BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 379 Page 1 Date of Hearing: March 25, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Patrick O'Donnell, Chair AB 379 (Gordon) -As Amended March 17, 2015 SUBJECT: Foster youth: complaint of noncompliance SUMMARY: This bill makes complaints alleging violations of certain educational rights afforded to students in foster care and students who are homeless subject to the Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP), and establishes an expedited process for complaints regarding certain rights and on behalf of certain students. This bill also places limits on the time students can be educated in emergency shelters. Specifically, this bill: 1)Makes certain educational rights afforded to students in foster care and students who are homeless (as noted) subject to the UCP. These include: The requirement that a student in foster care who resides in a licensed children's institution attend a school operated by the local educational agency (LEA) except under specified circumstances. The requirement that LEAs allow students in foster care to remain enrolled in their school of origin when a placement change occurs. AB 379 Page 2 The requirement that LEAs designate a staff person as the educational liaison for foster children, who ensures the proper educational placement and enrollment of students, assists in school transfer, and coordinates with other personnel regarding expulsion proceedings. Requires that the transfer of a student in foster care and his/her records between LEAs occur within two business days of receipt of a transfer request. Requires that an LEA ensure that if a student in foster care is absent due to a placement change made by the court or placing agency, or a court required appearance or activity, the student's grades and credits will not be lowered due to this absence. The requirement that LEAs accept and award full or partial credit for coursework satisfactorily completed by students in foster care or students who are homeless while attending other schools, even if the students do not complete an entire course. The prohibition on an LEA making such a student retake some or all of a course which the student satisfactorily completed in another school, or from retaking an "A to G" course. The requirement that when a student is awarded partial credit, he or she must be enrolled in the same course in order to complete it. The exemption of students in foster care (including those whose court jurisdiction has been terminated) and students who are homeless from any locally adopted graduation requirements which are in excess of state graduation requirements, unless the school district finds that students are reasonably able to meet these AB 379 Page 3 requirements in time to graduate in four years. The requirement that school districts allow students who can meet these graduation requirements in five years to stay enrolled for a fifth year. The requirement that the educational liaison transfer all academic and other records within two business days of a foster child's request for enrollment. 1)Establishes an expedited complaint process for certain other rights granted to students in foster care. Under this procedure, LEAs would be required, within five school days (instead of 60 days) of receiving a complaint alleging a violation of the rights below, to conduct a complete investigation and prepare a written decision. If these decisions were to be appealed to the California Department of Education (CDE), the Department would have 30 days to issue a written decision (instead of 60 days to investigate and 60 days to send a written opinion). The rights subject to this expedited complaint process include: The right of a student to remain in his/her school of origin pending the resolution of a dispute regarding educational placement. The requirement of immediate enrollment in a new school of a student in foster care, even if the student has outstanding fees, fines, textbooks, or money due to the prior school, or is unable to produce clothing or records (such as academic, medical, immunization, and residency records) required for enrollment. The requirement that the educational liaison transfer all academic and other records within two business days of AB 379 Page 4 a foster child's request for enrollment. The educational liaison from the prior school is required to provide all requested records within two business days of receipt of the request. 1)Requires the expedited form of the UCP described above (5 school days for the LEA investigation and decision, and 30 days for the CDE to respond to an appeal) for complaints regarding certain rights of students in foster care and who are homeless who are in the final grading period of their fourth year of high school, and for all other students requires the LEA to conduct its investigation within 30 days (instead of 60 days). These rights include: The exemption of students in foster care (including those whose court jurisdiction has been terminated) and students who are homeless from any locally adopted graduation requirements which are in excess of state graduation requirements, unless the school district finds that students are reasonably able to meet these requirements in time to graduate in four years. The requirement that LEAs allow students who can meet these graduation requirements in five years to stay enrolled for a fifth year. The prohibitions on the transfer of students to other schools in order to qualify them for exemption from local graduation requirements. 