BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    SB 1068


                                                                    Page  1





          Date of Hearing:   June 15, 2016


                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION


                              Patrick O'Donnell, Chair


          SB  
          1068 (Leyva) - As Amended March 31, 2016


          SENATE VOTE:  36-0


          SUBJECT:  Homeless children and youth:  local educational agency  
          liaisons:  training materials


          SUMMARY:  Requires the California Department of Education (CDE)  
          to provide specified informational and training materials to  
          local education agency (LEA) liaisons for homeless youth.  
          Specifically, this bill:


          1)Requires CDE to provide informational materials to LEA  
            liaisons regarding the educational rights of homeless children  
            and youth under state and federal law.


          2)Requires CDE to provide training materials to LEA liaisons to  
            assist them in providing professional development and other  
            support to school personnel providing services pursuant to the  
            federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. 


          3)Specifies that the training materials are intended to support  
            LEA liaisons in meeting the requirements of the federal Every  








                                                                    SB 1068


                                                                    Page  2





            Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). 


          4)Authorizes CDE to adapt informational and training materials  
            from state or national sources when applicable and  
            appropriate.


          5)Requires CDE to adopt policies and practices to ensure that  
            LEA liaisons participate in professional development and other  
            technical assistance programs that are deemed appropriate by  
            the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), in accordance  
            with ESSA.  


          EXISTING LAW:   


          Federal law:


          1)Defines, in the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance  
            Act, "homeless children and youth" as individuals who lack a  
            fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including  
            children who are sharing the housing of other people, living  
            in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camp grounds, emergency  
            or transitional shelters, abandoned in hospitals or awaiting  
            foster care placement, or who are living in a place not  
            generally used for sleeping, such as cars, parks, public  
            spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train  
            stations, and migratory children living in the circumstances  
            above


          2)Requires state educational agencies to ensure that homeless  
            children and youth have equal access to the same free public  
            education as is provided to other children and youth. States  
            are required to review and undertake steps to revise any laws,  
            regulations, practices, or policies that may act as barriers  








                                                                    SB 1068


                                                                    Page  3





            to the enrollment, attendance, or success in school of  
            homeless children and youth


          3)Requires each LEA to designate a staff person as a liaison for  
            homeless children and youth, and carry out specific duties,  
            such as ensuring immediate enrollment and access to  
            educational opportunities offered to other students, providing  
            referrals to appropriate services, and providing notice of the  
            rights of homeless youth


          4)Establishes ESSA, which:


             a)   Requires state educational agencies to develop  
               professional development opportunities for LEA liaisons and  
               other personnel who provide services to homeless youth to  
               improve the identification of homeless youth and heighten  
               awareness of, and capacity to respond to, specific needs in  
               the education of homeless youth


             b)   Requires the state plan to describe how the state  
               education agency will provide support to LEAs, and requires  
               the LEA plan to describe the services that will be provided  
               to support the enrollment, attendance, and success of  
               homeless youth


             c)   Requires states to report disaggregated achievement and  
               graduation data for homeless youth


            d) Increases dedicated funding for LEAs for services to  
          homeless youth.


          5)Establishes general rights for homeless children and youth,  








                                                                    SB 1068


                                                                    Page  4





            including the right to:


            a) Remain in the same school when they move


             b)   Enroll in a new school without typically required  
               records such as proof of residency, immunizations, school  
               records, or other papers


             c)   Comparable services, including transportation services,  
               educational services, and meals through the school meal  
               program


          State law:


          1)Requires LEA liaisons to ensure that the public notice of the  
            educational rights of homeless children and youth is  
            disseminated in schools


          2)Requires LEAs to allow a student who is homeless to remain in  
            his or her school of origin through the duration of  
            homelessness, and requires that homeless students be  
            immediately enrolled


          3)  Requires a school district to exempt a homeless student who  
            transfers between schools any time after the completion of his  
            or her second year of high school from local graduation  
            requirements unless the school district makes a finding that  
            the student can reasonably meet these requirements  


          4)Establishes homeless youth as a subgroup for purpose of, among  
            other things, accountability, local control and accountability  








                                                                    SB 1068


                                                                    Page  5





            plans, renewal of charter schools, advice and assistance by  
            the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, and  
            intervention by the SPI. 


          FISCAL EFFECT:  


          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, CDE estimates  
          costs of about $50,000 to implement the requirements of this  
          bill (Federal Funds).


          COMMENTS:  


          Need for the bill. According to the author's office, "Federal  
          law requires Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to designate a  
          homeless student liaison to help identify these students and  
          assist them in accessing the rights and resources available to  
          them by law. Despite the many responsibilities of these homeless  
          student liaisons, California does not provide a training program  
          or instructional materials that would help liaisons better  
          assist their students and train other staff on how to identify  
          and help homeless students. 


