BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 891
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Date of Hearing: April 8, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
AB 891
(Campos) - As Introduced February 26, 2015
[Note: This bill is doubled referred to the Assembly Human
Services Committee and will be heard by that Committee as it
relates to issues under its jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT: Low-income youth: educational attainment and success
SUMMARY: Provides homeless and low-income youth with priority
for enrollment in before and after school programs and free
transportation to and from school, and requires the Department
of Social Services (DSS) to provide youth in families receiving
benefits through the California Work Opportunity and
Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program additional assistance
for specified purposes. Specifically, this bill:
After School Education and Safety Program (ASES):
1)Prohibits a before school or after school program funded by
the ASES Program from charging family fees to a family with a
child who is identified as a homeless youth or whose family is
part of a CalWORKs assistance unit, if the program charges a
fee.
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2)Strikes the provision specifying that priority for enrollment
of pupils in middle school or junior high school shall be
given to pupils who attend daily, and instead establishes the
following priorities for enrollment:
a) First priority shall go to pupils who are identified as
homeless youth, as defined in the federal McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act;
b) Second priority shall go to pupils who are members of a
CalWORKs assistance unit, as described in the Welfare and
Institutions Code (WIC) Section 11265.45(a).
c) Third priority shall go to pupils who attend daily.
Transportation:
3)Specifies that a pupil entitled to free or reduced-price meals
or who attends a school that participates in the Community
Eligibility Option shall be entitled to free transportation
from the local educational agency (LEA) to and from school if
either of the following conditions are met:
a) The pupil resides more than one-half mile from the
school; or,
b) The neighborhood through which the pupil must travel to
get to school is unsafe because of stray dogs, no
sidewalks, known gang activity, or another reason
documented by stakeholders .
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4)Requires a LEA to designate a liaison that shall be
responsible for implementing a plan to ensure that all pupils
entitled to free transportation receive the transportation in
a timely manner.
5)Requires the liaison to be trained to identify and accommodate
the special rights of homeless youth and pupils in a CalWORKs
assistance unit. Requires the liaison to facilitate access to
school services, including, but not limited to, transportation
services.
6)Requires the plan to be developed in consultation with
teachers, school administrators, regional local transit
authorities, the Air Resources Board, the Department of
Transportation, parents, pupils, and other stakeholders.
7)Requires the plan to address the ability of pupils in the
LEA's jurisdiction to make regular visits to the public
library.
8)Specifies that if no dependable and timely transportation is
available for pupils entitled to transportation services, the
LEA shall ensure that free transportation be provided using
existing funds.
CalWORKs:
9)Requires the DSS to, in coordination with the California
Department of Education (CDE), identify a method to track the
high school completion rates of children in an assistance
unit. Requires DSS to report to the Legislature no later than
July 1, 2016, if a change in statute is required in order to
track high school completion rates of children in an
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assistance unit. Requires the DSS to make publicly available
an aggregate report of the high school completion rates
tracked by the DSS.
10)Specifies that to incentivize completion of high school or
the equivalent for recipients of aid 19 years of age and
under, those recipients shall, upon verification that the
recipient has obtained a high school diploma or its
equivalent, receive a $200 supplement to the amount of aid.
Requires the supplement to be paid directly to the recipient
and be disregarded as income in determining the income of the
assistance unit and the income of the CalFresh household if
the recipient is receiving CalFresh. Specifies that Cal-Learn
participants who are already eligible for a similar incentive
are not eligible for the supplement established by this bill.
11)Specifies that to support educational outcomes and physical
fitness of children in an assistance unit, a child in an
assistance unit shall receive, in advance, a transportation
service supplement to the amount of aid paid, as determined by
the DSS, to pay for transportation services in order for the
child to participate in an ASES program.
12)Specifies that to support educational outcomes of children in
an assistance unit, the DSS shall coordinate with county human
services agencies and the State Department of Health Care
Services to annually inform assistance units of the need to
have a child's vision regularly examined and how to schedule
an appointment with an optometrist for children receiving
Medi-Cal benefits.