1)Limits the amount of time a student can be educated in an emergency shelter to five days, and specifies that the determination of the "best interests" of the student in educational placement is to be made by the parent, guardian, AB 379 Page 5 or other person holding educational rights for the student. Makes complaints regarding these requirements subject to the UCP. 2)Requires that, if after an investigation either a local or state agency decision finds that an LEA has violated a student's right to remain in his or her school of origin pending a dispute regarding school placement, and that violation has resulted in an interruption in the student's school attendance, the student shall be awarded "compensatory educational services." 3)Requires that information regarding the above requirements be included in the annual notification required by the UCP. EXISTING LAW: 1)Grants certain educational rights (many of which are described above) to students in foster care and those who are homeless. In addition, current law deems students in foster care whose residential placement has been changed, and those who are homeless, to have met residency requirements for the purpose of participation in interscholastic sports and other extracurricular activities, grants certain rights in expulsion proceedings, guarantees equal access to extracurricular activities, and requires education in the least restrictive environment. Existing law also requires all LEAs to designate a staff person to be the educational liaison for students in foster care. 2)Through regulation, requires LEAs to adopt uniform complaint procedures through which the public can register complaints regarding educational programs and rights. (California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Section 4600). AB 379 Page 6 3)Authorizes a modified complaint process known as "Williams Complaints" through statute (Education Code § 35186) for complaints regarding instructional materials, emergency or urgent facilities conditions that pose a threat to the health and safety of pupils, teacher vacancy or misassignment, and instructional services provided to students who have not passed the High School Exit Examination. Existing law also authorizes complaints through the UCP for harassment, intimidation, bullying, discrimination, unlawful pupil fees, and violations of the law regarding Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs). 4)Establishes, in the Welfare and Institutions Code (Sections 16160-67), the Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson within the California Department of Social Services. The Ombudsperson is responsible, among other things, for accepting and resolving complaints relating to the rights (primarily non-educational) of foster youth. FISCAL EFFECT: The UCP has been determined to be a reimbursable mandate by the Commission on State Mandates. COMMENTS: Need for the bill. According to the author, "Although foster youth have possessed many [educational] rights for over ten years, the reality is the education rights of foster youth are routinely ignored. One reason for this is the lack of an appropriate enforcement mechanism. Including foster youth education rights in the California Department of Education's Uniform Complaint Procedures will provide a way to enforce these important-and too long ignored-rights." AB 379 Page 7 The "Invisible Achievement Gap." A 2013 report by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd, titled "The Invisible Achievement Gap," for the first time linked education and child welfare data to identify the achievement gap 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: have among the lowest scores in English-language arts have the lowest scores in mathematics of any subgroup have the highest dropout rate, nearly three times the rate of other students 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. The 2013 legislation establishing Local Control Funding Formula (Chapter 47, Statutes of 2013) recognized foster youth as a special population of students requiring more attention, and required LEAs to identify ways in which they will improve the educational outcomes of these students in their Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs). A recent report commissioned by the National Youth Law Center on the implementation of these requirements noted that while "LCFF has begun to shine a bright AB 379 Page 8 light on the needs of foster youth," problems persist in the areas of data sharing, the shortage of educational rights holders, and compliance with the law regarding records transfer and school enrollment, among others. The report found that "on balance, initial LCAPs did not recognize the needs of foster youth." The UCP, Williams Complaints, and fee, bullying, and LCAP complaints. Required by federal law, the UCP was established in 1991 as a means of creating a "uniform system of complaint processing" for educational programs. The authority for this process is located in regulations, not state statute. These regulations require the adoption of the UCP by school districts, county offices of education, charter schools receiving federal funds, and local public or private agencies which receive direct or indirect state funding to provide school programs or special education or related services. The UCP is used for complaints regarding a number of state and federal programs, including: Adult Education After School Education and Safety Agricultural Vocational Education American Indian Education Centers and Early Childhood Education Program Assessments Child Care and Development Child Nutrition Foster Youth Services No Child Left Behind Act (2001) programs, including improving academic achievement, compensatory