Amended in Assembly May 27, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 29, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 1567


Introduced by Assembly Member Campos

January 4, 2016


An act to amend Sections 8482.6 and 8483 of, and to add Section 8483.95 to, the Education Code, relating to after school programs.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1567, as amended, Campos. After school programs: enrollment: fees: homeless youth: snacks or meals.

The After School Education and Safety Program Act of 2002, enacted by initiative statute, establishes the After School Education and Safety Program to serve pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 9, inclusive, at participating public elementary, middle, junior high, and charter schools. The act gives priority enrollment in after school programs to pupils in middle school or junior high school who attend daily.

This bill would instead give first priority enrollment tobegin insert pupils who are identified by the program asend insert homeless youth, as defined, and pupils who arebegin insert identified by the program as beingend insert in foster care, and 2nd priority enrollment, for programs serving middle and junior high school pupils, to pupils who attend the program daily. The bill would require an after school program to inform the parent or caregiver of a pupil of the right of homeless children and foster children to receive priority enrollment and how to request priority enrollment. The bill wouldbegin delete authorizeend deletebegin insert requireend insert the administrators of a program tobegin delete verify the homeless status of a pupilend deletebegin insert allow self-certification of the pupil as a homeless youth or a foster youth, and would authorize administrators to obtain this informationend insert through the school district liaison designated for homeless children, asbegin delete specified, and, if that information is not available through the school district, would require the program to allow the parent or caregiver of a pupil to verify the pupil’s homeless status. The bill would authorize the administrators of a program to verify that a pupil is in foster care through the school district, if that information is available, or through the foster parent of the pupil.end deletebegin insert specified.end insert

The act provides that an after school and before school program is not required to charge family fees or conduct individual eligibility determinations based on need or income.

This bill would prohibit a program that charges family fees from charging a fee to a family for a childbegin delete whoend deletebegin insert if the program knows that the childend insert is a homeless youth or for a child whobegin insert the program knowsend insert is in foster care.

The act authorizes the Legislature to amend certain of its provisions to further its purposes by majority vote of each house.

The bill would set forth a legislative finding and declaration that it furthers the purposes of the act.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:

3(a) The After School Education and Safety (ASES) Program
4offers quality after school learning and development opportunities
5that can make a difference for all of the children they serve, but
6especially for low-income children.

7(b) There is strong evidence that access to after school and
8summer programs increases the likelihood that a child will succeed
9in school and graduate from high school.

10(c) Research shows that children, especially girls, benefit from
11improved health and academic outcomes when they participate in
12after school programs.

13(d) The most significant academic gains for children enrolled
14in the ASES Program occur among those who face the most
15challenges.

P3    1(e) Due to significant underfunding of the ASES Program, more
2than half of the program site coordinators recently reported that
3they could not enroll all interested children and had resorted to the
4use of a waiting list.

5(f) The federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42
6U.S.C. Sec. 11301 et seq.) ensures the educational rights and
7protections of homeless children, defined by the act as individuals
8who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.

9(g) Until the ASES Program is funded for every child seeking
10to be enrolled, children who are homeless might not benefit from
11the program without priority access and waivers of fees.

12(h) In order to ensure that participating children receive adequate
13nutrition and to reduce the cost-per-child expenses of ASES
14programs, it is important to encourage collaboration between local
15educational agencies and other community-based organizations
16sponsoring federally funded after school snack and meal programs.

17

SEC. 2.  

Section 8482.6 of the Education Code is amended to
18read:

19

8482.6.  

Every pupil attending a school operating a program
20pursuant to this article is eligible to participate in the program,
21subject to program capacity. A program established pursuant to
22this article is not required to charge family fees or conduct
23individual eligibility determinations based on need or income. If
24a program established pursuant to this article does charge family
25fees, the program shall not charge a fee to a family for a childbegin delete whoend delete
26begin insert if the program knows that the childend insert isbegin delete identified asend delete a homeless
27youth, as defined by the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless
28Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11434a), or for a child whobegin insert the
29program knowsend insert
is in foster care.

