BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        AB 801|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
          |(916) 651-1520    Fax: (916)      |                              |
          |327-4478                          |                              |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 


                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 801
          Author:   Bloom (D) 
          Amended:  5/9/16 in Senate
          Vote:     21 

           SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE:  7-0, 7/8/15
           AYES:  Liu, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan, Vidak
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Runner, Block

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  6-0, 8/27/15
           AYES:  Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Bates

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  61-13, 6/3/15 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Postsecondary education:  Success for Homeless Youth  
                     in Higher Education Act


          SOURCE:    Author

          DIGEST:   This bill requires the extension of priority  
          enrollment, as specified, to homeless youth, as defined, at the  
          California Community Colleges (CCC) and the California State  
          University (CSU) and requests that the University of California  
          (UC) make this same extension; requires designation of a  
          Homeless and Foster Student Liaison at each Cal Grant  
          participating institution; grants homeless youth enrolling in a  
          public higher education institution residency status, as  
          specified; and adds homeless youth to the categories of youth to  
          be served under existing financial aid programs and services. 

          Senate Floor Amendments of 5/9/16 authorize designation as a  








                                                                     AB 801 
                                                                    Page  2


          homeless youth for students designated two years prior to, and  
          up to six years after, admission to a higher education  
          institution, eliminate references to "former homeless youth",  
          delete the requirement that homeless youth and former Corinthian  
          Colleges, Inc. students be granted a Board of Governors fee  
          waiver, and make other technical changes. 

          ANALYSIS: 
          
          Existing federal law:

          1)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:  a) children and youth who are sharing the housing  
            of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or  
            a similar reason; b) are living in motels, hotels, trailer  
            parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative  
            adequate accommodations; c) are living in emergency or  
            transitional shelters; d) are abandoned in hospitals; e) are  
            awaiting foster care placement; f) have a primary nighttime  
            residence that is a public or private place not designed for  
            or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for  
            human beings; and, g) are living in cars, parks, public  
            spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train  
            stations, or similar settings.  (42 United States Code §  
            11301, et seq.)

          2)Defines "homeless youth", under Section 725 of the federal  
            McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to mean a person who is  
            24 years of 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.

          Existing state law:








                                                                     AB 801  
                                                                    Page  3


          1)Requires, until January 1, 2017, the CSU and each community  
            college district, and requests each campus of the UC that  
            administers a priority enrollment system, to grant priority  
            registration for enrollment of current or former foster youth.  
             (Education Code § 66025.9)

          2)Establishes the Community College Student Financial Aid  
            Outreach Program, administered by the California Student Aid  
            Commission (CSAC) to provide 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 is required to address the specific needs of CCC  
            students intending to transfer to a four-year institution,  
            foster youth, and students with disabilities.  (EC § 69514.5)

          3)Establishes the Student Opportunity and Access Program,  
            administered and supported by CSAC, to apportion funds, as  
            specified for projects designed to increase the accessibility  
            of postsecondary educational opportunities for elementary and  
            secondary school pupils who are from low-income families, who  
            would be the first in their families to attend college, and  
            who are from schools or geographic regions with documented  
            low-eligibility or college participation rates.   (EC § 69561)

          4)Requires a community college governing board to charge each  
            student a $46 per unit fee per semester. Existing law makes  
            this fee requirement inapplicable to noncredit courses and  
            specified student groups and authorizes the governing board to  
            exempt certain student groups from this fee.  Existing law  
            specifically requires that these fees be waived for students  
            who, at the time of enrollment meet specified requirements,  
            including, that they are members of the military, veterans or  
            their dependents, as specified, receive benefits under the  
            Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, the  
            Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment  
            Program, or a general assistance program, demonstrate  
            eligibility according to income standards established by  
            regulations of the CCC Board of Governors, 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, 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  







                                                                     AB 801  
                                                                    Page  4


            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 and various others, as specified.  (EC § 76300)

          This bill:

          1)Requires the CSU and each CCC, and requests each UC campus  
            that administers a priority enrollment system, to extend  
            priority enrollment to current homeless youth.


          2)Defines "homeless youth" under the Act established by the  
            bill.  Specifically, it:

             a)   Defines homeless youth as a student under 25 years of  
               age verified as homeless within 24 months immediately  
               preceding receipt of his/her application for admission by a  
               postsecondary educational institution, as specified and  
               defined pursuant to the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless  
               Assistance Act (see Background).

             b)   Assigns retention of status as a "homeless youth" for  
               six years from the date of admission to a postsecondary  
               educational institution. 