education, limited English proficiency, and migrant education Regional Occupational Centers and Programs Special Education State Preschool Tobacco-Use Prevention Education AB 379 Page 9 In addition, complaints may be filed under the UCP regarding discrimination, harassment, bullying, intimidation, unlawful pupil fees, certain charter school requirements, and violations of the law establishing LCAPs. Complaints made under the UCP may be filed by an individual, public agency, or organization. Not all matters of educational law are covered by the UCP (complaints regarding the federal school lunch program, for example, are filed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture), but LEAs may use the UCP if they so choose to process some other complaints. CDE monitors for compliance with the UCP through its compliance monitoring activities. The UCP process generally involves the following steps: a) The filing of a complaint by an individual, agency, or organization b) The investigation and written response by the LEA within 60 days c) If elected, an appeal by the complainant to the CDE within 15 days of receiving the LEA response d) The response by the CDE to the appeal, with the investigation completed with 60 days e) If eligible and elected, a request for reconsideration by the complainant or LEA within 35 days of receiving CDE's response to the appeal AB 379 Page 10 f) A response by the CDE within 35 days A modified process for complaints was established by legislation implementing part of the settlement of the Eliezer Williams, et al., vs. State of California, et al. case (SB 2727, Chapter 903, Statutes of 2004). These complaints are known as "Williams Complaints" and address specific conditions of education, including instructional materials, emergency or urgent facility conditions, and teacher vacancy or misassignment, as well as the provision of services to students who have not passed the High School Exit Examination (added by subsequent legislation). These complaints may be filed anonymously. LEAs are required to remedy valid complaints within 30 days and report to complainants within 45 days. Except for complaints regarding emergency facility issues, there is no right of appeal to the CDE. Complaints regarding pupil fees, harassment, discrimination, bullying, intimidation, LCAPs and some charter school requirements generally follow the UCP, but differ slightly in terms of timelines, anonymity of complainants, confidentiality, and with whom a complaint can be filed. UCP becoming less uniform. The goal of the UCP was to create a uniform process for complaints - presumably one which would be easier and less costly to administer, and more transparent to the public. The requirements of this bill, while necessary in the view of the author to ensure educational opportunity for vulnerable students, continue the trend of modifying what was intended to be a uniform process. The Committee may wish to consider that the UCP is becoming less uniform. Is a five day timeline workable? Supporters of this bill argue that prompt resolution of complaints is vital to the exercise of AB 379 Page 11 educational rights of foster youth, and that rights to immediate enrollment and school placement are highly time-sensitive. But the Committee may wish to consider whether a five-day timeline for an LEA to complete an investigation and issue a written report is workable. What are "compensatory educational services?" This bill requires that "compensatory educational services" be provided when an LEA has violated a student's right to remain in his or her school of origin pending a dispute regarding school placement, and when that violation has resulted in an interruption in the student's school attendance. Such services are sometimes awarded through Special Education complaints when an LEA is found to have denied services to a student. This bill does not specify the purpose or scope of these services. To better guide the provision of services, staff recommends that this term be defined to as follows: "It is the intent of the Legislature that these services be provided to assist pupils in their transition to the school setting following an interruption in school attendance, and to compensate for missed instruction. Compensatory educational services may include, but are not limited to, social-emotional supports such as counseling, and academic supports including tutoring and academic counseling." Need to retitle this article. The title of the article amended by this bill is "Educational Placement of Pupils Residing in Licensed Children's Institutions," a name given in 1998 when the article was created and consisted solely of provisions on that topic. Since then it has been amended numerous times and it now pertains more broadly to students in foster care and those who are homeless. Staff recommends that it be renamed "Education of Pupils in Foster Care and Pupils who are Homeless." AB 379 Page 12 Related legislation. AB 224 (Jones-Sawyer) requires that a notice of educational rights of foster youth be created and disseminated. AB 854 (Webber) allows the Foster Youth Services program to provide educational support to students in relative care and establishes a State Foster Youth Services Director within the CDE. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support Alliance for Children's Rights (sponsor) AdvoKids American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO California Alliance of Child and Family Services John Burton Foundation for Children without Homes Opposition None received AB 379 Page 13 Analysis Prepared by:Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087