
located. Authorizes the county superintendent to contract
with the county board of supervisors for the administration
and operation of juvenile court schools if the county board of
supervisors had established or maintained juvenile court
schools on January 1, 1978. (EC Section 48645.2)
3)Specifies that juvenile court schools shall be conducted in a
manner prescribed by the county board of education. Requires
the schoolday to be 240 minutes and prohibits juvenile court
schools from closing on any weekday, except holidays or
inservice days prescribed by the county board of education.
Authorizes the county board of education to adopt and enforce
a course of study that enhances instruction in math and
English language arts and that meet state standards. (EC
Section 48645.3)
4)Prohibits a pupil from being denied enrollment or readmission
to a public school solely on the basis that he or she has had
contact with the juvenile justice system, including, but not
limited to: 1) arrest; 2) adjudication by a juvenile court; 3)
formal or informal supervision by a probation officer; and 4)
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detention for any length of time in a juvenile facility or
enrollment in a juvenile court school. (EC Section 48645.5)
5)Requires a school to which a foster child is transferring to
immediately enroll the pupil even if the foster child has
outstanding fees, fines, textbooks, or other items or moneys
due to the school last attended or is unable to produce
clothing or records normally required for enrollment, such as
previous academic records, medical records, including, but not
limited to, records or other proof of immunization history,
proof of residency, other documentation, or school uniforms.
(EC Section 48853.5)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Need for the bill . According to the author, this
bill clarifies existing law to help ensure that juvenile
justice-involved youth have a successful educational transition
when they return to their local schools, and creates a process
to help promote best practices for this transition. The author
states that school engagement reduces recidivism, and that if a
pupil does not successfully transition back to their local
school, they will likely reoffend and return to confinement;
yet, very little is done to effectively transition youth from
juvenile court schools to local district schools. According to
the author, nationwide, 66 percent of justice-involved youth are
not reenrolled in school after release from custody.
A report by the CDE on students served with Title I, Part D
funds in At-Risk, Neglected, and Juvenile Detention programs
show that of the 60,097 pupils served in juvenile detention in
2010-11, the majority are Latino and African American males
between the ages of 16-18. Of the 60,097 pupils, 12,442 pupils
(21%) were enrolled in their local school within 30 days after
being released.
A 2010 report by the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at
Georgetown University titled "Addressing the Unmet Educational
Needs of Children and Youth in the Juvenile Justice and Child
Welfare Systems" identified an estimated 1.6 million youth who
are referred to juvenile court a year nationally. According to
the report, of those, approximately 24% are charged with
offenses against another person(s), 39% are charged with
property offenses, 12% involve drug-related offenses, and 25%
involve public order offenses. The report found that youth who
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enter the juvenile justice system are often from low-income
families, have learning disabilities, have substance abuse
issues, or have experienced physical or emotional abuse. The
researchers found that "reenrollment of youth in schools
following discharge from a juvenile correctional facility has
been a perennial challenge as schools and school districts have
resisted reenrollment of formerly incarcerated youth."
Juvenile court schools . County boards of education oversee
juvenile court schools, which can be situated in a variety of
settings, including juvenile halls, group homes, ranches, camps,
day centers, or regional youth facilities. The schools are
required to provide incarcerated pupils with an educational
program that meet minimum daily minutes and state standards.
According to the CDE, as of October 2010, there were 83 juvenile
court schools in California.
SB 1088 (Price), Chapter 381, Chapter of 2012, prohibits a pupil
from being denied reenrollment or readmission to a public school
solely on the basis that the pupil had contact with the juvenile
justice system, including, but not limited to: 1) arrest; 2)
adjudication by a juvenile court; 3) formal or informal
supervision by a probation officer; and 4) detention for any
length of time in a juvenile facility or enrollment in a
juvenile court school.
This bill specifies that a pupil released from a juvenile court
school shall not be denied immediate enrollment in a public
school for any of the following reasons: the pupil has
outstanding fees, fines, textbooks, or other items or moneys due
to the school last attended or is unable to produce clothing or
records normally required for enrollment, such as previous
academic records, medical records, including, but not limited
to, records or other proof of immunization history, proof of
residency, other documentation, or school uniforms.
