Amended in Assembly May 27, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 28, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2285

Introduced by Assembly Member McCarty

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(Coauthor: Assembly Member Gonzalez)

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February 18, 2016

An act to add and repeal begin delete Article 4.2 (commencing with Section 18985) of Chapter 4 of Part 2 of Division 5 of Title 2 end delete begin insert Article 3 (commencing with Section 54660) of Chapter 9 of Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, and to add and repeal Section 19816.22 end insert of the Government Code, relating to state begin delete employment. end delete begin insert employment, and making an appropriation therefor. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2285, as amended, McCarty. State employment: former foster youth.

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Existing

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begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Existing end insert law, the State Civil Service Act, provides for filling certain state positions through the process of examinations and the establishment of eligible lists and promotional lists. Existing law requires the Department of Human Resources to administer the Personnel Classification Plan of the State of California, including the allocation of every position to the appropriate class in the classification plan.

Existing law requires the Department of Human Resources to administer the Limited Examination and Appointment Program (LEAP) to provide an alternative to the traditional civil service examination and appointment process to facilitate the hiring of persons with disabilities in state civil service. Existing law requires the department to conduct competitive examinations to determine eligibility for appointment under LEAP and to refer the names of eligible applicants who meet the minimum qualifications of a job classification to the appointing powers for examination appointments, as specified.

Existing law authorizes the Employment Development Department to contract with a specified nonprofit organization meeting specified criteria to manage grant programs designed to help eligible at-risk youth complete their secondary education and acquire the skills necessary to successfully transition into the workforce or enroll in postsecondary education.

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations regarding the state’s responsibility for the well-being of foster youth and former foster youth. The begin delete bill would, end delete begin insert bill, end insert until January 1, begin delete 2021, end delete begin insert 2020, would end insert require the begin delete State Personnel Board end delete begin insert Department of Human Resources end insert to establish an emancipated foster youth program to promote the training of qualified foster youth in specified begin delete entry level end delete begin insert entry-level end insert unclassified positions for their eventual hiring in classified positions within Sacramento with any state agency or department as determined by the begin delete board. end delete begin insert department. end insert The bill would require a participant in the program to pass a written examination for the classification in which he or she is trained, if generally required for applicants in that classification, after 3 months, but before 9 months, of training.

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(2) Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state, and authorizes local educational agencies throughout the state to operate schools and provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law establishes the Consolidated Work Program Fund in the State Treasury for the receipt of all moneys deposited pursuant to the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Existing law provides that moneys in the fund are to be made available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Employment Development Department, for expenditure consistent with the purposes of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and the state plan required by the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

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This bill would require the Sacramento County Office of Education to develop and administer the Former Foster Youth Job Readiness Training Pilot Program with moneys appropriated by the Legislature for that purpose. The bill would appropriate $1,100,000 from the Consolidated Work Program Fund to the Sacramento County Office of Education to develop an application and create criteria for selecting eligible organizations to provide job readiness training to eligible participants. The bill would require the Sacramento County Office of Education to award grants to selected eligible organizations to pay for trainers to provide job readiness training to eligible participants and to provide a stipend to eligible participants who satisfy specified conditions. The bill would require the Sacramento County Office of Education to compile information regarding participation in the program. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2020.

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This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Sacramento County Office of Education.

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The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

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This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert .

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) The state has a unique obligation to children and youth in
the foster care system. When the state removes children and youth
from their parents, it is responsible for providing for the safety and
well-being of the children and youth and for preparing them for
self-sufficient adulthood.

(b) Foster youth who leave the foster care system because of
age face unique challenges in seeking and obtaining employment
upon leaving the system. The foster care program provides little
assistance to youth in finding employment.

(c) The unemployment rate for youth who have left the foster
care system because of age is estimated at 50 percent.

(d) The state is a major employer within the state, yet state law
makes no provision for assisting youth who have left the foster
care system because of age in becoming civil service employees
of the state.

(e) The state owes a unique responsibility to foster youth in
assisting them to secure permanent employment. It also has an
obligation to demonstrate to private employers, by example, the
importance of hiring foster youth and former foster youth.

(f) It is the intent of the Legislature to recognize the state’s role
as a parent to children and youth in foster care and to assist them
in securing permanent employment in state government by
providing them access to needed training positions.

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

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begin insert Article 3 (commencing with Section 54660) is added
to Chapter 9 of Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the end insert begin insert Education
Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

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Article begin insert 3. end insert   Former Foster Youth Job Readiness Training Pilot
Program

 

begin insert 54660. end insert   

(a) With moneys appropriated by the Legislature for
the purposes of this article, the Sacramento County Office of
Education shall develop and administer the Former Foster Youth
Job Readiness Training Pilot Program.

(b) The purpose of the program is to prepare the “aged out”
foster care population for entry-level employment in state service.

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(a) The Sacramento County Office of Education shall
develop an application and create criteria for selecting eligible
organizations to provide job readiness training to eligible
participants.

