BILL NUMBER: SB 884 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 30, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 31, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 13, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 17, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Beall
JANUARY 19, 2016
An act to add Sections 56301.5, 56500.7, 56600.7, 56607,
56608, and 56609 to 14509 and 56415 to the
Education Code, relating to special education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 884, as amended, Beall. Special education: procedural
safeguards and records: mental health services.
(1) Existing
Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to administer the special education provisions of the
Education Code and ensure provision of, and supervise, education and
related services to individuals with exceptional needs, as required
pursuant to the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Existing law provides for the establishment of Family
Empowerment Centers on Disability to, among other things,
ensure that children and young adults with disabilities receive the
necessary educational support and services they need to complete
their education.
Existing law establishes certain rights and procedural safeguards
for parents and pupils of individuals with disabilities, and
requires a public agency to give prior written notice to parents or
guardians of an individual with exceptional needs when certain
actions are taken with respect to his or her placement,
identification, and assessment or the provision of a free and
appropriate education.
This bill would require a local educational agency responsible for
implementation of a pupil's individualized education program to
ensure that a copy of each prior written notice is included in the
pupil's records. The bill would require each special education local
plan area to require each local educational agency to provide certain
information to parents in their annual parent notification
information, including information regarding family empowerment
centers and parent training and information centers. By imposing new
duties on special education local plan areas and local educational
agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) Existing law requires the Superintendent to ensure that pupil
and program performance results are monitored, and requires special
education local plan areas to submit certain data to the
Superintendent to evaluate special education programs, as specified.
The bill would require a special education local plan area to
document and report to the State Department of Education funding
allocations and expenditures for all mental health and special
education services, and would require the department to post the
information on the department's Internet Web site. The bill would
require the department to align accounting code systems, as
specified. The bill would also require a local educational agency
responsible for a pupil's individualized education program to
annually report to the department the actual frequency and duration
of mental health services provided and to annually report to the
department certain data needed to document pupil outcomes on 6
outcome indicators, as specified. The bill would require the
department to monitor the mental health services reported annually by
local educational agencies and to review and require corrections to
each local educational agency's procedures and documents. By imposing
new duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
(3) 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.
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.
Existing law separately requires the Controller, in consultation
with the Department of Finance, the State Department of Education,
and specified other entities, to propose the content of an audit
guide for purposes of carrying out financial and compliance audits
for local educational agencies.
This bill would require the audit guide to include an audit
procedure to review whether specified funding for educationally
related mental health services required by an individualized
education program received by local educational agencies and charter
schools was used for its intended purpose. The bill would require the
State Department of Education to include a link on the sample
procedural safeguards maintained on its Internet Web site to the page
on its Internet Web site that lists family empowerment centers and
to include the link on specified forms. The bill would require the
department to submit 2 reports, as specified, relating to the
provision of mental health services to pupils through an
individualized education program to the appropriate fiscal and policy
committees of the Legislature by June 30, 2017.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 14509 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
14509. The audit guide shall include an audit procedure to review
whether the funding appropriated in Items 6100-161-0001 and
6100-161-0890 of the annual Budget Act and received by local
educational agencies and charter schools, as applicable, for
educationally related mental health services required by an
individualized education program was used for its intended purpose.
SEC. 2. Section 56415 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
56415. The department shall include a link on the sample
procedural safeguards maintained on its Internet Web site to the page
on its Internet Web site that lists family empowerment centers. The
department shall include this link on all sample procedural safeguard
forms for which it maintains translations.
SEC. 3. The State Department of Education shall
create a report on its compliance findings and corrective action
plans related to the provision of mental health services for pupils
with individu alized education programs using data the
department collects through its verification and comprehensive
reviews, including those targeted and any randomly chosen for review.
The department shall send this report to the appropriate fiscal and
policy committees of the Legislature by June 30, 2017.
SEC. 4. (a) The State
Department of Education shall create a report on pupil outcomes for
pupils receiving mental health services through an individualized
education program. The data used to create this report shall already
be maintained by the department and shall be reported to
the extent permitted under state and federal laws regarding the
privacy of pupil information. These outcomes shall include all of the
following:
(1) Graduation rate.
(2) Dropout rate.
(3) Statewide assessment results.
(4) Suspension and expulsion rates.
(5) Participation in general education classes.
(6) Postschool outcomes.
(b) The department shall send this report to the appropriate
fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature by June 30, 2017.
SECTION 1. Section 56301.5 is added to the
Education Code, to read:
56301.5. Each special education local plan area shall require
each local educational agency to provide informational materials,
including, but not limited to, pupil and parent rights provided under
the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C.
Sec. 1400 et seq.) and information regarding family empowerment
centers, including the link on the department's Internet Web site
that provides the contact information for all family empowerment
centers, and parent training and information centers in their
community. The materials shall be provided in the three most common
languages used by parents served by the local educational agency in
the special education local plan area and shall be made available for
local educational agencies to provide to their parents in their
annual parent notification information.
SEC. 2. Section 56500.7 is added to the
Education Code, to read:
56500.7. The local educational agency responsible for
implementation of a pupil's individualized education program shall
ensure that a copy of each prior written notice given pursuant to
Section 56500.4 is included in the pupil's records.
SEC. 3. Section 56600.7 is added to the
Education Code, to read:
56600.7. The local educational agency responsible for
implementation of a pupil's individualized education program shall
annually report to the department the actual frequency and duration
of each mental health service provided to the pupil pursuant to the
pupil's individualized education program.
SEC. 4. Section 56607 is added to the Education
Code, to read:
56607. (a) A special education local plan area shall document and
report to the department all mental health and special education
services funding allocations and expenditures and specify the dollar
amount for each service.
(b) The department shall post the information on the department's
Internet Web site.
(c) The department shall align accounting code systems to allow
the department and school districts or special education local plan
areas to accurately document the amount of funds expended for the
provision of mental health and special education services from each
funding source.
SEC. 5. Section 56608 is added to the Education
Code, to read:
56608. For each pupil receiving individualized education program
mental health services, each local educational agency shall annually
provide to the department the data needed to document the pupil's
outcomes on all of the following outcome indicators that are
applicable to the pupil:
(a) Graduation rate.
(b) Dropout rate.
(c) Statewide assessment results.
(d) Suspension and expulsion rates.
(e) Participation in general education classes.
(f) Postschool outcomes.
SEC. 6. Section 56609 is added to the Education
Code, to read:
56609. (a) The department shall monitor the number and frequency
of mental health services reported annually by local educational
agencies and shall compare year-to-year changes for each local
educational agency. If year-to-year services decline significantly,
then the department shall investigate the cause for the decline in
service provision.
(b) As part of its monitoring activities, the department shall
review each local educational agency's procedures and documents used
to meet the prior written notice requirement in Section 56500.4, and
shall require corrections to those procedures and documents if the
department finds that the procedures or documents do not fulfill
statutory requirements.
SEC. 7. 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.
SEC. 8. It is the intent of the Legislature to
enact legislation relating to the provision of mental health services
to pupils with exceptional needs.