BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1567 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 1567 (Campos) As Amended May 27, 2016 Majority vote ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Education |7-0 |O'Donnell, Olsen, | | | | |Kim, McCarty, | | | | |Santiago, Thurmond, | | | | |Weber | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | | | | |Bloom, Bonilla, | | | | |Bonta, Calderon, | | | | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | | | | |Gallagher, Eduardo | | | | |Garcia, Roger | | | | |Hernández, Holden, | | | | |Jones, Obernolte, | | | | |Quirk, Santiago, | | | | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ AB 1567 Page 2 SUMMARY: Provides homeless students and students who are in foster care priority for enrolling in before and after school programs and prohibits a program that charges family fees from charging a fee to a family of a homeless or foster care student. Specifically, this bill: 1)Prohibits a before school or after school program funded by state and federal funds from charging fees to a family for a child, if the program knows that the child is a homeless youth, or for a child who the program knows is in foster care. 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 by the program as homeless youth, as defined in the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, 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. b) For programs serving middle and junior high school pupils, second priority shall go to pupils who attend daily. 3)Specifies that nothing shall be construed to require a program to verify, or a school 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. AB 1567 Page 3 4)Specifies that nothing 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. 5)Requires a 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. 6)Specifies that for purposes of identifying a pupil who is eligible for priority enrollment on the basis of being homeless, the administrators of a program shall allow self-certification of the pupil as a homeless youth or a foster youth. Specifies that 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. 7)Expresses the intent of the Legislature that an After School Education and Safety Program (ASES) 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. 8)Makes declarations and findings regarding the benefits of the ASES program and the need to establish priority for enrollment for homeless and foster care students due to underfunding and waiting lists. AB 1567 Page 4 FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, unknown costs, likely less than $100,000, for after school program grantees to revise program applications to allow self-certification. COMMENTS: 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. Priority for enrollment. This bill requires priority for enrollment in before and after school programs to be given to homeless youth, as defined by the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, and to foster care pupils. The author states that there is strong evidence that access to after school and summer programs increases the likelihood of success in AB 1567 Page 5 elementary and high school, and reduces involvement in the criminal justice system, but low-income youth are unable to access these programs due to long wait lists and program fees. 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 California Department of Education (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 foster care pupils 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. The only priority mentioned under current law is for middle and junior high school pupils who attend daily. Older pupils are not as interested in participating in after school programs. Prioritizing those who attend daily ensures funds are used efficiently. This bill would change this category to a second priority. The bill allows families to self-certify that a pupil is homeless or is a foster care pupil and authorizes an ASES program to obtain this information through the school district liaison designated for homeless children. Family fees. This bill also prohibits programs from collecting fees from homeless youth or foster care pupils. ASES programs are authorized to charge fees, but data on the number of programs that charge fees 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 AB 1567 Page 6 access to the program. The sponsors, the Western Center on Law and Poverty and the Children's Defense Fund - California, 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 and exercise, with afterschool snacks and where they are not exposed to the elements (as are children who are homeless), are less likely to be able to participate." Analysis Prepared by: Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0003293