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 SB 177 Page 2 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 SB 177 Page 3 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, SB 177 Page 4 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. SB 177 Page 5 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 SB 177 Page 6 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. SB 177 Page 7 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. SB 177 Page 8