BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 177
AUTHOR: Liu
INTRODUCED: February 6, 2013
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 3, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber
NOTE : This bill has been referred to the Committees on
Education and
Human Services. A "do pass" motion should include
referral to the
Committee on Human Services.
SUBJECT : Homeless Youth Education Success Act.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Education and
Department of Social Services to convene a workgroup
regarding the educational support of homeless youth, and
restates federal law regarding the immediate enrollment of
homeless youth and posting of the educational rights of
homeless youth.
BACKGROUND
The federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Children and Youths
Program requires state educational agencies to ensure that
homeless children and youth have equal access to the same
free public education as is provided to other children and
youth. States are required to review and undertake steps
to revise any laws, regulations, practices, or policies
that may act as barriers to the enrollment, attendance, or
success in school of homeless children and youth.
(United States Code, Title 42, § 11431 et seq.)
The McKinney-Vento Act requires each local educational
agency to designate a staff person as a liaison for
homeless children and youth, and carry out specific duties,
such as ensuring immediate enrollment, access to
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educational opportunities offered to other students, and
providing notice of the rights of homeless youth. (42 USC
§ 11432(g)(1)(j)(ii))
Current state law generally mirrors the federal
McKinney-Vento Act. State law relative to evidence of
residency prohibits those provisions from being construed
as limiting access to pupil enrollment in a school district
as otherwise provided by law, including immediate
enrollment and attendance guaranteed to a homeless child or
youth without any proof of residency or other
documentation.
(Education Code § 48204.1)
Current state law, consistent with the McKinney-Vento Act,
prohibits schools from requiring proof of residency of a
parent of an unaccompanied youth, and requires schools to
accept a declaration of residency executed by the
unaccompanied youth in lieu of a declaration of residency
executed by his or her parent or legal guardian. (EC §
48204.1)
Current law requires that a foster child who changes
residences pursuant to a court order or decision of a child
welfare worker to be immediately deemed to meet all
residency requirements for participation in interscholastic
sports or other extracurricular activities. Current law
also requires educators, county placing agencies, care
providers, advocates, and the juvenile courts to work
together to maintain stable school placement and to ensure
that each pupil who is in foster care, or who is homeless,
is placed in the least restrictive educational programs,
and has access to the academic resources, services, and
extracurricular and enrichment activities that are
available to all pupils, including interscholastic sports
administered by the California Interscholastic Federation.
(EC § 48850)
ANALYSIS
This bill requires the Department of Education and
Department of Social Services to convene a workgroup
regarding the educational support of homeless youth, and
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restates federal law regarding the immediate enrollment of
homeless youth and posting of the educational rights of
homeless youth. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires the California Department of Education (CDE)
and the Department of Social Services to convene a
workgroup to adopt policies and practices to support
homeless children and youths and to ensure that child
abuse and neglect reporting requirements do not create
barriers to the school enrollment and attendance of
homeless children or youth, including but not limited
to, ensuring that a student who is a homeless child or
youth is not reported to law enforcement by school
personnel if the sole reason for the report is the
student's homelessness.
2) Restates the federal requirement that the local
educational agency (LEA) liaison for homeless children
and youths ensure that public notice of the
educational rights of homeless children and youths is
disseminated in schools within the liaison's LEA that
provide services pursuant to the federal
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
3) Extends to homeless children or youths the existing
requirements specific to foster youth that requires
those students be immediately deemed to meet all
residency requirements for participation in
interscholastic sports or other extracurricular
activities.
4) References the federal definition of "homeless child
or youth" and "homeless children and youths."
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, "Typical
school policies such as waiting lists and requiring
parental signatures pose barriers to the enrollment of
homeless youth. Since homeless youth by definition
live apart from their parents and legal guardians,
they generally attempt to enroll in school
independently or with the assistance of a friend,
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relative, or mentor."
2) Mandated reporting laws . This bill requires a
workgroup to be convened for the purpose of developing
policies and practices that, among other things,
ensure that child abuse and neglect reporting
requirements do not create barriers to school
enrollment and attendance of homeless youth. Current
law, the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act,
requires various professionals, including teachers,
instructional aides and classified school employees,
to report to law enforcement or child welfare
officials suspected cases of child abuse or neglect.
"General neglect" is defined by the Child Abuse and Neglect
Reporting Act as the negligent failure of a person
having the care or custody of a child to provide
adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or
supervision where no physical injury to the child has
occurred.
The federal McKinney-Vento Act defines "homeless children
and youths" as children and youths who lack a fixed,
regular, and adequate nighttime residence, and
includes children and youths who, among other
situations, are sharing the housing of other persons
due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a
similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer
parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of
alternative adequate accommodations.