13)Requires the DSS to, in consultation with county human
services agencies, programs created under the federal
Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act, State Community
Services Block Grant (CSBG) offices, and local CSBG entities,
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design a youth subsidized employment program for youth 15 to
19 years of age, inclusive, who are eligible for benefits, and
needy youth. Requires the program to provide paid employment,
occupational skills training, and other relevant services.
Requires the payment for employment and services to be subject
to the same financial participation as payment under WIC
Section 11450 (a).
14)Specifies that for the purposes of this bill, "needy youth"
means an individual 18 to 24 years of age, inclusive, whose
family income, which may include the youth living alone, is
less than 200% of the federal poverty level.
15)Requires all employers and caseworkers involved in the
employment program to be trained in trauma-informed care and
restorative justice practices.
16)Specifies that income earned through the employment program
shall be disregarded as income in determining eligibility for,
or the amount of, aid.
17)Specifies that notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of
the Administrative Procedure Act, and until January 1, 2018,
the DSS may implement the DSS provisions of this bill by
all-county letters or similar instructions. Thereafter, the
DSS shall adopt regulations to implement this bill on or
before January 1, 2018.
18)Specifies that no appropriation pursuant to WIC Section 15200
shall be made for purposes of this bill.
EXISTING LAW:
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1)Establishes the ASES program through the 2002 voter approved
initiative, Proposition 49. The ASES program funds the
establishment of local after school education and enrichment
programs, which are created through partnerships between
schools and local community resources to provide literacy,
academic enrichment and safe constructive alternatives for
students in kindergarten through ninth grade (Education Code
(EC) Section 8482).
2)Provides state funding for school district and county office
of education transportation costs based on the amount received
for that purpose in the prior year, or the agencies' actual
transportation costs, whichever is less. Existing law also
requires school districts to provide transportation services
for special education students if the students' individualized
education plans specify such need. (EC Section 41850)
FISCAL EFFECT: The Legislative Counsel has keyed this bill as a
state-mandated local program.
COMMENTS: This bill has three parts, related to services and
support for homeless youth and low-income kids. This Committee
will review the provisions relating to the ASES program and
transportation to and from school.
Definition of "homeless youth". The federal McKinney-Vento Act
defines "homeless children and youth" as individuals who lack a
fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including
children who are sharing the housing of other people, living in
motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camp grounds, emergency or
transitional shelters, abandoned in hospitals or awaiting foster
care placement, a place not generally used for sleeping, cars,
parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing,
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bus or train stations, and migratory children living in the
circumstances above.
ASES. The ASES program, passed by voters as Proposition 49 in
2002, provides almost $550 million annually for before and after
school programs for approximately 405,000 kindergarten through
grade 9 students. After school programs must commence right
after school and at least until 6 p.m. for 15 hours per week.
Priority for funding goes to schools where at least 50% of the
pupils are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Each
program is required to provide a match equal to not less than
one-third of the total grant. Facilities may count towards 25%
of the local contribution.
Participating after-school programs are required to have an
educational and literacy component in which tutoring or homework
assistance is provided in one or more of the following areas:
language arts, mathematics, history and social science, computer
training, or sciences; and an educational enrichment component,
which may include, but is not limited to, fine arts, career
technical education, career exploration, recreation, physical
fitness and prevention activities.
The program requires before school programs to operate one and a
half hours a day and after school programs to operate after
school until 6 p.m. for a minimum of 15 hours per week.
What does this bill do? This bill requires priority for
enrollment in before and after school programs to be given first
to homeless youth, second to pupils who are receiving CalWORKs
benefits, and third to pupils who attend daily. The author
states that research shows that access to after school and
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summer programs improves students' health and academic outcomes,
but low-income youth are unable to access these programs due to
lack of transportation, long wait lists and program enrollment
fees.