          3)Requires a qualifying postsecondary educational institution,  
            as defined for purposes of the Cal Grant program, to both:

             a)   Designate an existing staff member within the financial  
               aid office, or another appropriate office or department of  
               the institution to serve as the Homeless and Foster Student  
               Liaison who is required to be responsible for understanding  
               the federal Higher Education provisions on financial aid  
               eligibility applicable to foster youth and homeless youth,  
               as specified, and to assist these students in applying for  
               and receiving federal and state financial aid and services.  


             b)   Inform current and prospective students of the  
               institution about student financial aid and other  
               assistance available to current homeless and/or foster  
               youth, including their eligibility as independent students,  
               per the federal Higher Education Act.







                                                                     AB 801  
                                                                    Page  5



          4)Requests the UC Regents adopt policies, to the extent  
            feasible, equivalent to the provisions outlined in 3) above.

          5)Expands the training requirements for high school and  
            community college counselors and advisors under the Community  
            College Student Financial Aid Outreach Program to include  
            training on the specific needs of current homeless youth, as  
            defined.

          6)Adds homeless youth, as defined, to the student groups that  
            may be served under Student Opportunity and Access Program  
            projects administered and supported by the CSAC.

          7)Makes other clarifying, technical, and conforming changes.

          Comments

          1)Need for this bill.  This bill allows homeless youth to  
            receive some of the same services and exemptions that are  
            available to foster youth.  While many services exist for  
            foster youth and former foster youth, homeless youth are often  
            not documented in the child welfare system or legally  
            identified as dependents, so most are either unable to utilize  
            these benefits or unaware of programs for which they may  
            qualify. According to the author, in the 2012-13 school year  
            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. 

          2)Homeless youth.  According to a September 2014 publication by  
            the California Homeless Youth Project, California's Homeless  
            Students, a Growing Population, 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  
            California versus two percent nationally).  In its 2013 Annual  
            Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, the U.S. Department of  
            Housing and Urban Development reports an estimated 46,924  
            homeless youths nationally on a single night in January, with  
            80 percent of these individuals between the ages of 18-24.  

          3)Other services for homeless youth.  SB 1023 (Liu, Chapter 771,  
            Statutes of 2014) authorized the CCC Chancellor's Office to  
            enter into agreements with up to 10 CCC districts to establish  







                                                                     AB 801  
                                                                    Page  6


            the Cooperating Agencies Foster Youth Educational Support  
            program in order to provide additional funds for services in  
            support of postsecondary education for foster youth.  The  
            2015-16 Budget Act provides up to $15 million for this  
            purpose.

          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   Yes

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, the CSU  
          indicates the need to redirect staff to fulfill the liaison  
          requirement which would likely equate to a part-time position  
          for each campus, resulting in statewide costs between $782,000  
          and $1.2 million.  There are likely minor costs to the CCC to  
          update the Board of Governors Fee Waiver form and other related  
          materials.  Costs pressures related to waiving student  
          enrollment fees for homeless youth are expected to be minor as  
          these students are likely to qualify based on income criteria.   
          The CSAC indicates costs to incorporate homeless youth into  
          training and outreach programs to be absorbable.  However, if  
          this population is larger than anticipated, there could be a  
          need for additional staffing resources.  The UC anticipates no  
          additional costs to implement this bill.




          SUPPORT:   (Verified5/10/16)


          None received


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified5/10/16)


          None received


           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  61-13, 6/3/15
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown,  
            Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,  
            Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina  







                                                                     AB 801  
                                                                    Page  7


            Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,  
            Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin,  
            Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, McCarty,  
            Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Olsen, Perea, Quirk,  
            Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth,  
            Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood,  
            Atkins
          NOES:  Bigelow, Brough, Dahle, Beth Gaines, Grove, Harper,  
            Maienschein, Mathis, Melendez, Obernolte, Patterson, Wagner,  
            Waldron
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Travis Allen, Chang, Gallagher, Jones, Kim,  
            Mayes

          Prepared by:Kathleen Chavira / ED. / (916) 651-4105
          5/11/16 15:12:41


                                   ****  END  ****