This bill does several things in an effort to bring about
collaboration at the local level. The bill encourages LEAs to
form memoranda of understanding and create joint policies,
systems, transition centers and joint structures in order to
expedite the transfer of educational records, create uniform
systems for calculating and awarding course credit, and allow
for the immediate enrollment of pupils transferring from
juvenile court schools.
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The bill also directs COEs and county probation departments to,
in collaboration with LEAs, develop a transition planning policy
to improve communication regarding a pupil's release from
juvenile court school and the placement in school, while
ensuring that probation officers have the information they need
to support the return of a pupil to school. The National Center
for Youth Law states in a 2007 publication that one of the
barriers to reentry to school is the lack of clear roles and
responsibilities between a correctional facility and the school.
The article states that "lack of clarity among probation
officers, corrections staff, school personnel at the
correctional facility, and community school staff about who has
the responsibility to ensure that school records are timely
transferred from the correctional facility to the community
school often results in avoidable and excessive delays in
enrollment. And the longer a youth upon reentry is out school,
the greater the likelihood that the youth will return to old
patterns in the community."
To develop a statewide perspective and identify model local
programs, the bill directs the SPI and the Board of State and
Community Corrections to convene a statewide group with
stakeholders from the community, advocacy organizations, and
education and probation department, and submit a report to the
Legislature.
The bill specifies the role of COEs in facilitating the transfer
of pupils released from juvenile court schools and clarifies
that "county placing agency" includes county probation
departments. In the provision requiring a LEA to, upon
receiving a transfer request from a county placing agency,
transfer a pupil out of school and deliver the educational
information and records of the pupil to the next educational
placement within two business days, the bill applies the
requirement to a county office of education for pupils in foster
care who are enrolled in juvenile court schools, and requires
the receiving LEA to transfer the pupil out of school and
deliver the educational information and records of the pupil
within two business days. According to the author's office,
this provision is intended to require the expeditious transfer
of pupils and academic records for pupils being transferred from
district schools to the juvenile justice system as well as from
the juvenile justice system to district schools. Staff
recommends a technical amendment to strike "the receiving local
educational agency" and insert "the local educational agency
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receiving the request." The language as currently written may
be construed to mean that the school to which the pupil is being
transferred is required to deliver the educational information
and record.
The bill adds "a child who has been enrolled in a juvenile court
school" in the definition of "foster care youth" in provisions
relating to pupil records and required courses of study for
pupils in grades 7-12. These provisions specify the process for
a timely transfer of foster care pupils and their academic
records between schools, and the process for accepting
coursework and credits completed by foster care pupils.
According to the author's office, this addition in the
definition of foster care youth simply highlights this
population; it is not an expansion of the definition because the
definition already includes a reference to Section 602 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC). WIC Section 602 provides
that any person under 18-years-old who commits a crime is within
the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge the
individual to be a ward of the court. Individuals who are under
the jurisdiction of the juvenile court are likely to be juvenile
court schools. As such, the amendment in the bill adding a
"child who has been enrolled in a juvenile court school" to the
definition of "pupils in foster care" is unnecessary. Without a
review of WIC 602, it can be viewed as expanding the definition
of "pupil in foster care". Staff recommends striking the
amendments expanding the definition of pupil in foster care.
Arguments in support . The Youth Law Center supports the bill
and states, "Unfortunately, we do not have comprehensive data
concerning the educational status of California's juvenile
justice youth. However, there is strong evidence that these
youth encounter the same barriers to continued education. While
detained, youth should be enrolled in California's juvenile
court school system, a system in which we invest millions of
dollars. To capitalize on this investment, assuring that these
youth are immediately enrolled in school and placed in
appropriate educational programs once released should be a
priority for California."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Advancement Project
American Civil Liberties Union of California
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California Alliance for Youth & Community Justice
Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
Children's Defense Fund-California
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California
Labor/Community Strategy Center's Community Rights Campaign
Legal Services for Children
Los Angeles Unified School District
National Center for Youth Law
Public Counsel
Youth Justice Coalition
Youth Law Center
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087