BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       AB 1567|
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 1567
          Author:   Campos (D) 
          Amended:  8/17/16 in Senate
          Vote:     21 

           SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE:  9-0, 6/15/16
           AYES:  Liu, Block, Hancock, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan,  
            Vidak

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  7-0, 8/11/16
           AYES:  Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  80-0, 6/1/16 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Before and after school programs:  enrollment:   
                     fees:  homeless and foster youth:  snacks or meals


          SOURCE:    California 9to5
                     Childrens Defense Fund  California 
                     Western Center on Law and Poverty


          DIGEST:  This bill, beginning July 1, 2017, establishes first  
          priority for enrollment in before and after school programs to  
          students who are identified as homeless and in foster care, and  
          prohibits programs from charging a family for a child that the  
          program knows to be a homeless youth or a foster care youth.


          Senate Floor Amendments of 8/17/16 include double-jointing  
          provisions to avoid chaptering problems with AB 2615 (Wood).


          ANALYSIS: 








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          Existing federal law:

          1)Enacts the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Children and Youths  
            Program which requires state educational agencies to ensure  
            that homeless children and youth have equal access to the same  
            free public education as is provided to other children and  
            youth.  States are required to review and undertake steps to  
            revise any laws, regulations, practices, or policies that may  
            act as barriers to the enrollment, attendance, or success in  
            school of homeless children and youth.  (United States Code,  
            Title 42, § 11431, et seq.)

          2)Enacts the McKinney-Vento Act which requires each local  
            educational agency to designate a staff person as a liaison  
            for homeless children and youth, and carry out specific  
            duties, such as ensuring immediate enrollment, access to  
            educational opportunities offered to other students, and  
            providing notice of the rights of homeless youth.  (USC, Title  
            42, § 11432(g)(1)(j)(ii))


          Existing state law:

          1)Establishes the After School Education and Safety (ASES)  
            program consisting of before and after school components,  
            serving students in grades K-9, each of which must include an  
            educational and literacy element and an educational enrichment  
            element.  (Education Code § 8482)

          2)Specifies that every student attending a school operating ASES  
            program is eligible to participate in the program, subject to  
            capacity. A program is not required to charge family fess or  
            conduct eligibility determinations based on need.  (EC §  
            8482.6) 

          This bill, beginning July 1, 2017, establishes first priority  
          for enrollment in before and after school programs to students  
          who are identified as homeless and in foster care, and prohibits  
          programs from charging a family for a child that the program  
          knows to be a homeless youth or a foster care youth.  








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          Specifically it:

          1)Prohibits a before and after school program from charging  
            family fees if the program knows that the child is a homeless  
            youth, as defined in the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless  
            Assistance Act (USC, Title 42, § 11434(a)) or knows that the  
            child is in foster care. 

          2)Modifies priority for enrollment of students in before and  
            after school programs as follows:

             a)   Provides first priority to students who are identified  
               by the program as homeless youth, as defined by federal  
               law, and to students who are identified by the program as  
               being in foster care.  

             b)   For programs serving middle or junior high school  
               students, second priority shall go to students in middle or  
               junior high school who attend daily. Current law  
               establishes priority enrollment solely for students in  
               middle or junior high school. 

          3)Prohibits anything in the bill's provisions from being  
            construed to:

             a)   Require a program to verify, or a school to disclose to  
               an after school program, that a student applying for or  
               participating in the program is a homeless youth or a  
               foster youth.

             b)   Require or authorize the disenrollment of a current  
               participant in order to secure the enrollment of a pupil  
               who has priority for enrollment.

          4)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.

          5)Requires program administrators to allow a student to  
            self-certify as a homeless youth or foster care youth, for  
            purposes of identifying a student who is eligible for priority  








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            enrollment. 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.

          6)Expresses the intent of the Legislature that an ASES program  
            not use its core operating funds for mandatory snacks or  
            meals, but 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, School Breakfast Program, or the  
            Child and Adult Care Food Program.

          7)Includes double-jointing provisions to avoid chaptering  
            problems with AB 2615 (Wood).


           Comments
               
          1)Need for the bill.  According to the United States Department  
            of Education, 4 percent of California's students (284,086)  
            were known to have experienced homelessness at some point  
            during the 2013-2014 school year. According to the author,  
            California's after school programs offer quality learning and  
            development opportunities that can make a difference for all  
            the children they serve but especially for low-income  
            children. The author asserts that some of the poorest and most  
            vulnerable children do not have access to the programs because  
            they are unable to secure a spot on the waiting list or to pay  
            the minimal fee required by some programs. This bill seeks to  
            ensure that state funded afterschool programs are available to  
            the neediest of children by giving priority access and waving  
            fees for homeless or foster care youth. 

          2)After School Education and Safety (ASES) program.  The ASES  
            Program is the result of the 2002 voter-approved initiative,  
            Proposition 49. The program funds the establishment of local  
            before and after school education and enrichment programs.  
            These programs are created through partnerships between  
            schools and local community resources to provide literacy,  
            academic enrichment and safe constructive alternatives for  








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            students in kindergarten through ninth grade (K-9). A  
            nutritious snack is provided daily to students participating  
            in the program. The snack provided must meet specified state  
            or federal standards. The current funding level for the ASES  
            program is $550 million. This bill provides priority for  
            enrollment in before and after school programs to homeless  
            youth, as defined by the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless  
            Assistance Act, and to foster care students.  

          3)Family fees.  As written, this bill prohibits a before and  
            after school program from charging family fees for services  
            provided to a homeless or foster care youth.  The bill allows  
            families to self-certify that a student is homeless or is a  
            foster care student and authorizes an ASES program to obtain  
            this information through the school district liaison  
            designated for homeless children.  

            Current law does not require ASES programs to charge family  
            fees or to conduct individual eligibility determinations based  
            on need or income.  It appears that ASES programs have the  
            ability to charge family fees; however, it is unlikely that  
            many programs charge fees, or reap significant fees, as ASES  
            programs serve schools where a minimum of 50% of the students  
            are eligible for free- or reduced-price meals, and funding  
            priority is given to programs serving the highest percentages  
            of students who are eligible for free and reduced-price meals.  
            Given the current nature of the program and its focus on low  
            income families these provisions are consistent with the  
            program's operations and policies.


          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   No


          According to the Senate Committee on Appropriation, this bill  
          would impose to the following costs:


           Though this bill does not expand services, it creates a  
            potentially significant Proposition 98 cost pressure to the  
            extent children whose families are currently able to pay  








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            family fees are displaced due to priority enrollment for  
            homeless and foster youth, whose fees would be waived.  This  
            would result in forgone revenue that would have otherwise  
            supported local programs, thereby creating cost pressures on  
            the After School Education and Safety program. 




          SUPPORT:   (Verified 8/12/16)


          California 9to5 (co-source) 
          Children's Defense Fund - California (co-source) 
          Western Law Center on Law and Poverty (co-source) 
          California Food Policy Advocates 
          Hunger Action Los Angeles


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified 8/12/16)


          None received

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  80-0, 6/1/16
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,  
            Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,  
            Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,  
            Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth  
            Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,  
            Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,  
            Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim,  
            Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,  
            Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,  
            O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,  
            Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,  
            Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon

          Prepared by:Olgalilia Ramirez / ED. / (916) 651-4105
          8/18/16 16:50:30










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