BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin Murray, Chairman
1777 (Alarcon)
Hearing Date: 5/25/06 Amended: 4/17/06
As
proposed to be amended
Consultant: Bob Franzoia Policy Vote: Ed 8-2
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 1777 would require each county office of
education (COE) that provides educational services through a
juvenile court school to students who are foster children to
receive a specified allowance. The allowance would be equal to
the amount the COE expended on foster children in 2005-06
adjusted by the cost of living adjustment (COLA) received by the
COE for all categorical education programs in the prior fiscal
year. In addition, COEs that provide educational services to
students who are foster children transferring to a district from
a juvenile detention hall, probation camp, or other similar
facility and have received educational services through a
juvenile court school shall receive an amount equal to the
allowance described above for a period of one year after the
student's enrollment.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Fund
Foster youth services $1,000 annually through 1/2010 General*
* Counts toward meeting the Proposition 98 minimum funding
guarantee
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
At this time, data is unavailable on the number of foster youth
in juvenile halls, probation camps, ranches, and other settings
that receive educational support services through COEs.
California Corrections Standards Authority's 2005 4th quarter
data indicate that there are approximately 10,900 youth in
halls, camps, and ranches. By one estimate, 20 percent (2,180)
of these youth may be eligible. (The number of foster youth
statewide is approximately 90,000.) If an average COE
expenditure on these youth was $5,000, the annual cost would be
$10,900,000. At the 5.8 percent COLA projected for 2006-07
categorical programs, the bill would provide an additional
$643,100 annually, or $295 per youth. A district or COE would
be prohibited from using funds received for these youth for
students for whom it has received funding for Foster Youth
Services (FYS) programs.
FYS programs are intended to ensure that health and school
records are obtained to establish appropriate placements and
coordinate instruction, counseling, tutoring, mentoring,
vocational training, emancipation services, training for
independent living, and other related services, all of which
should increase the stability of placements for foster children
that reside in group homes, or licensed children's institutions.
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SB 1777 (Alarcon)
Outcome data for FYS programs shows that 68 percent of foster
youths served in school year 2004-05 gained more than one month
of academic growth per month of tutoring received, surpassing
the target population objective by 8 percent. In addition, only
0.2 percent of foster youths served through FYS programs were
expelled, surpassing the target rate of 5 percent, and the
foster youth student attendance rate reached 96 percent,
exceeding the target attendance rate of 90 percent. Yet, only
16 percent of California's foster youths are currently receiving
the services that result in these outcomes.
The proposed 2006-07 Budget would appropriate $10 million for
FYS programs.
The proposed amendments would do the following:
(1) Clarify provisions of the bill and cap program costs at $1
million annually until 1/1/2010.
(2) Sunset the provisions of the bill on 1/1/2011.
(3) Require an evaluation of the pilot program by the Department
of Education and a report reviewing the funding of juvenile
court schools.