BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 801
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 21, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Jose Medina, Chair
AB 801
(Bloom) - As Introduced February 26, 2015
[Note: This bill is doubled referred to the Assembly Human
Services Committee and will be heard as it relates to issues
under its jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT: Postsecondary education: Success for Homeless Youth
in Higher Education Act
SUMMARY: Enacts the Success for Homeless Youth in Higher
Education Act. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the California State University (CSU) and each
California Community College (CCC) district (CCD) and requests
the University of California (UC), with respect to each campus
in their respective jurisdictions that administers a priority
enrollment system, grant priority in said system for
registration for enrollment to a current or former homeless
youth.
2)Defines "homeless" per the same meaning as defined in Section
725 of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act;
defines "homeless youth" to mean a person who is 24 years of
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age or younger and who has been determined to be homeless at
any time during the current calendar year; and, defines
"former homeless youth" to mean a person who is 24 years of
age or younger, and who, while not currently homeless, has
been determined to be homeless, at any time in the immediately
preceding six calendar years, by any of the following: a) a
homeless services provider, as defined; b) the director of a
federal TRIO program or Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness
for Undergraduate Programs program, or a designee of that
director; and, c) a financial aid administrator for an
institution of higher education.
3)Requires a qualifying postsecondary educational institution,
as defined, to do both of the following: a) designate a
Homeless and Foster Student Liaison within the institution's
financial aid office; and, b) inform current and prospective
students of the institution about student financial aid and
other assistance available to current and former homeless
and/or foster youth, including their eligibility as
independent students, per the federal Higher Education Act
(HEA).
4)Specifies that the designated Homeless and Foster Student
Liaison shall be responsible for understanding the provisions
of the federal HEA pertaining to independent student status
and financial aid eligibility of current and former foster
youth and unaccompanied current and former homeless youth, and
shall assist said students in applying for and receiving
federal and state financial aid.
5)Specifies that the definitions of current and former foster
youth and/or homeless youth, as defined, apply for the entire
measure.
6)Clarifies that the UC Regents are requested to adopt policies,
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as specified, to the extent that is feasible and equivalent to
the provisions of the measure, as specified.
7)Specifies that a student who currently resides in California,
and is 19 years of age or under at the time of enrollment, may
be entitled to resident classification until he/she has
resided in the state the minimum time necessary to become a
resident if he/she has been determined at any time during the
two years immediately preceding the residency classification
determination to be homeless, as defined.
8)Requires the Community College Student Financial Aid Outreach
Program to provide financial aid training to high school and
community college counselors and advisors on the specific
needs of current and former homeless youth.
9)Authorizes the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) to
include pupils who are current and former homeless youth to
receive support under CSAC's Student Opportunity and Access
Program.
10)Authorizes the governing board of each CCC, at the time of
enrollment of a current or former foster youth, to receive the
BOG Fee Waiver.
11)Specifies that if this measure is deemed a state mandate by
the Commission on State Mandates, appropriate entities will be
reimbursed.
12)Makes clarifying and technical changes to existing law.
EXISTING LAW:
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1)Requires, until January 1, 2017, the CSU and each CCD and
requests the UC, with respect to each campus in their
respective jurisdictions that administers a priority
enrollment system, to grant priority registration for
enrollment of current or former foster youth (Education Code
Section 66025.9).
2)Establishes the Community College Student Financial Aid
Outreach Program, which, among other things, provides
financial aid training to high school and community college
counselors and advisors who work with students planning to
attend or attending a CCC. The training addresses the
specific needs of all of the following: a) CCC students
intending to transfer to a four-year institution of higher
education; b) foster youth; and, c) students with disabilities
(EC Section 69514.5).
3)Authorizes, CSAC as the administrators of the Student
Opportunity and Access Program, to apportion funds on a
progress payment schedule for the support of projects designed
to increase the accessibility of postsecondary educational
opportunities for any of the following elementary and
secondary school pupils: a) pupils who are from low-income
families; b) pupils who would be the first in their families
to attend college; and, c) pupils who are from schools or
geographic regions with documented low-eligibility or college
participation rates (EC Section 69561).
