BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                              Senator Carol Liu, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:             AB 1995            
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          |Author:    |Williams                                             |
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          |Version:   |May 31, 2016                             Hearing     |
          |           |Date:    June 22, 2016                               |
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          |Urgency:   |No                     |Fiscal:    |Yes              |
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          |Consultant:|Kathleen Chavira                                     |
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          Subject:  Community colleges:  homeless students:  access to  
          shower facilities


            SUMMARY
          
          This bill requires a community college campus to grant access to  
          shower facilities for enrolled homeless youth, as specified. 

            BACKGROUND
          
          Existing federal law defines the term "homeless children and  
          youth" to mean individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and  
          adequate nighttime residence, as specified, including, but not  
          limited to, the following:  a) children and youth who are  
          sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing,  
          economic hardship, or a similar reason; b) are living in motels,  
          hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of  
          alternative adequate accommodations; c) are living in emergency  
          or transitional shelters; d) are abandoned in hospitals; e) are  
          awaiting foster care placement; f) have a primary nighttime  
          residence that is a public or private place not designed for or  
          ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human  
          beings; and, g) are living in cars, parks, public spaces,  
          abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations,  
          or similar settings: h) migratory children who qualify as  
          homeless for the purposes of this part because the children are  
          living in circumstances previously described. 
          (42 United States Code § 11434a(2))








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          Current law established the Student Success Act, which applies  
          to all community college students, for the purpose of increasing  
          student access and success by providing effective core  
          matriculation services, including orientation, assessment and  
          placement, counseling and other education planning services and  
          academic interventions.  Community colleges have the  
          responsibility to provide student services and support,  
          including orientation, assessment, counseling and education  
          planning, referral to specialized support services, and  
          evaluation of each student's progress and referral to  
          appropriate interventions.  Students have the responsibility to  
          identify an academic and career goal, declare a specific course  
          of study, be diligent in class attendance and completion of  
          assigned coursework, and complete courses and maintain academic  
          progress toward an educational goal.  (Education Code §  
          78210-78219; 5 California Code of Regulations § 55500-55534)





            ANALYSIS
          
          This bill:

          1)   Requires the governing board of the community college  
               district that has a campus with shower facilities for  
               student use to grant access to those facilities to any  
               homeless student.  It:

                    a)             Requires that access be granted to a  
                    homeless student enrolled in coursework, who has paid  
                    enrollment fees, and is in good standing with the  
                    community college district.

                    b)             Prohibits any requirement that the  
                    student enroll in additional courses to gain this  
                    access.

          2)   Requires the governing board to determine an implementation  
               plan of action for this purpose that includes, but is not  
               limited to, all of the following:

                    a)             Hours of operation for the shower  








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                    facilities that are:

                    i)             Consistent with campus hours of  
                  instruction.

                    ii)            Do not conflict with the campus'  
                  intercollegiate athletic program.

                    b)             The minimum number of units a student  
                    must be enrolled in to use the facilities.

                    c)             A plan of action if hours of operation  
                    conflict with an intercollegiate athletic program.

                    d)             A definition of homeless student that  
                    is both:

                           i)                  Based on the definition of  
                         homeless youth and the McKinney-Vento Homeless  
                         Assistance Act. (42 U.S.C. § 11434a(2))

                           ii)     Reflects the age of the campus'  
                         homeless student population. 

          3)   Authorizes the use of Student Success Support Program funds  
               for purposes of administering a program to implement these  
               provisions.

          STAFF COMMENTS
          
          1)   Need for the bill. According to the author, new data from  
               the 2015 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)  
               indicate that 58,000 college students are homeless  
               nationwide, up from 47,200 in 2009.  California has the  
               highest rate of homeless youth in the nation and twice the  
               national average rate of homeless students.  Students  
               without permanent housing may go without showers, basic  
               hygienic products, and other essential services.  Students  
               are also less likely to attend class when they do not  
               shower and feel insecure about 
               their physical appearance.  According to the author, this  
               bill will increase the likelihood of educational goal  
               completion for students facing a housing or financial  
               crisis. 








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          2)   Student Success at the Community Colleges.  Pursuant to  
               Senate Bill 1143 (Liu, Chapter 409, Statutes of 2010), the  
               Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges  
               created the Student Success Task Force (SSTF); 20  
               individuals (community college chief executive officers,  
               faculty, students, researchers, staff and external stake  
               holders) who spent a year researching, studying and  
               debating the best methods to improve student outcomes at  
               the community colleges. 

               According to the SSTF report, which was unanimously adopted  
               by the Board of Governors in January 2012, it was their  
               goal to identify best practices for promoting student  
               success and to develop statewide strategies to take these  
               approaches to scale while ensuring that educational  
               opportunity for historically underrepresented students  
               would not just be maintained, but bolstered. 
               The Student Success Task Force (SSTF efforts resulted in 22  
               specific recommendations focused on the following eight  
               areas: 

               a)        Increasing college and career readiness.

               b)        Strengthening support for entering students.

               c)        Incentivizing successful student behaviors.

               d)        Aligning course offerings to meet student needs.

               e)        Improving education of basic skills students.

               f)        Revitalizing and re-envisioning professional  
               development.

               g)        Enabling efficient statewide leadership and  
                    increase coordination among colleges.

               h)        Aligning resources with student success  
               recommendations.