Homeless youth are not necessarily always in situations
that meet the definition of neglect pursuant to
mandated reporting laws yet may be subject to
reporting to law enforcement or child welfare
officials. This bill requires a workgroup to be
convened to develop policies and practices that remove
possible barriers to the enrollment and attendance
such as mandated reporting solely due to homelessness
when in fact the youth may not be neglected or at risk
of harm. This bill does not amend mandated reporting
laws.
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3) Eligibility for interscholastic athletics . Current
law states legislative intent that all students in
foster care and those who are homeless have access to
the academic resources, services, and extracurricular
and enrichment activities that are available to all
students, including interscholastic sports
administered by the California Interscholastic
Federation (CIF). This bill extends to homeless youth
existing law that deems foster youth to meet residency
requirements for participation in interscholastic
sports or other extracurricular activities. It
appears unlikely that students would falsely claim
homelessness to get around California Interscholastic
Federation (CIF) residency and eligibility rules, as
the CIF currently has a process to review so-called
hardship claims.
4) Most of this bill restates federal law . This bill
extends to homeless youth existing law that deems
foster youth to meet residency requirements for
participation in interscholastic sports or other
extracurricular activities. This bill also requires
public schools, including charter schools and county
offices of education to immediately enroll a homeless
child or youth seeking enrollment. The federal
McKinney-Vento Act, and state law, guarantees the
immediate enrollment and attendance of a homeless
child or youth without any proof of residency or other
documentation. This bill also requires school
district homeless liaisons to ensure public notice of
the educational rights of homeless youth, which is
consistent with the federal McKinney-Vento Act.
Further, the California Department of Education (CDE)
has on its website a poster in English and Spanish
stating these rights.
5) Scope of the workgroup . This bill requires the CDE and
Department of Social Services to convene a workgroup
to adopt policies and practices to support homeless
children and youths. The State Board of Education,
not the CDE, is the body responsible for adopting
education policy. Therefore, staff recommends an
amendment to instead require the workgroup to develop
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policies and practices (page 3, line 8).
6) Applicability to charter schools . This bill requires
public schools, including charter schools, and county
offices of education to immediately enroll a homeless
child or youth seeking enrollment. Charter schools
may have different procedures for the admission and
enrollment of students, including a random drawing if
the number of students seeking enrollment exceeds the
school's capacity. To accommodate those charter
schools, and considering that homeless youth may
attend a regular public school if not a charter
school, the author would like to amend this bill to
add an exception to immediate enrollment in a charter
school where the enrollment would be in conflict with
current law regarding the random drawing.
7) Governor's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) : As
part of the 2013-14 Governor's Budget, the
administration proposes to restructure the existing
K-12 finance system and eliminate over 40 existing
programs while also repealing, what the administration
determines are countless "discretionary" provisions of
statute, while implementing a new formula known as the
Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). The LCFF would
consolidate the vast majority of state categorical
programs and revenue limit apportionments into a
single source of funding (12 categorical programs,
including Special Education, Child Nutrition,
Preschool, and After School programs, would be
excluded). The LCFF proposal would also eliminate the
statutory and programmatic requirements for almost all
existing categorical programs - the programs would be
deemed "discretionary" and programs in any of these
areas would be dependent on local district discretion.
To the extent that the LCFF or a modified version of
it is adopted as part of the budget, the majority of
currently required categorical activities would be
left to local districts' discretion. Therefore, the
changes proposed by this bill for homeless youth could
be diluted, eliminated, rendered obsolete or
discretionary at the local level.
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8) Technical amendments needed . This bill restates
federal law and should cross reference such. Staff
recommends amendments to cite the federal
McKinney-Vento Act on page 3, at the beginning of
lines 4 and 33. Also on line 33, language should
reflect that districts are currently required to
designate a liaison for homeless children and youth
(strike lines 33-36 and insert "Pursuant to the
federal McKinney-Vento Act, a local educational agency
liaison for homeless children and youths designated
pursuant to Section 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii) of Title 42 of
the Unites States Code, shall ensure that?").
Further, the cross reference to federal law on page 3,
line 29 should be corrected to "Section 11434a (2)."
9) Related legislation . AB 951(Medina) requires school
districts to ensure that all administrators and
certificated and classified staff are properly trained
regarding the rights of homeless children to receive
educational services, including an overview of the
federal McKinney-Vento Act.
AB 951 also requires districts to ensure that
sufficient public notice is provided to all parents
and students regarding the educational rights of
homeless children, and designate a liaison between the
school district and the homeless population to ensure
that homeless children are identified and served. AB
951 is scheduled for hearing in the Assembly Education
Committee on April 3, 2013.
SUPPORT
California Coalition for Youth
California Federation of Teachers
California Police Chiefs Association
Eureka City Schools Homeless Education Project
National Association for the Education of Homeless Children
and Youth
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
OPPOSITION
None on file.
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