BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
1567 (Campos)
As Amended August 17, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |80-0 |(June 1, 2016) |SENATE: |39-0 |(August 22, |
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Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY: Provides, beginning on July 1, 2017, 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
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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.
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
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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, the School Breakfast 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.
The Senate amendments add the priority enrollment and fee
provisions to the Education Code sections relating to the school
breakfast program and add an implementation date of July 1,
2017.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, though this bill does not expand services, it creates
a potentially significant Proposition 98 of 1988 cost pressure
to the extent children whose families are currently able to pay
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
ASES program.
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 nine students. After school programs must
commence right after school and at least until 6 p.m. for 15
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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
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
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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.
This 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
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."
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Analysis Prepared by: Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916)
319-2087 FN: 0004377