BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Joseph L. Dunn, Chair
2005-2006 Regular Session
AB 1261 A
Assembly Member Leno B
As Amended June 21, 2005
Hearing Date: June 28, 2005 1
Education; Welfare and Institutions Codes 2
MJM:cjt 6
1
SUBJECT
Foster Children: Education
DESCRIPTION
This bill clarifies and cleans up the provisions of AB 490
(Steinberg) Chapter 862, Statutes of 2003, addressing the
educational needs of children in the foster care system.
It also reinstates language that was inadvertently
chaptered out of AB 1858 (Steinberg) Chapter 914, Statutes
of 2004 by SB 722 (McPherson) Chapter 915, Statutes of
2004.
BACKGROUND
According to the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL), 30
percent of foster youth perform below grade level, 50
percent are held back at least one grade in school, and
nearly two-thirds of youth who emancipate out of foster
care at age 18 have not completed high school.
Citing statistics like these and other reports documenting
the poor educational performance of foster youth, AB 490
(Steinberg) Chapter 862, Statutes of 2003, enacted broad
reforms regarding the education of foster youth. The
reforms were designed to promote school stability and
ensure that students in foster care have a meaningful
opportunity to meet the academic achievement standards
applied to all students.
(more)
AB 1261 (Leno)
Page 2
As groups across the state have worked to implement the
provisions of AB 490, educational liaisons and child
advocates have discovered gaps in the protections afforded
by the bill.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
1. Existing law requires a student in foster care to attend
programs operated by a local educational agency, subject
to certain exceptions. [Education Code Section 48853.]
This bill would define "local educational agency" for
these purposes.
2. Existing law provides that a foster child has the right
to remain in his or her school of origin, if a school
placement dispute arises, until the resolution of the
dispute. [Education Code Section 48853.]
This bill would require local educational agencies to
have a dispute resolution process in place and would
specify the requirements of that process.
3. Existing law defines "school of origin" as the school
that the foster child attended when permanently housed or
as the school that the foster child last attended.
[Education Code Section 48853.5.]
This bill would additionally require that the child have
attended that school in the past 15 months.
4. Existing law provides for the immediate enrollment and
transfer of records when it is determined that the best
interests of the child would be served by transferring to
a different school. [Education Code Section 48853.5.]
This bill would further specify that enrollment of the
student and the transfer of education records shall be
done even if the foster child has outstanding fees,
fines, textbooks, or other moneys due to the school last
attended.
5. Existing law provides that the proper and timely transfer
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between schools of a "pupil in foster care" is the
responsibility of both the local educational agency and
the county placing agency.
This bill would define "pupil in foster care" for these
purposes.
6. Existing law provides that after a child has been
adjudged a dependent child by the court, the court may
limit the rights of a parent or guardian to make
educational decisions for the child. At the same time,
the court must appoint a responsible adult to make
educational decisions for the child. [Welfare and
Institutions Code Sections 361 and 726.]
This bill would allow the court, before the child is
adjudged a dependent to temporarily limit the right or a
parent or guardian to make educational decisions for the
child and allow for the appointment of a responsible
adult to make educational decisions if certain criteria
are met.
This bill would allow the court, if no responsible adult
can be identified, to make educational decisions on
behalf of the child both pre- and post-adjudication.
7. Existing law requires the county welfare department to
verify that specified documents have been provided to the
child when a child is emancipated from the foster care
system. [Welfare and Institutions Code Section 391.]
This bill would provide that the child's health and
education summary is one of the required documents.
8. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to develop an Academic Performance Index to
assess performance within schools. Existing law requires
the Superintendent to develop an alternative
accountability system for specified schools. [Education
Code Section 52020.]
This bill would add nonpublic, nonsectarian schools to
those specified schools.
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COMMENT
1. Need for the bill
According to the author, this bill is intended to clean
up provisions of AB 490 (Steinberg) Chapter 862, Statutes
of 2003, related to the education of foster youth in
public schools. (See Comments 2, 3, and 4.)
This bill also reinstates language that was inadvertently
chaptered out of AB 1858 (Steinberg) Chapter 914,
Statutes of 2004 by SB 722 (McPherson) Chapter 915,
Statutes of 2004. (See point 8, above.)
2. This bill would allow for the limitation of the right of
a parent or guardian to make educational decisions before
the child is adjudicated a dependent child
After a child has been adjudged a dependent child or ward
of the court, the court may limit the control any parent
or guardian may exercise over the child. Specifically,
the court may limit the right of a parent or guardian to
make educational decisions on behalf of the child.
If the court does limit the guardian's or parent's
educational decisionmaking power, then the court must
also, at the same time, appoint a "responsible adult" to
make those decisions. A responsible adult can be anyone
who does not have a conflict of interest or is receiving
compensation or attorneys' fees for their care of the
child. Accordingly, attorneys and paid group home
workers do not qualify to act as a responsible adult to
make educational decisions for dependent children.