(b) The Sacramento County Office of Education shall award
grants to selected eligible organizations that shall be used for the
following purposes:

(1) To pay for trainers to provide job readiness training to
eligible participants.

(2) To provide a stipend to an eligible participant who satisfies
both of the following:

(A) Remains actively engaged in and attends the training as set
forth in his or her individual service plan.

(B) If he or she has not received a high school diploma or high
school equivalency certificate, the participant shall enroll, be
actively engaged in, and attend a high school equivalency exam
preparation class.

(c) The Sacramento County Office of Education shall compile
disaggregated data on the number of participants enrolling in the
program, the number of participants completing the program, the
number of participants receiving a placement after completing the
program, and the number of participants receiving state
employment after completing a placement. The office, upon request,
shall make this data available to the Department of Human
Resources and the Legislature.

(d) For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Eligible organization” means an organization that satisfies
all of the following:

(A) The organization is exempt from federal income taxation
as an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code and is in compliance with all applicable laws and
requirements.

(B) The organization demonstrates expertise in providing job
readiness training.

(C) Any additional criteria required by the Sacramento County
Office of Education to promote the job readiness training of eligible
participants.

(2) “Eligible participant” means an individual who is 25 years
of age or younger and who is certified by the State Department of
Social Services as having been, for at least one year at any time
on or after the date that the individual turns 15 years of age, either
a recipient of foster care maintenance payments under a state plan
approved under Part E of Title IV of the federal Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 670 et seq.), or in a foster care program under
the responsibility of the State of California.

(3) “Job readiness training” means an individual service plan
that develops core competencies that create an experience and
educational base for an individual to meet the qualifications for
entry-level employment in state service.

begin insert 54662. end insert   

This article shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2020, and as of that date is repealed.

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SEC. 2.  

Article 4.2 (commencing with Section 18985) is added
to Chapter 4 of Part 2 of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government
Code, to read:

 

Article 4.2.  Emancipated Foster Youth Program

 

18985.  

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begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

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begin insert Section 19816.22 is added to the end insert begin insert Government Code end insert begin insert ,
to read: end insert

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begin insert 19816.22. end insert   

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(a) The begin delete State Personnel Board, end delete begin insert department, end insert in
consultation with the State Department of Social begin delete Services, shall
establish an emancipated foster youth program to provide state
employment training opportunities for qualified foster youth or
former foster youth. The program end delete begin insert Services and the Sacramento
County Office of Education, end insert shall promote the training of begin delete qualified end delete
foster youth begin insert who participate in the Former Foster Youth Job
Readiness Training Pilot Program (Article 3 (commencing with
Section 54660), Chapter 9, Part 29, Division 4, Title 2, Education
Code) end insert in specified begin delete entry level end delete begin insert entry-level end insert unclassified positions
for their eventual hiring in classified positions with any state
agency or department begin insert that is located within the County of
Sacramento, end insert as determined by the begin delete board that are located within
the County of Sacramento. end delete begin insert department. end insert

(b) A participant in the begin delete emancipated foster youth end delete begin insert pilot end insert program
shall not apply for a classification unless he or she meets the
minimum qualifications for that classification.

(c) After a participant in the begin delete emancipated foster youth end delete begin insert pilot end insert
program has been trained in an unclassified position for three
months, but before being trained for nine months, he or she shall
take a written examination for the classification in which he or she
is trained, if a written examination is generally required for other
applicants in that classification. The participant shall be eligible
to take the written examination only after receiving a positive
recommendation from the appropriate supervisor.

(d) A participant in the begin delete emancipated foster youth end delete begin insert pilot end insert program
who does not pass the written examination for the classification
in which he or she is trained, or who does not receive a favorable
promotional rating, shall be released from the training program.

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(e) This section shall be repealed on January 1, 2020.

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18985.1.  

For the purposes of this article, “qualified foster youth
or former foster youth” means an individual who is 25 years of
age or younger and who is certified by the State Department of
Social Services as having been, for at least one year at any time
on or after the date that the individual turns 15 years of age, either
a recipient of foster care maintenance payments under a state plan
approved under Part E of Title IV of the federal Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 670 et seq.), or in a foster care program under
the responsibility of the State of California.

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18985.2.  

This article shall be repealed on January 1, 2021.

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begin insert SEC. 4. end insert   

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The Legislature finds and declares that a special law
is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable
within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California
Constitution because of the need to enact Section 2 of this act on
a trial basis only, applied to one appropriately large and diverse
county, before extending the act to every county in the state.

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begin insert SEC. 5. end insert   

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begin insert To the extent permitted by federal law, the sum of one
million one hundred thousand dollars ($1,100,000) is hereby
appropriated from the Consolidated Work Program Fund to the
Sacramento County Office of Education for the purpose of
implementing the Former Foster Youth Job Readiness Training
Pilot Program pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section
54660) to Chapter 9 of Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Education Code. end insert

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begin insert SEC. 6. end insert   

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If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

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