BILL NUMBER: SB 636 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Liu
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Weber)
(Coauthors: Senators Hancock and Wolk)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonilla, Calderon, Chiu, Dodd,
Frazier, McCarty, and Santiago)
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to add Chapter 6.1 (commencing with Section 13710) to Part
3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to
public social services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 636, as introduced, Liu. Homeless youth: basic material needs
assistance.
Existing law establishes various public social services programs
to provide protection, care, and assistance to the people of the
state in need of those services, by providing appropriate aid and
services to the needy and distressed. Existing law establishes
homeless youth emergency service pilot projects in the Counties of
Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Clara, and San Francisco.
This bill would create the Homeless Youth Basic Material Needs
Assistance Program. This bill would require that moneys appropriated
by the Legislature for the purposes of the program be allocated
proportionally by the State Department of Social Services to each
county program based on the number of homeless youth in the county.
The bill would authorize a county to establish the program or request
the department to administer the program, in which case the
department would be required to retain the county's proportional
share of funds and directly administer a program in that county. The
bill would authorize a county to join with one or more other counties
for the purpose of pooling their respective allocations and
establishing a program for those counties. The bill would require
each program to solicit proposals from, and contract with, nonprofit
organizations for the purpose of providing basic material needs
assistance to homeless youth in the county or counties as directed by
the entity administering the program. The bill would require
contracted nonprofit organizations to, among other things, provide a
minimum of 25% matching funds, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) During the 2013-14 academic year, 297,617 children and youth
enrolled in local educational agencies in California were identified
as homeless, as defined by the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301 et sec.). This population is
several times more than that of any other state in the nation and
equates to one homeless student in every classroom.
(b) The federal definition of homelessness is used by all public
schools in the United States, the Head Start program, and special
education, child nutrition, and other federal family and youth
programs. It includes children and youth who lack a fixed, regular,
and adequate nighttime residence, including those who live in
shelters, transitional housing, cars, campgrounds, motels, or who
share the housing of others temporarily due to loss of housing,
economic hardship, or similar reasons.
(c) A significant barrier to success faced by homeless children
and youth is access to basic materials including school supplies,
shoes, hygienic and dental products, and other basic necessities.
This and the accompanying low self-esteem lead to absenteeism and
truancy, which prevents homeless youth from obtaining the education
that is both their legal right and their best opportunity to escape
poverty.
(d) According to numerous homeless liaisons throughout California
that represent more than 70 percent of California's homeless children
and youth, the overwhelming majority of this population does not
have their basic material needs met.
(e) The local control funding formula does not specifically
address the unmet basic material needs of homeless children and
youth.
(f) This act addresses this barrier to success by articulating a
state policy framework to provide the most basic unmet material needs
of homeless children and youth, while also utilizing matching
resources and leveraging federal funds to ensure program stability
and longevity. This act is designed to ensure that all homeless
public school students have their basic material needs met so they
can attend school on a more equal playing field with their peers.
SEC. 2. Chapter 6.1 (commencing with Section 13710) is added to
Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
CHAPTER 6.1. HOMELESS YOUTH BASIC MATERIAL NEEDS ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM
13710. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Homeless Youth Basic Material Needs Assistance Program.
13712. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
apply:
(a) "Additional material needs assistance" means clothes,
blankets, and access to shelter.
(b) "Administering entity" means one of the following:
(1) A county that elects to establish a program and does not join
with another county as described in subdivision (c) of Section 13714.
(2) A county designated as the lead county, if two or more
counties elect to establish a program jointly under subdivision (c)
of Section 13714.
(3) The department, if a county declines to establish a program or
requests the department to administer the program.
(c) "Basic material needs assistance" means school supplies,
dental supplies and other hygienic products, shoes, and socks.
(d) "Department" means the State Department of Social Services.
(e) "Homeless youth" has the same meaning as that term is defined
in Section 11434a of Title 42 of the United States Code.
(f) "Nonprofit organization" means a nonprofit corporation
qualified to do business in California and qualified under Section
501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code.
(g) "Program" means the Homeless Youth Basic Material Needs
Assistance Program.
13714. (a) From moneys appropriated by the Legislature for the
purpose of this chapter, the department shall allocate a proportional
amount to each county program pursuant to this chapter based on that
county's respective number of homeless youth. The moneys allocated
to the county shall be used to establish and operate a Homeless Youth
Basic Material Needs Assistance Program for homeless youth in that
county.
(b) A county may join with one or more other counties for the
purpose of pooling the allocations made to the counties under this
section and establishing a program for those counties.
(c) If a county declines to establish a program or requests the
department to administer the program, the department shall retain the
county's proportional share of funds and shall directly administer a
program for homeless youth in that county, including the performance
of all duties set forth in this chapter.
13716. Each administering entity shall do all of the following:
(a) Solicit proposals from nonprofit organizations for the purpose
of providing basic material needs assistance to homeless youth in
the manner directed by the administering entity, subject to the
requirements imposed by this chapter.
(b) Select and contract with one or more nonprofit organizations
to participate in the program based on the proposals solicited under
subdivision (a). Selection of a nonprofit organization shall be based
on the following criteria:
(1) Demonstrated ability to form partnerships with local
educational agencies (LEAs).
(2) Demonstrated ability to provide basic material needs
assistance to homeless or low-income youth by working with LEAs.
(3) Ability to work with the homeless liaison of each LEA pursuant
to Section 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii) of Title 42 of the United States Code,
or his or her LEA-employed designee.
(4) Demonstrated ability to generate additional matching funds or
in-kind resources for similar programs.
(c) Require each nonprofit organization contracted under
subdivision (b) to do all of the following:
(1) Notify the homeless liaison of a county office of education of
the organization's intent to enter into new partnership agreements
with the LEAs in that county.
(2) Form or maintain partnerships with LEAs for the purpose of
providing basic material needs assistance to homeless youth.
(3) Notify the homeless liaison of a county office of education
each time a basic material needs assistance program commences or is
renewed.
(4) Provide basic material needs assistance to homeless youth,
giving first priority to hygiene, dental, and school supply needs. A
nonprofit organization may use other resources or demonstrated
savings to provide additional material needs assistance.
(5) Provide at least a 25-percent match for all moneys received
from the administering entity under this chapter. If the nonprofit
organization provides in-kind materials toward the 25-percent match,
the value of the in-kind materials contributing to a 25-percent match
shall be verified by the donor of the materials and shall not exceed
the market value of the materials if sold at retail. Any amounts
provided by the nonprofit organization that exceed the 25-percent
match constitute demonstrated savings that may be used in accordance
with paragraph (4).
(6) Consult with the children and families commission of the
county or counties served by the program to determine how to best
provide basic material needs assistance to homeless youth from birth
to 5 years of age, inclusive, if the administering entity elects to
include homeless youth of that age in its program.