BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 177
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Date of Hearing: August 21, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 177 (Liu) - As Amended: August 5, 2013
Policy Committee: EducationVote:7 -
0
Human Services 7 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill changes the requirements for enrolling homeless
children and youth in public schools. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires that all homeless children or youth be deemed
to have met the residency requirements for immediate
participation in interscholastic athletics or other
extracurricular activities.
2) Requires that all homeless children or youth be
immediately enrolled in the public school in which the
child or youth seeks enrollment, including charter schools,
except when enrollment is in conflict with the established
admission policies of a charter school.
3) Requires the California Department of Education (CDE)
and the California Department of Social Services (DSS) to
identify representatives from their own and other state
agencies that have experience in homeless youth issues to
develop policies and practices to support homeless children
and youth and to ensure that child abuse and neglect
reporting requirements do not create barriers to school
enrollment and attendance, as specified.
4) Requires the policies and practices developed by
representatives of CDE, DSS, and other identified agencies
be presented to the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) and DSS to be considered for implementation or
dissemination, as appropriate.
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5) Requires a local educational agency's (LEA) liaison for
homeless children and youth, identified pursuant to the
federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistant Act, to
disseminate in schools within the LEA notice of the
educational rights of homeless children and youth to
schools within the LEA.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Costs potentially in excess of $100,000 (GF) for the workload
associated with CDE, DSS, and other departments with expertise
in homelessness to convene a workgroup to develop policies and
practices as it pertains to homeless children and youth.
2)Unknown, potentially moderate Prop 98/GF costs for the
additional requirements placed on the LEA's liaisons for
homeless youth.
3)Unknown cost pressure associated with implementing the
policies and practices developed by the workgroup. (Prop
98/GF)
COMMENTS
1)Background . Homeless youth generally refers to unaccompanied
minors ages 12 through 17 who are living apart from their
parents or legal guardians, and young adults ages 18 through
24 who are economically and/or emotionally detached from their
families and are experiencing homelessness or living in
unstable living situations. This definition also includes
children sharing housing due to economic hardships (e.g., in
shelters, motels, etc.). According to the California Homeless
Youth Project, "Based on the national survey estimates and
California's youth population, it is likely that 200,000 youth
under the age of 18, and thousands of 18-24 year olds, are
homeless for one or more days during a year."
2)Purpose . The federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act,
reauthorized in January 2002, protects the educational rights
of children and youths experiencing homelessness. The Act
allocates funding to states on a formula basis and authorizes
LEAs that enroll a minimum of 50 homeless youth to apply for a
supplemental, competitive grant. Portions of this law apply
to all LEAs with homeless youth, regardless if they receive a
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grant.
The intent of the federal law is to make certain homeless
students have equal access to the same free, appropriate
public education-including a public preschool education-that
is provided to other students. Homeless students have the
right to enroll in and attend school, participate fully in the
school program, and meet the same academic achievement
standards to which all students are held.
This bill seeks to provide homeless pupils with the
opportunity to fully participate in all aspects of their
education.
Homeless students move frequently, in part due to limited
length of stays available at shelters, the need to search for
safe and affordable housing, the need to search for
employment, or the need to escape from abusive or unsafe
living situations. For homeless pupils, this results in
frequent changes in schools. According to the Institute for
Children and Poverty, these frequent moves mean that homeless
pupils are nine times more likely to repeat a grade, four
times more likely to drop out of school, and three times more
likely to be placed in special education programs than their
housed peers. Thus, the immediate enrollment for these pupils
is imperative. The language that requires districts to
immediately enroll a pupil in a school is intended to ensure
the disruption of homelessness is minimized when it comes to
their education.
In addition to the proposed changes addressing the enrollment
of a homeless child or youth, this bill requires a workgroup
to develop recommended policies and practices to support
homeless children and youth and to ensure that child abuse and
neglect reporting requirements do not create barriers to
school enrollment and attendance. These recommendations will
be presented to the SPI and DSS to be considered for
implementation or dissemination, as appropriate.
3)Related Legislation . In this session, AB 591 (Medina) would
have required an LEA if it designates a liaison for homeless
children and youths as required under the federal
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, to ensure the liaison
is properly trained regarding the rights of these children to
receive educational services. That bill was held on this
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committee's Suspense File.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081