BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 224 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 224 (Jones-Sawyer) As Amended September 3, 2015 Majority vote -------------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(April 23, |SENATE: |40-0 |(September 8, | | | |2015) | | |2015) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: ED. SUMMARY: Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to develop a standardized notice of educational rights of a foster youth and post the notice on its Web site. The Senate amendments: 1)Delete requirements that the notice be disseminated or posted in a public area at schools, and delete the requirement that the notice be provided to students in foster care and their guardians or education rights holders at the time of enrollment. 2)Require the notice to be made available to liaisons by posting it on the CDE's Web site. AB 224 Page 2 3)Include chaptering out amendments. EXISTING LAW: 1)Establishes a number of rights for students in foster care. Among them are rights to immediate enrollment, rights to have educational records transferred in a timely manner, rights to remain in students' schools of origin, rights to exemptions from locally adopted graduation requirements in excess of state requirements, and the right to have partial credit awarded for coursework. 2)Requires all LEAs to designate a staff person as the educational liaison for foster children, and requires that person to ensure and facilitate the proper educational placement, enrollment in school, and checkout from school of foster children, and to ensure proper transfer of credits, records, and grades when students change schools or school districts. 3)Requires that public notice of the educational rights of students who are homeless to be disseminated in schools. 4)Establishes, in the Welfare and Institutions Code Sections 16160 to 16167, the Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson within the California Department of Social Services. The Ombudsperson is responsible, among other things, for disseminating information about the rights of foster youth. 5)Establishes, in the Welfare and Institutions Code Section 16001.9, certain rights of children and youth in foster care, sometimes known as a "foster youth bill of rights." Among them are the rights to a) attend school and participate in extracurricular, cultural, and personal enrichment activities, with minimal disruptions to school attendance and educational stability, and b) at 16 years of age or older, have access to existing information regarding the educational options available, including the AB 224 Page 3 coursework necessary for vocational and postsecondary educational programs, and information regarding financial aid for postsecondary education. 6)Requires the Foster Care Ombudsperson to produce a poster delineating the rights of foster children and youth, and post it in specified foster care settings (Health and Safety Code Section 1530.91). FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, anticipated costs to the CDE between $15,000 and $20,000 General Fund for staff time to develop the notice and provide technical assistance to the field. COMMENTS: Need for the bill. The author states, "Over the last decade, California has been a leader in enacting legislation to protect the education rights of foster youth, including by ensuring their right to remain in their school of origin, to speedy transfer of records and to partial credits, extra support if they are facing disciplinary action, to have equal access to education services in the least restrictive environment, and to modified graduation requirements. Unfortunately, far too many foster youth and their education rights holders and foster parents are unaware of these protections." This bill would help ensure these youth, who must often advocate for themselves in the education setting, are provided notice about their basic educational rights at the time of enrollment and also in a public area at their school site. Such public notice would also help educate school staff about the needs and rights of foster youth and increase their likelihood of school success." The "Invisible Achievement Gap." A 2013 report by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd, titled "The Invisible AB 224 Page 4 Achievement Gap," identified the disparity in academic outcomes for students in foster care relative to their peers. It found, based on 2009-10 educational data, that students in foster care represented a subgroup distinct in many ways from other low-income students. Among the findings in this report were that foster youth: 1)Have among the lowest scores in English/Language Arts 2)Have the lowest scores in mathematics of any subgroup 3)Have the highest dropout rate, nearly three times the rate of other students 4)Have the lowest high school graduation rate of any subgroup The report also found that students in foster care are more likely to change schools during the school year, more likely to be enrolled in low-performing schools, less likely to participate in state assessments, and significantly more likely to be enrolled in nontraditional schools. Foster Youth Education Task Force. This bill requires the CDE to work with the Foster Youth Education Task Force to develop a notice of educational rights of students in foster care. The Foster Youth Task Force was established in 2004 and consists of representatives of more than 35 organizations. The Task Force works to "improve the disparate educational outcomes for students in foster care." Analysis Prepared by: Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0002285 AB 224 Page 5