          The federal Every Student Succeeds Act now also requires states  
          to develop professional development programs for liaisons,  
          requires liaisons to participate in professional development as  
          well as train other school personnel who provide services to  
          homeless students. While these requirements are important, they  
          also significantly increase the workload of already strained  
          staff who receive little support from the state to help serve  
          California's over 300,000 homeless students. SB 1068 seeks to  
          address these issues."


          Homeless students in California.  According to a 2014 report by  








                                                                    SB 1068


                                                                    Page  6





          the California Research Bureau (California State Library), 4% of  
          California students (nearly 270,000) faced homelessness in the  
          2012-13 school year.  This is twice the national average, and  
          represents 21 percent of the homeless students in the country.   
          The report also noted that this population is growing, due to  
          the recent economic recession and improved reporting.


          The report noted that homeless students encounter many obstacles  
          to their education, such as poor access to basic necessities,  
          supplies, and a reasonable environment in which to do homework.  
          Their learning is also compromised by high rates of mobility,  
          hunger, illness, mental health conditions, abuse, neglect, and  
          trauma. 


          According to Columbia University's National Center for Children  
          in Poverty, students who experience homelessness are at high at  
          risk for poor educational outcomes.  Homeless children:





                 Are more likely to be retained
                 Are more likely to change school placement (nearly 40%  
               changed school from two to five times in the last 12  
               months)


                 Often have missed significant amounts of school (nearly  
               40% missed more than one week of school in the past three  
               months)


                 Have reading, spelling, and mathematics scores are more  
               often below grade level










                                                                    SB 1068


                                                                    Page  7





                 Are more likely to require a special education  
               evaluation (almost 50%), but less than 23% of those with  
               any disability have ever received special education  
               evaluation or special education services


                 Are much less likely to complete high school





          ESSA includes new requirements for professional development for  
          homeless youth liaisons. The federal McKinney-Vento Act's  
          Education for Homeless Children and Youth program is designed to  
          eliminate the barriers that homeless children and youth have  
          faced in enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school. 


          ESSA amended the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act  
          to require states to develop professional development  
          opportunities for LEA liaisons and other school personnel who  
          serve homeless youth. 


          This bill requires the CDE to provide training materials to LEA  
          liaisons in order to assist them in providing professional  
          development to school personnel who provide services to homeless  
          youth. Some states already provide training materials for LEA  
          liaisons directly on their websites. The CDE does not currently  
          directly provide training materials, but does provide links to  
          related information on its website. 


          Prior legislation.  SB 445 (Liu), Chapter 289, Statutes of 2015,  
          provided that students who are homeless have the right to remain  
          in their schools of origin and the right to immediate  
          enrollment. 









                                                                    SB 1068


                                                                    Page  8






          SB 252 (Leno), Chapter 384, Statutes of 2015, prohibited CDE  
          from charging the fee required for the high school proficiency  
          exam and the high school equivalency tests to homeless children  
          and youth.


          AB 104 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 13, Statutes of 2015,  
          established homeless students as a subgroup for purposes of  
          Local Control and Accountability Plans.


          AB 1166 (Bloom), Chapter 171, Statutes of 2015, allowed homeless  
          students to be exempt from local graduation requirements even if  
          they are not notified of this right within 30 days of  
          enrollment, if they are no longer homeless, or if they transfer  
          to another school or district. 


          AB 1806 (Bloom), Chapter 767, Statues of 2014, extended to  
          homeless students policies and procedures for suspension,  
          expulsion, graduation requirements, and completed coursework to  
          students who are homeless that were provided to students in  
          foster care.


          SB 177 (Liu), Chapter 491, Statutes of 2013, required school  
          districts, charter schools, and county offices of education to  
          immediately enroll homeless students. 


          AB 951 (Medina) of the 2013-14 Session would have required  
          school districts that designate a liaison for homeless children  
          and youth, as required under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless  
          Assistance Act, to ensure the liaison is properly trained  
          regarding the rights of these children to receive educational  
          services. This bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee. 









                                                                    SB 1068


                                                                    Page  9






          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:




          Support


          California Coalition for Youth


          California School Boards Association


          Junior Leagues of California


          K to College


          Los Angeles County Office of Education


          National Association for Education of Homeless Children and  
          Youth


          National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter




          Opposition


          None on file










                                                                    SB 1068


                                                                    Page  10







          Analysis Prepared by:Christine Aurre and Tanya Lieberman / ED. /  
          (916) 319-2087