30

SEC. 3.  

Section 8483 of the Education Code is amended to
31read:

32

8483.  

(a) (1) Every after school component of a program
33established pursuant to this article shall commence immediately
34upon the conclusion of the regular schoolday, and operate a
35minimum of 15 hours per week, and at least until 6 p.m. on every
36regular schoolday. Every after school component of the program
37shall establish a policy regarding reasonable early daily release of
38pupils from the program. For those programs or schoolsites
39operating in a community where the early release policy does not
40meet the unique needs of that community or school, or both,
P4    1documented evidence may be submitted to the department for an
2exception and a request for approval of an alternative plan.

3(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that elementary school
4pupils participate in the full day of the program every day during
5which pupils participate and that pupils in middle school or junior
6high school attend a minimum of nine hours a week and three days
7a week to accomplish program goals.

8(3) In order to develop an age-appropriate after school program
9for pupils in middle school or junior high school, programs
10established pursuant to this article may implement a flexible
11attendance schedule for those pupils.

12(b) The administrators of a program established pursuant to this
13article have the option of operating during any combination of
14summer, intersession, or vacation periods for a minimum of three
15hours per day for the regular school year pursuant to Section
168483.7.

17(c) begin insert(1)end insertbegin insertend insertPriority for enrollment of pupils in an after school
18program shall be as follows:

begin delete

19(1)

end delete

20begin insert(A)end insert First priority shall go to pupils who are identifiedbegin insert by the
21programend insert
as homeless youth, as defined by the federal
22McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec.
2311434a), at the time that they apply for enrollment or at any time
24during the school year, and to pupils who arebegin insert identified by the
25program as beingend insert
in foster care.

begin delete

26(2)

end delete

27begin insert(B)end insert For programs serving middle and junior high school pupils,
28second priority shall go to pupils who attend daily.

begin insert

29
(2) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to require a
30program to verify, or a school district to disclose to an after school
31program, that a pupil applying for or participating in the program
32is a homeless youth or a foster youth.

end insert
begin insert

33
(3) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to require or
34authorize the disenrollment of a current participant in order to
35secure the enrollment of a pupil who has priority for enrollment.

end insert

36(d) A program shall inform the parent or caregiver of a pupil of
37the right of homeless children and foster children to receive priority
38enrollment and how to request priority enrollment.

39(e) For purposes of identifying a pupil who is eligible for priority
40enrollmentbegin delete on the basis of being homeless,end deletebegin insert pursuant to subdivision
P5    1(c),end insert
the administrators of a programbegin delete may verify the homeless status
2of a pupilend delete
begin insert shall allow self-certification of the pupil as a homeless
3youth or a foster youth. Administrators of a program may also
4obtain this informationend insert
through the school district liaison
5designated for homeless children, provided that the school district
6has a waiver on file allowing for the release of this information.
7
begin delete If that information is not available through the school district, the
8program shall allow the parent or caregiver of the pupil who is
9enrolling in the program or requesting placement on a program
10waiting list to verify the homeless status of the pupil.end delete

begin delete

11(f) For purposes of identifying a pupil who is eligible for priority
12enrollment on the basis of being in foster care, the administrators
13of a program may verify that a pupil is in foster care through the
14school district, if that information is available, or through the foster
15parent of the pupil who is enrolling in the program or requesting
16placement on a program waiting list.

end delete
17

SEC. 4.  

Section 8483.95 is added to the Education Code, to
18read:

19

8483.95.  

It is the intent of the Legislature that a program
20established pursuant to this article shall not use its core operating
21funds for mandatory snacks or meals, but shall instead seek to
22qualify program sites as approved distribution sites for federally
23funded after school snacks or meals provided for by the National
24School Lunch Program, the Summer Food Service Program, or
25the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

26

SEC. 5.  

The Legislature finds and declares that this act furthers
27the purpose of the After School Education and Safety Program
28Act of 2002.



O

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