BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 854 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 854 (Weber) - As Amended May 4, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Education |Vote:|7 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: Yes SUMMARY: This bill expands use of the existing Foster Youth Services (FYS) grant funding, provided to certain county offices of education (COEs), to support students in all foster care AB 854 Page 2 placements and continues to provide a separate annual allocation to six specific sites that administer an FYS program. Specifically, this bill: 1)Continues funding for the following six foster youth services program sites: Elk Grove, Mount Diablo, Sacramento City, San Juan, Paramount, and the Placer Nevada consortium. This funding is in addition to their local control funding formula apportionment, adjusted annually for cost of living. 2)Expands the use of existing grant funding for the FYS program to be used for all foster youth, including kin-care. (Current law limits the program to foster youth in licensed home care or a juvenile detention facility.) 3)Authorizes, a FYS program, in consultation with local educational agencies (LEAs), the county social services agency, and the county probation department, to prescribe the methodology for designing specific supports for pupils in foster care. 4)Encourages FYS programs to first provide services for pupils in foster care who reside in group homes, institutional settings, or other placements with pupils with high academic needs, as determined by the local Executive Advisory Council. 5)Requires the plans to document how FYS programs will provide a number of services to foster youth, including, tutoring, mentoring, counseling, transition, school-based social work, and emancipation services. Further, requires the plan to maintain information related to available K-12 and postsecondary educational programs (e.g. linked learning, special education, English learner programs, after school, career programs, financial aid, etc.) as well as assistance AB 854 Page 3 with transition from high school to postsecondary institutions. 6)Requires the plan developed by each FYS program to collaborate with LEAs, county child welfare agencies, juvenile courts, county probation departments, and special education local plan areas (SELPAs). 7)Requires each FYS program to establish an Executive Advisory Council to regularly review the recommendations to the FYS plan. 8)Requires each school district or charter school receiving funding through the Local Control Funding Formula to designate a schoolsite-based staff person to serve as a liaison to students in foster care, if the site has one or more students in foster care. Requires school districts to provide contact information for each site liaison to the school district liaison and to the county FYS coordinator. 9)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to identify a state FYS director within the California Department of Education (CDE) to, among other duties, monitor provisions of this bill, facilitate data sharing, provide technical support and assistance to LEAs and implement reporting requirements. Authorizes the director to form an advisory committee to assist with responsibilities and authorizes the SPI to provide funding to one or more LEAs to work with the state FYS director to provide assistance to LEAs, as prescribed. FISCAL EFFECT: AB 854 Page 4 1)Ongoing Proposition 98/GF cost pressures of approximately $20 to $30 million to expand the FYS program to serve all foster youth. For several years, the existing FYS program has received $15.2 million (Proposition 98/GF) to serve approximately one-third of foster youth in California. This bill expands services to the remaining two-thirds (approximately 40,000 foster youth) but does not provide additional funding. It is estimated that the costs to fully fund the program to provide the same level of services for all foster youth is approximately $35 million to $45 million. 2)Ongoing Proposition 98/GF state mandated reimbursable costs to school districts and COEs, in the millions, for each LEA to designate a school-site based staff person to serve as a liaison to foster youth. Actual costs will depend upon how each LEA chooses to implement the requirement. For example, an LEA may choose to hire centrally located staff to cover several sites. Other LEAs may choose to hire an individual to serve at each site. If existing staff assumed this role, it is likely to involve contract negotiations and increased compensation. Staff training may also be needed to ensure proper guidance and assistance is provided to this sensitive student population. There are 9,919 school sites in California. Assuming LEAs hire staff at one-third of these sites, costs could exceed $200 million. 3)Ongoing General Fund administrative costs, in the range of $540,000 to $700,000. Expanded program activities would require CDE staff to provide technical assistance to coordinate resources; collect, manage and report data and other program oversight requirements. The bill also requires the CDE to identify a State FYS Director. CDE indicates the AB 854 Page 5 costs associated with a new position is in the range of $130,000 to $160,000. CDE currently has an administrator that oversees the FYS program. This position may be able to assume these duties, resulting in no additional state costs. COMMENTS: 1)Purpose. According to the author's office, an estimated 67% of California's foster youth are not eligible to receive FYS support because the programs are not authorized or funded to serve foster youth in relative foster care settings (also known as kin-care). This bill proposes to expand the FYS program to serve all foster youth. The bill also includes program updates so that COEs can better support the effective implementation of LCFF requirements for foster youth and facilitate collaboration between school districts and the county agencies collectively responsible for the educational success of students in foster care. 2)FYS funding history. The FYS program was established in 1973 as a pilot program operated by four school districts: San Juan Unified School District, Mount Diablo Unified School District, Sacramento City Unified School District, and Elk Grove Unified School District. It has evolved over the years to include six school districts and 49 COEs. AB 1808 (Steinberg, Chapter 75, Statutes of 2006) expanded eligible students to include foster youth residing in Foster Homes, Foster Family Agencies, Court Specified Placements, and Juvenile Detention Facilities and the budget increased the appropriation for this program from $6 million to $18.3 million. Budget reductions during the recession reduced the appropriation to $15.1 million. AB 854 Page 6 In 2013, the Local Control Funding Formula eliminated approximately three-quarters of all K-12 education categorical programs, but the FYS program is one of the few programs that remained "outside" as a dedicated funding source. 3)Related budget request. A coalition of organizations and LEAs has submitted a budget request for an augmentation of $20 to $30 million for FYS program in the 2015-16 budget. This amount is estimated to provide enough funding to serve all students in foster care. Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916) 319-2081