Priority for enrollment. Current law stipulates that priority
for funding should go to programs located at schools where a
minimum of 50% of the pupils are eligible for free or
reduced-price meals. However, according to the CDE, ASES funds
are currently allocated to programs that have an average of 82%
of kids eligible for free and reduced-price meals. It is
possible that homeless youth and pupils receiving CalWORKs
benefits already make up a large portion of the pupils enrolled
in ASES. If homeless youth and other low-income kids are unable
to access the programs, the reason may be that there are not
enough slots. Enrollment decisions are made at the local level
between program administrators and the school to accommodate the
needs of different communities.
Under current law, the priority regarding pupils who attend on a
daily basis applies only to pupils in middle or junior high
schools. This provision was established to maximize the
benefits of the program for older kids who will commit to
attending on a regular basis. This bill would apply this
priority for all programs. Staff recommends restoring this
provision as a third priority only for pupils in middle or
junior high schools.
Fees. This bill also prohibits programs from collecting fees
from homeless youth or youth on CalWORKs. ASES programs are
authorized to charge fees, but data is not available because
this information is not required to be reported to the CDE.
According to the CDE, some programs may charge a nominal
enrollment fee, while others may charge fees in order to expand
access to the program.
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The sponsors, the Western Center on Law and Poverty, the
Children's Defense Fund and 9to5, National Association of
Working Women, state, "Children who are homeless and living in
deep poverty are less likely to be able to participate than
children who are not experiencing these significant challenges
even when compared to other children who are low-income. This
is because children who are homeless or living in deep poverty
are less likely to attend the same school from year-to-year and
less likely to afford registration fees required by some
afterschool programs. This means that children who could
benefit most from having a safe and supportive place to learn,
exercise, and benefit from afterschool snacks are less likely to
be able to participate."
Transportation. Until the enactment of the Local Control
Funding Formula (LCFF), home-to-school transportation was a
categorical program that reimbursed school districts and county
offices of education (COEs) for prior year approved
transportation costs. Funding for transportation is one of the
few funding streams that did not get rolled into the LCFF.
Instead, districts and COEs continue to receive, outside of
their LCFF funding, the same amount of transportation funding
they received in the year immediately preceding the enactment of
the LCFF, 2012-13. Districts and COEs receiving those funds
must continue to spend them on transportation.
The amount received by districts and COEs varies widely. Some
get more than 90% of their approved costs reimbursed with state
funding. Others get no state funding at all, even though they
have approved costs. The statewide average reimbursement is
about 35% of approved costs.
Because the amount received by districts is held flat,
transportation funding does not keep pace with inflation and,
over time, becomes less related to actual workload. Some urban
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districts provide home-to-school transportation. Others do not,
and rely instead on public transit.
What does this bill do? This bill requires a LEA to provide all
students eligible for free or reduced-price meals, or who
attends a school that participates in the Community Eligibility
Option, free transportation to and from school if the pupil
lives more than half a mile from school, or if the neighborhood
the pupil must travel to get to and from school is unsafe due to
stray dogs, lack of sidewalks, known gang activity, or another
reason documented by stakeholders. According to the CDE, there
are 3.7 million pupils (almost 60% of all pupils) eligible for
free and reduced-price meals. The bill requires the LEA to
appoint a liaison, who is trained to identify and accommodate
the rights of homeless youth and pupils receiving CalWORKs
benefits, to be responsible for developing a plan for
implementation. The liaison is required to consult
stakeholders, including teachers, school administrators, local
transportation and environmental authorities, parents, pupils,
and others. According to the sponsors, the inclusion of a wide
range of stakeholders, including local agencies, will help to
identify a range of resources to ensure transportation needs are
met. For example, local transit authorities may be able to
provide bus passes at no charge. Staff recommends an amendment
to specify that the plan may include the identification of all
options, including non-education resources.
