BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Senator McGuire, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 982
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|Author: |Eggman |
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|Version: |July 2, 2015 |Hearing | July 14, 2015 |
| | |Date: | |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Mareva Brown |
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Subject: Child care and development: eligibility: homeless
children
SUMMARY
This bill expands the list of entities that can formally
identify a child as being eligible for subsidized child care
services to include a local educational agency liaison for
homeless children and youths, a Head Start program, or a
transitional shelter. The bill also expands the list of
conditions that make a family eligible for child care to include
a homeless child.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1)Establishes the Child Care and Development Services Act in
California law to provide a comprehensive, coordinated, and
cost-effective system of child care and development services
for children from infancy to 13 years of age and their
parents, including a full range of supervision, health, and
support services through full- and part-time programs and to
provide an environment that is healthy and nurturing for all
children in child care and development programs. (EDC 8201)
2)Requires the Superintendent to adopt rules and regulations for
eligibility, enrollment and priority of services and require
that in order to be eligible for federal- and state-subsidized
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child development services a family must meet a least one of
the following, in each of the following areas: (EDC 8263)
a. Is a current aid recipient, income eligible,
homeless or the children are recipients of protective
services, among others.
b. A family needs child care services because the child
is identified by a legal, medical or social services
agency as a recipient of protective services or being
neglected, abused, or exploited, as defined, or because
the parents are engaged in vocational training leading,
as specified, or employed or seeking employment, seeking
permanent housing for family stability or incapacitated.
3)Requires the following priorities be set for services:
a. First priority shall be given to abused or neglected
children who are recipients of child protective services
or children who are at risk of being neglected or abused,
upon written referral from a legal, medical or social
services agency, as specified.
b. Second priority shall be given equally to
income-eligible families, as specified. (EDC 8263 (b))
4)Requires the Superintendent to set criteria for, and to grant
specific waivers of, the priorities established in this
subdivision for agencies that wish to serve specific
populations, including children with exceptional needs or
children of prisoners. These new waivers shall not include
proposals to avoid appropriate fee schedules or admit
ineligible families, but may include proposals to accept
members of special populations in other than strict income
order, as long as appropriate fees are paid. (EDC 8263 (b)(3))
5)Establishes criteria for promoting continuity of services
within child care and development programs for enrolled
children. (EDC 8263 (c))
6)Establishes, in federal law, the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act, which provides federal funding for local
homeless assistance projects. (42 USC § 11301, et seq.)
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7)Includes in the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, a
definition of a homeless child or youth as one who lacks a
fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence including:
a) Children and youths who are sharing the housing of other
persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a
similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer
parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative
adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or
transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are
awaiting foster care placement;
b) Children and youths who 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;
c) Children and youths who are living in cars, parks,
public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing,
bus or train stations, or similar settings; and
d) Migratory children living in the circumstances described
above. (42 USC § 11434a)
1)States the intent of the Legislature that homeless youth are
entitled to a meaningful opportunity to meet the challenging
state pupil academic achievement standards to which all pupils
are held. (EDC 48850(a)(1))
This bill:
1) Adds to the list of professionals who can identify a
family as having eligibility for subsidized child care
services a local educational agency liaison for homeless
children and youths, as specified, a Head Start program or
a transitional shelter. These professionals can affirm that
specific conditions exist to qualify a child for subsidized
care.
2) Adds homelessness to the risk factors to be considered
in assessing eligibility for subusidized child care
services in addition to the existing criteria of neglect,
abuse, and parental engagement in work or work-finding
activities, among others.
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FISCAL IMPACT
An Assembly Appropriations Committee analysis identified this
bill as having negligible state fiscal impact.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Purpose of the bill:
The author states that early childhood services are extremely
valuable for homeless children. Research overwhelmingly shows
high quality educational experiences in the preschool years can
have a positive effect and long-term benefit throughout a
child's education, according to the author. High-quality
preschool education and early learning have been shown to
increase high school graduation rates, reduce crime and
delinquency, lead to greater employment and wages as adults, and
contribute to more stable families, the author states.
Yet, according to the author, research shows that parents
experiencing homelessness are less able to access childcare
subsidies than other low-income parents.<1> Mothers who have
experienced homelessness receive government subsidies for
childcare much less often than those at-risk of homelessness or
those with stable housing. They are more likely to have
unreliable childcare and are less likely to access center-based
care, the author states. Mothers who have experienced
homelessness are more likely to be forced to leave jobs or
school due to lack of childcare, according to the author. This
bill would allow professionals who work with homeless families
to identify those families as meeting eligibility requirements
for state or federally subsidized care.