4)Waives the forty-six dollars per unit per semester from
certain CCC students if, after meeting minimum academic and
progress standards adopted by the CCC Board of Governors
(BOG), meet one of the following criteria: a) at the time of
enrollment are recipients of benefits under the Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families program, the Supplemental
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Security Income/State Supplementary Payment Program, or a
general assistance program; b) demonstrates eligibility
according to income standards established by regulations of
the CCC BOG; c) demonstrates financial need in accordance with
the methodology set forth in federal law or regulation for
determining the expected family contribution of students
seeking financial aid; d) at the time of enrollment is a
dependent or surviving spouse who has not remarried, of any
member of the California National Guard who, in the line of
duty and while in the active service of the state, was killed,
died of a disability resulting from an event that occurred
while in the active service of the state, or is permanently
disabled as a result of an event that occurred while in the
active service of the state; e) any student who is the
surviving spouse or the child, natural or adopted, of a
deceased person who qualified for the fee waiver; and, f) any
student in an undergraduate program, including a student who
has previously graduated from another undergraduate or
graduate program, who is the dependent of any individual
killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon or the crash of United
Airlines Flight 93 in southwestern Pennsylvania, if that
dependent meets the financial need requirements, as specified,
and either of the following applies: (i) the dependent was a
resident of California on September 11, 2001; and, (ii) the
individual killed in the attacks was a resident of California
on September 11, 2001 (EC Section 76300).
FEDERAL LAW: Defines the term "homeless children and youth" to
mean individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate
nighttime residence, as specified, including, but not limited
to, the following: 1) children and youth who are sharing the
housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic
hardship, or a similar reason; 2) are living in motels, hotels,
trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative
adequate accommodations; 3) are living in emergency or
transitional shelters; 4) are abandoned in hospitals; 5) are
awaiting foster care placement; 6) have a primary nighttime
residence that is a public or private place not designed for or
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ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human
beings; and, 7) are living in cars, parks, public spaces,
abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations,
or similar settings (42 U.S.C. Section 11301, et seq.).
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: Background. According to the National Association
for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY),
college homelessness is a serious issue that is often
overlooked; there exists an assumption that if someone is
homeless, he/she is so focused on basic needs like food and
shelter that school is not a concern. However, NAEHCY contends
that for homeless youth, education is the answer to providing
homeless youth means to be able to enter into the work force,
earn a living, and no longer be homeless.
To note, there is no concrete estimate for the number of
homeless college students nationwide, but 58,158 college
applicants indicated that they were homeless on federal
financial aid forms for the 2012-13 academic year (most recent
data available to date); which, according to NAEHCY, is up eight
percent from 53,705 in the previous year, according to federal
data. NAEHCY argues that the number is likely understated,
since some students may be staying in a car, relatives' or
fellow classmates' couches, or motels, and do not realize they
are technically homeless, or do not want to admit to it.
Additionally, California has the highest rate of homeless youth
in the nation and twice the rate of homeless students as the
national average (four percent in CA vs. two percent
nationally).
Purpose of this measure. According to the author, in the
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2012-13 school year, in California, there were 18,000 homeless
pupils in grade 12 alone; yet only 10,208 California college
students in total indicated a status of being homeless and
unaccompanied. The author contends that the data indicates that
many homeless youth are not matriculating into higher education
and/or are not receiving the financial aid to which they are
entitled. The author states, "This bill seeks to address state
barriers to financial assistance for homeless youth." This
measure will also bring parity among current and former homeless
youth to that of current and former foster youth, who already
receive some exemptions and waivers in current law (e. g.
priority enrollment status).
Committee considerations. As mentioned in the "Existing Law"
section of this analysis, there are several
categories/classifications of students who, upon enrollment at
the CCC, automatically qualify for the BOG Fee Waiver. This
measure will add current and former homeless youth to said list.
To note, according to the CCC Chancellor's Office, more than
likely, current and potentially former homeless youth currently
benefit from the BOG Fee Waiver based on their needs.
This measure would automatically allow all current and former
homeless students, regardless of need, to benefit from the BOG
Fee Waiver. Moving forward, the author may wish to determine if
it is financially prudent for the state to specifically add
another category/classification of students to the existing list
of those students who automatically qualify for the BOG Fee
Waiver.
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Additionally, as drafted, the measure tasks the qualifying
institutions with designating a Homeless and Foster Student
Liaison within the institutions' financial aid office. Some
campuses that already have programs and services in place for
current and former foster and homeless youth have a "one stop
shop" for said students to receive all the services they
require, including financial aid assistance.
Moving forward, the author may wish to remove the requirement
that the Homeless and Foster Student Liaison must be housed only
in the institutions' financial aid offices.
Related legislation. AB 1228 (Gipson and Atkins), which will be
heard by this Committee today, would, among other things,
request and require, as specified, California' s public
postsecondary institutions to provide priority campus housing to
current and former homeless youth, as defined.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Coalition for Youth (co-sponsor)
County Welfare Directors Association of California
Housing California (co-sponsor)
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National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and
Youth (co-sponsor)
National Center for Youth Law
1 Individual
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
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