               Implementation of these recommendations is being  
               accomplished by the Chancellor's Office of the California  
               Community Colleges via the "Student Success Initiative"  








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               through regulatory changes, system-wide administrative  
               policies, local best practices and legislation. These  
               implementation efforts include the following:

               a)        SB 1456 (Lowenthal, Chapter 624, Statutes of  
                    2013) recast the Seymour-Campbell Matriculation Act of  
                    1986 in order to target funding to services such as  
                    orientation, assessment, and counseling and advising  
                    to assist students with the development of education  
                    plans.  It also required that students define goals,  
                    required that students declare a course of study and  
                    mandated student participation in assessment,  
                    orientation and education planning.

               b)        At a regulatory level, the Board of Governors  
                    approved regulations that provide enrollment priority  
                    to students who have participated in assessment,  
                    orientation, and who have developed an education plan.  
                     In addition, statutory priority enrollment extended  
                    to veterans, foster youth, Extended Opportunity  
                    Program & Services students, and disabled students  
                    requires participation in these Student Success  
                    Services and programs.  Students are now required to  
                    complete core services as well as to declare a course  
                    of study. In addition, districts are now required to  
                    notify students that accumulating 100 degree  
                    applicable units or being on academic or progress  
                    probation for two consecutive terms will result in the  
                    loss of enrollment priority.  

               c)        Since 2012, the State has increased ongoing  
                    funding for community college student success and  
                    support by nearly $600 Million. These funds have been  
                    designated to support the Student Services Support  
                    Program (SSSP) established by SB 1456 (Lowenthal) to  
                    provide targeted services such as orientation,  
                    assessment, and counseling and advising to assist  
                    students with the development of education plans.  In  
                    addition these funds support the creation of Student  
                    Equity Plans to improve access and outcomes for  
                    disadvantaged groups, as well as a number of  
                    Chancellor's Office Initiatives to provide related  
                    support to districts.  









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          In February 2016, this Committee held an informational hearing,  
          California's Community Colleges: Implementation of Student  
          Success where the committee received an update on the use of  
          these funds, the progress made in implementing student success  
          strategies both systemwide and at the campus level, and heard  
          preliminary reports on student outcomes.  

          3)   Related report expected.  SB 1456 (Lowenthal, Chapter 624,  
               Statutes of 2012), in addition to establishing the Student  
               Success Act of 2012, required the Legislative Analyst (LAO)  
               to submit a report to the Legislature evaluating progress  
               on implementation of  the Act and impacts on student  
               completion, by July 1, 2016.  According to the LAO, this  
               report should be available in mid-September 2016.

               According to the LAO, the report will focus on  
               implementation of the Student Success and Support Program  
               and Student Equity Program. The LAO report will evaluate  
               how the system and individual colleges and districts have  
               implemented student success initiatives, including how they  
               have used state categorical funding for these programs. The  
               LAO will also examine the extent to which colleges have  
               hired additional counselors, and the extent to which  
               colleges are providing mandatory services to entering  
               students.  In addition, the LAO will attempt to determine  
               the early effects of these programs on student success  
               rates and student equity. 

               Should any expansion of the use of these funds be  
               authorized prior to the LAO evaluation of the use/need for  
               these funds for their original purpose? 

          4)   Dilution of SSSP efforts.  As noted in staff comment #2,  
               the State has allocated substantial funding to provide  
               direct matriculation services to students through the  
               Student Success and Support Program (SSSP).  This bill  
               authorizes the use of SSSP funds to pay for any  
               administrative costs related to the use of shower  
               facilities.  

               Should this committee authorize the use of SSSP funds for  
               purposes unrelated to the 6-year effort to implement  
               strategies to incentivize successful student behaviors and  
               improve completion at the community colleges?  Would this  








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               bill set a precedent that dilutes SSSP funds intended for  
               critical academic support services for the provision of  
               nonacademic services? Are there other more appropriate  
               funding sources for this purpose?

               Staff recommends the bill be amended to delete the  
               authorization to use SSSP funds for this purpose.  

          5)   Less disruption.  As currently drafted, the bill requires  
               that hours of operation be consistent with campus hours of  
               instruction and prohibit any conflict with the campus  
               intercollegiate athletic program.  Campus hours of  
               instruction may not be consistent with gym hours of  
               operation. Consistent with the request of the author, staff  
               recommends the bill be amended on page 3 in subdivision (c)  
               to require consistency with gym hours of operation rather  
               than campus hours of instruction.  

          6)   Similar legislation. AB 2822 (Chiu), also on the  
               Committee's agenda today,  authorizes the use of up to 3  
               percent of SSSP funding received by a community college  
               campus or district for the provision of emergency student  
               financial assistance.  

            SUPPORT
          
          California Coalition for Youth
          Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
          North Orange County Community College District

            OPPOSITION
           
           None received on this version.

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