The plan is also required to address the ability of pupils' to
make regular visits to the public library, which the sponsors
argue is important for a student's ability to complete school
work (e.g., research reports). Requiring transportation for
visits to the public library would result in a higher level of
transportation service.
Implementation of this provision of the bill may be challenging.
LEAs will be required to identify whether each student eligible
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for free or reduced-price meals lives more than one half mile
from school, or investigate the route each student takes to
school and determine whether stray dogs, lack of sidewalks or
gang activities make the route unsafe. A school district will
be required to make this determination for every pupil at a
school if the school participates in the federal food program's
Community Eligibility Option, which allows school districts to
provide breakfast and lunch to all pupils at a school or
district where at least 40% of the identified students were
deemed eligible through eligibility for CalWORKs or CalFresh in
the prior year. Districts located in rural areas will face
unique challenges as students may live miles from a school and
public transportation may not be readily available.
Can transportation issues be addressed through the Local Control
and Accountability Plan (LCAP)? The Committee may wish to
consider whether transportation issues can be addressed through
a school district's LCAP. LCFF funds can be used for any
purpose in accordance with the LCAP, which is developed locally
to meet the needs of each district. The LCAP is required to
meet eight state priorities. One of the priorities is "pupil
engagement," as measured by factors such as school attendance
rate and chronic absenteeism rate. School districts have an
incentive to ensure that students are not absent in order to get
average daily attendance (ADA). If transportation is identified
as the barrier to attendance and the cause of chronic
absenteeism, it could be funded through a district's LCFF
allocation. The author may wish to consider strategies to
encourage school districts to consider transportation barriers
in the development of their LCAP.
The author states that the inability to afford transportation
from school is one of the most frequently cited barriers that
low-income youth face in attending school. According to the
author, a survey of Oakland youth found that 61% of students
reported they sometimes use their lunch money to ride the bus.
The author further states that other states, including New
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Jersey, New York and Missouri, guarantee transportation for
students who live beyond a certain distance from their school.
Technical and clarifying amendments:
1)Staff recommends striking, on page 7, lines 3 to 6 of the
bill, "The liaison shall facilitate access to school services
including, but not limited to, transportation services for the
pupils described in this paragraph." This provision may be
interpreted as requiring the liaison to be responsible for
more than just transportation services. According to the
sponsor, this is not the intent and was inadvertently left in
the bill from an earlier draft.
2)The provision in Section 39800.1(d) is unclear. According to
the sponsor, the provision is intended to specify that
existing funds are to be used after determining that no free
dependable and timely transportation is available. Staff
recommends inserting "free" on line 15 after "no" on page 7.
Related legislation. AB 379 (Gordon), which passed this
Committee on March 25, 2015, makes complaints alleging
violations of certain educational rights afforded to students
who are homeless subject to the Uniform Complaint Procedures.
AB 982 (Eggman), pending in the Assembly Human Services
Committee, gives homeless children priority for enrollment in
subsidized child care and development programs.
AB 1166 (Bloom), pending in this Committee, allows students in
foster care and those who are homeless to be eligible for the
exemption from local graduation requirements even if they are
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not notified of this right within 30 days of enrollment, and
allows homeless students to be exempt even if they are no longer
homeless or if they transfer to another school or district.
SB 445 (Liu), pending in the Senate Education Committee,
requires a LEA to allow a homeless child to continue his or her
education in his or her school of origin through the duration of
his or her homelessness, and provides a right to immediate
enrollment.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Children's Defense Fund - CA (co-sponsor)
Western Center on Law & Poverty (co-sponsor)
9to5, National Association of Working Women (co-sponsor)
Building Healthy Communities: Long Beach
California Catholic Conference
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
Courage Campaign
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InnerCity Struggle
Khmer Girls in Action
Lynwood Unified School District
National Association of Social Workers
Our Family Coalition
PolicyLink
Success in Challenges
Youth Justice Coalition
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
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