Foster parents, although they receive compensation, are
explicitly exempted. Often, then, these "responsible
adults" are foster parents, older siblings or relatives
of the child, or Court-Appointed Special Advocates
(CASA). The sponsor, Children's Law Center of Los
Angeles (CLCLA), points out that there are even programs
through which students, with no relationship to the
child, who are currently enrolled in masters program in
Special Education, are appointed to make educational
decisions for dependent children.
If, however, the court cannot appoint a responsible
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adult, and the child has been referred to a local
educational agency for special education and related
services or has a valid individualized education plan
(IEP), the court shall refer the child to the local
educational agency for the appointment of a surrogate
parent.
Current law, however, fails to address the court's
authority to limit a parent's or guardian's right to make
educational decisions prior to the child's adjudication
as a dependent child. This bill would address this gap
and allow the court, prior to adjudication, to
temporarily limit the right of a guardian or parent to
make educational decisions for the child and appoint a
responsible adult if the following conditions are met:
1) the parent or guardian is unavailable, unable, or
unwilling to exercise educational rights for the
child;
2) the county placing agency has made diligent efforts
to locate and secure the participation of a parent or
guardian in educational decisionmaking; and
3) the child's educational needs cannot be met without
the temporary appointment of a responsible adult.
This bill would provide that any order made limiting the
educational rights of a parent or guardian and appointing
a responsible adult shall terminate upon the dismissal of
the petition or the conclusion of the hearing in which
the child is finally adjudicated a dependent child of the
court.
3. This bill would permit the court to make educational
decisions for the child in limited situation
A. Post-adjudication
Rule of Court 1499(e) allows the court to make
educational decisions on behalf of the child when the
court cannot identify a responsible adult, the
appointment of a surrogate parent is not legally
warranted, and there is no foster parent with the
authority to make educational decisions. The court must
utilize the input of any interested person when making
educational decisions for the child. Codification of
this rule of court was attempted in AB 490 (Steinberg),
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but was expressly rejected by the Senate Education
Committee.
This bill proposes to codify Rule 1499(e) for
post-adjudication educational decisionmaking. Although
this bill has been heard by the Senate Education
Committee, no concerns were raised over this provision.
B. Pre-adjudication
This bill would also allow the court to make educational
decisions for the child prior to adjudication when no
responsible adult can be identified and the appointment
of a surrogate parent is not warranted. Although giving
the court the authority to make educational decisions as
a last resort seems necessary, in the rare case when it
happens, it poses a substantial inconvenience for
everyone involved -- the child, the child's advocates,
the school, the court. Shouldn't the court and the
child's advocates be encouraged to locate a responsible
adult quickly and avoid returning to the court the next
time an educational decision needs to be made?
Should this BILL be amended to require the court TO issue
an order directing the social worker to locate a
responsible adult for future educational decisions so
that the court is not enmeshed in future decisions?
3. Other changes are clarifying
As AB 490 has been implemented across the state, various
gaps and inconsistencies have been discovered within its
provisions. Accordingly, this bill makes the following
clarifications:
1) Current law allows the foster child, when a
dispute arises over his or her school placement, to
remain in his or her school of origin until the
dispute is resolved. This bill would require local
educational agencies to have a dispute resolution
process in place. Additionally, this bill would
require the person holding the right to make
educational decisions for the child be provided a
written explanation of the school's decision and be
informed of his or her rights to appeal the decision.
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2) Currently, when it is determined that a foster child's
interests would be best served by changing schools,
the child shall be immediately enrolled and his or her
records transferred immediately. This bill would
clarify that the child's enrollment and record
transfer shall be done immediately even if the child
has outstanding fees, fines, textbooks, or other items
owed to the school last attended.
3) When a child is emancipated from foster care, he or
she must be provided with various documents, including
a birth certificate, social security card, death
certificates of parents, if applicable, and proof of
citizenship. This bill would require the child to
also be provided his or her health and education
summary, as maintained in his or her case plan.
This bill would also provide or amend several critical
definitions, including "local educational agency," "pupil
in foster care" and "school of origin."
Support: National Association of Social Workers,
California Chapter; Juvenile Court Judges of
California; California Coalition for Youth; Family
Law Section of the State Bar of California; National
Center for Youth Law; Inter-Agency Council on Child
Abuse and Neglect; American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees; Protection &
Advocacy, Inc.; Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social
Services, Inc.; California Alliance of Child and
Family Services
Opposition: None Known
HISTORY
Source: Children's Law Center of Los Angeles
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Related Pending Legislation: None Known
Prior Legislation: AB 490 (Steinberg) Chapter 862,
Statutes of 2003, made numerous changes to
the law related to the education of foster
youth specifically addressing educational
placement, coursework credit, records
transfer, and educational programs offered to
foster youth.
AB 1858 (Steinberg) Chapter 914, Statutes of
2004, placed new requirements on nonpublic
schools which provide education to foster
youth.
Prior Vote: Senate Education (Ayes 12, Noes 0)
Assembly Floor (Ayes 74, Noes 0)
Assembly Appropriations (Ayes 18, Noes 0)
Assembly Education (Ayes 11, Noes 0)
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