Homelessness among children
Homeless families with children comprise 37 percent of the
overall homeless population, according to data from the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development. In 2013, more than
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<1> Institute for Children, Poverty & Homelessness (May 2012).
Profiles of Risk: Child Care. New York: Author. ("This brief
uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a
national survey tracking nearly 5,000 families for five years
after the birth of each family's focal child.")
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1.2 million public school children were homeless, an increase of
roughly 25 percent from the 2009-10 school, according to various
U.S. Department of Education data sources. Overall, 2.5 million
children experienced homelessness nationally in 2013 - or 1 in
30. State data indicates nearly a quarter of California's
homeless children live in Los Angeles County and more than 80
percent, or 224,161 children, were living in doubled-up
situations, which include cohabitating with other families,
"couch surfing," or living in a garage. Another 17,844 were
living in shelters, 10,073 lived in motels and hotels, and 7,578
were unsheltered.
The National Center on Family Homelessness at the American
Institutes for Research ranked California 48th overall on its
report card of child homelessness, just above Mississippi and
Alabama, respectively. It ranked 48th in the extent of child
homelessness, just above New York and Kentucky, based on HUD
data showing that nearly 530,000 children were homeless in
California in 2012-13, an increase of 20,000 children from one
year prior and of nearly 90,000 from two years earlier.
California also ranked second-to-last in policy and planning
efforts, above only Wyoming. Despite positive marks for having a
state housing trust fund, California continues to have poor
access to housing for children and their families: Just 1,650
emergency shelter beds for families, 4,602 transitional housing
units and 5,064 permanent supportive housing units exist
statewide.
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act provides funding for
shelters and addresses educational needs of homeless youth,
among other identified responsibilities. The Act requires
homeless children to be able to enroll in school even without
all required paperwork and establishes other rights. It requires
school districts to appoint local educational liaisons for
homeless children. The Act also provides a definition of
homelessness that is broader than the previously-used HUD
definition: It includes individuals and families who lack a
fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including
those who live in shelters, transitional housing, cars,
campgrounds, motels, or who share the housing of others
temporarily due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or
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similar reasons.
Child care
Approximately 350,000 children receive subsidized child care in
California through a variety of home-based and center-based
programs which are intended to both support child development
and the parents' participation in work. To be eligible for
subsidized child care, a family's income must be below 70
percent of the state median income, or $42,000 for a family of
three; parents must be working or participating in an education
or training program; and children must be under the age of 13.
Space in child care and early childhood education programs is
limited, and shrunk considerably during the Great Recession. The
Legislature has made significant effort in the past several
years to recoup some of the lost slots; however there is not
enough subsidized child care to meet the need.
Child care among homeless families
Access to child care provides two important benefits, according
to research published in 2014 by the Institute for Children,
Poverty and Homelessness in Washington, DC. Not only does stable
child care provide parents an opportunity to work, search for
work or find housing, but it provides a critical safe setting
for children to grow and learn. "High-quality child care can,
especially for young children, bolster the early learning skills
necessary for success in school and beyond. By modeling
nurturing interactions and behaviors, child care providers help
shape young children's development." <2>
Yet a 2012 report by the same organization found that homeless
mothers are less likely to receive child care subsidies than
either mothers at risk of becoming homeless or mothers who have
housing stability.
Related legislation:
SB 177 (Liu, Chapter 491, Statutes of 2013) reduced barriers to
school enrollment for homeless youth.
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<2>
http://www.icphusa.org/PDF/reports/ICPH_policyreport_MeetingtheCh
ildCareNeedsofHomelessFamilies.pdf
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AB 905 (Arambula, Chapter 110, Statutes of 2007) allowed the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to extend the period of
eligibility an additional 60 days for families whose basis of
need for child care is that they are seeking employment.
COMMENTS
While California's statute has included homelessness as a
criteria for subsidized child care, and has permitted
prioritizing children for care within the category of families
"at risk," this bill would allow homeless liaisons and Head
Start organizations, which often deal directly with homeless
families, to be included in the list of professionals who can
identify a family as needing child care.
PRIOR VOTES
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|Assembly Floor: |78 - |
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|Assembly Appropriations Committee: |17 - |
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|Assembly Human Services Committee: |7 - |
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POSITIONS
Support:
Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual
Assault/Bakersfield Homeless Center
California Equity Leaders Network
California State PTA
Citrus Heights HART
Ed Ladder
Housing California
Los Angeles Unified School District
LUNIA Locals 777 & 792
National Association for the Education of Homeless Children
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and Youth
National Center for Youth Law
Public Counsel's Children's Rights Project
Santa Cruz County Homeless Action Partnership
Santa Cruz County Office of Education
Western Center on Law and Poverty
1 individual
Oppose:
None received.
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