BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1228|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1228
Author: Gipson (D) and Atkins(D)
Introduced:2/27/15
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/24/15
AYES: Liu, Runner, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning,
Pan, Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-2, 5/14/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Public postsecondary education: campus housing:
priority for homeless youth
SOURCE: California Coalition for Youth
Housing California
DIGEST: This bill extends priority for housing at the
University of California, the California State University, and
the California Community Colleges to homeless youth, and
requests campuses to develop plans to ensure that homeless and
foster youth have housing during breaks.
ANALYSIS: Existing federal law, the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act, defines homeless individuals as an individual or
family:
1)Who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.
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Page 2
2)With 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, including a car,
park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, or
camping ground.
3)Living in a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter
designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including
hotels and motels paid for by federal, state, or local
government programs for low-income individuals or by
charitable organizations, congregate shelters, and
transitional housing).
4)Who will imminently lose their housing, including housing they
own, rent, or live in without paying rent, are sharing with
others, and rooms in hotels or motels not paid for by federal,
state, or local government programs for low-income individuals
or by charitable organizations; has no subsequent residence
identified; and lacks the resources or support networks needed
to obtain other permanent housing.
5)Unaccompanied youth and homeless families with children and
youth defined as homeless under other federal statutes.
(United States Code, Title 42, § 11302)
Existing state law:
1)Requires campuses of the California State University (CSU) and
University of California (UC), to the extent the Regents of
the UC adopt a resolution making this requirement applicable,
and requests campuses of the California Community Colleges
(CCC), in order to ensure current and former foster youth have
stable housing, to give priority for housing these students.
(Education Code § 76010, § 90001.5, and § 92660)
2)Requires campuses of the CSU and UC, and requests campuses of
the CCC, that maintain student housing facilities open for
occupation during school breaks, or on a year-round basis, to
give first priority to current and former foster youth for
residence in the housing facilities that are open for
uninterrupted year-round occupation. (EC § 76010, § 90001.5,
and § 92660)
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3)Requests the Regents of the UC and the Trustees of the CSU to
explore methods of using the admissions-by-exemption category
to assist the transition of students in foster care into
four-year public institutions of higher education. (EC §
66019.3)
This bill extends priority for housing at the UC, the CSU, and
the CCCs to homeless youth, and requests campuses to develop
plans to ensure that homeless and foster youth have housing
during breaks. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires campuses of the CSU and UC, to the extent the Regents
of the UC adopt a resolution making this requirement
applicable, and requests campuses of the CCC, in order to
ensure current and former homeless youth have stable housing,
to give priority for housing these students.
2)Requires campuses of the CSU and UC, and requests campuses of
the CCC, that maintain student housing facilities open for
occupation during school breaks, or on a year-round basis, to
give first priority to current and former homeless youth for
residence in the housing facilities that are open for
uninterrupted year-round occupation.
3)Requires campuses of the CSU and UC, and requests campuses of
the CCC, to provide this housing to current and former
homeless and foster youth at no extra cost during the academic
or campus breaks, and next give priority to current and former
homeless youth for housing that is open for occupation during
the most days in the calendar year.
4)Requests campuses of the CSU, UC, and CCC to develop a plan to
ensure that current and former homeless and foster youth can
access housing resources as needed during and between academic
terms, including during academic and campus breaks.
5)Defines "homeless youth" to mean a student under 25 years of
age, who has been verified as a homeless child or youth at any
time during the prior six years, by at least one of the
following:
a) A homeless services provider, as defined by the Health
and Safety Code.
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b) The director, or his or her designee, of a federal TRIO
program or a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for
Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) program.
c) A financial aid administrator.
6)Requests the Regents of the UC and the Trustees of the CSU to
explore methods of using the admissions-by-exemption category
to assist the transition of students who are homeless into
four-year public institutions of higher education.
Comments
Existing resources for students who are homeless. Campuses of
the UC work with current and former homeless students by
providing them with emergency financial support, temporary
housing, food, and connecting them with community resources.
Each campus has case managers or social workers in place to work
with these students and assist in their transition.
Additionally, UC at Los Angeles (UCLA) administers a program
focused on assisting current and former homeless youth that has
received nationwide attention. UCLA's program provides food
vouchers and free stays in vacant dormitory rooms to its
homeless students. Many CSU campuses have community
partnerships with local entities in order to provide necessary
services and needs for current and former homeless students. Of
the 112 CCC campuses, 11 provide student apartments and/or
dormitory rooms that are either on campus or adjacent to the
campus. Currently, there is no known explicit policy of the UC,
CSU or CCC ensuring current and former homeless youth have
priority in receiving campus housing.
Admissions-by-exemption. Existing law requests the Regents of
the UC and the Trustees of the CSU to explore methods of using
the admissions-by-exemption category to assist the transition of
students who are in foster care into four-year public
institutions of higher education. This bill extends that
request to include students who are homeless. The UC and the
CSU may admit students pursuant to admissions-by-exception,
whereby a student who is not academically eligible may be
admitted based upon demonstration of potential for success.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified7/6/15)
California Coalition for Youth (co-source)
Housing California (co-source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Aspiranet
California Federation of Teachers
California State Student Association
County Welfare Directors Association of California
John Burton Foundation for Children Without Homes
Junior League of California, State Public Affairs Committee
Junior League of Orange County
League of California Cities
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
National Center for Youth Law
Public Counsel
University of California Student Association
OPPOSITION: (Verified7/6/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the John Burton
Foundation for Children Without Homes, "Access to education is
the only way out of homelessness for most of these young people.
In today's society, it is increasingly difficult to support
oneself without higher education. A college education leads to
lower unemployment, higher wages, and greater contribution to
the tax base of the state. Research has long suggested that
students who live on campus are more likely to graduate, while
housing insecurity during college leads many students to drop
out. In addition, foster youth and homeless youth consistently
cite a lack of access to housing during school breaks as one of
the biggest challenges while attending college."
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-2, 5/14/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo
Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove,
Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kim,
Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,
Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Atkins
NOES: Harper, Jones
NO VOTE RECORDED: Brough, Beth Gaines
Prepared by:Lynn Lorber / ED. / (916) 651-4105
7/7/15 17:20:40
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