BILL NUMBER: AB 1567 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 27, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2016
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 to
pupils who are identified by the program as homeless youth, as
defined, and pupils who are identified by the program as being
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 would authorize
require the administrators of a program to
verify the homeless status of a pupil allow
self-certification of the pupil as a homeless youth or a foster
youth, and would authorize administrators to obtain this information
through the school district liaison designated for homeless
children, as 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. specified.
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 child who if
the program knows that the child is a homeless youth or for a
child who the program knows 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:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The After School Education and Safety (ASES) Program offers
quality after school learning and development opportunities that can
make a difference for all of the children they serve, but especially
for low-income children.
(b) There is strong evidence that access to after school and
summer programs increases the likelihood that a child will succeed in
school and graduate from high school.
(c) Research shows that children, especially girls, benefit from
improved health and academic outcomes when they participate in after
school programs.
(d) The most significant academic gains for children enrolled in
the ASES Program occur among those who face the most challenges.
(e) Due to significant underfunding of the ASES Program, more than
half of the program site coordinators recently reported that they
could not enroll all interested children and had resorted to the use
of a waiting list.
(f) The federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
Sec. 11301 et seq.) ensures the educational rights and protections of
homeless children, defined by the act as individuals who lack a
fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.
(g) Until the ASES Program is funded for every child seeking to be
enrolled, children who are homeless might not benefit from the
program without priority access and waivers of fees.
(h) In order to ensure that participating children receive
adequate nutrition and to reduce the cost-per-child expenses of ASES
programs, it is important to encourage collaboration between local
educational agencies and other community-based organizations
sponsoring federally funded after school snack and meal programs.
SEC. 2. Section 8482.6 of the Education Code is amended to read:
8482.6. Every pupil attending a school operating a program
pursuant to this article is eligible to participate in the program,
subject to program capacity. A program established pursuant to this
article is not required to charge family fees or conduct individual
eligibility determinations based on need or income. If a program
established pursuant to this article does charge family fees, the
program shall not charge a fee to a family for a child who
if the program knows that the child is
identified as a homeless youth, as defined by the federal
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11434a), or
for a child who the program knows is in foster care.
SEC. 3. Section 8483 of the Education Code is amended to read:
8483. (a) (1) Every after school component of a program
established pursuant to this article shall commence immediately upon
the conclusion of the regular schoolday, and operate a minimum of 15
hours per week, and at least until 6 p.m. on every regular schoolday.
Every after school component of the program shall establish a policy
regarding reasonable early daily release of pupils from the program.
For those programs or schoolsites operating in a community where the
early release policy does not meet the unique needs of that
community or school, or both, documented evidence may be submitted to
the department for an exception and a request for approval of an
alternative plan.
(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that elementary school
pupils participate in the full day of the program every day during
which pupils participate and that pupils in middle school or junior
high school attend a minimum of nine hours a week and three days a
week to accomplish program goals.
(3) In order to develop an age-appropriate after school program
for pupils in middle school or junior high school, programs
established pursuant to this article may implement a flexible
attendance schedule for those pupils.
(b) The administrators of a program established pursuant to this
article have the option of operating during any combination of
summer, intersession, or vacation periods for a minimum of three
hours per day for the regular school year pursuant to Section 8483.7.
(c) (1) Priority for enrollment of pupils in
an after school program shall be as follows:
(1)
(A) First priority shall go to pupils who are
identified by the program as homeless youth, as defined by
the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec.
11434a), at the time that they apply for enrollment or at any time
during the school year, and to pupils who are identified by the
program as being in foster care.
(2)
(B) For programs serving middle and junior high school
pupils, second priority shall go to pupils who attend daily.
(2) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to require a
program to verify, or a school district to disclose to an after
school program, that a pupil applying for or participating in the
program is a homeless youth or a foster youth.
(3) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to require or
authorize the disenrollment of a current participant in order to
secure the enrollment of a pupil who has priority for enrollment.
(d) A program shall 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.
(e) For purposes of identifying a pupil who is eligible for
priority enrollment on the basis of being homeless,
pursuant to subdivision (c), the administrators
of a program may verify the homeless status of a pupil
shall allow self-certification of the pupil as a
homeless youth or a foster youth. Administrators of a program may
also obtain this information through the school district
liaison designated for homeless children, provided that the school
district has a waiver on file allowing for the release of this
information. If that information is not available through
the school district, the program shall allow the parent or caregiver
of the pupil who is enrolling in the program or requesting placement
on a program waiting list to verify the homeless status of the pupil.
(f) For purposes of identifying a pupil who is eligible for
priority enrollment on the basis of being in foster care, the
administrators of a program may 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 who is enrolling in the
program or requesting placement on a program waiting list.
SEC. 4. Section 8483.95 is added to the Education Code, to read:
8483.95. It is the intent of the Legislature that a program
established pursuant to this article shall not use its core operating
funds for mandatory snacks or meals, but shall instead seek to
qualify program sites as approved distribution sites for federally
funded after school snacks or meals provided for by the National
School Lunch Program, the Summer Food Service Program, or the Child
and Adult Care Food Program.
SEC. 5. The Legislature finds and declares that this act furthers
the purpose of the After School Education and Safety Program Act of
2002.