BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 760
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 760 (Gordon) - As Amended: April 4, 2011
SUBJECT : Healthy Start Community Schools Act
SUMMARY : Makes a number of changes to the Healthy Start Support
Services for Children Act. Specifically, this bill :
1)Renames the Act from Healthy Start Support Services for
Children to the Healthy Start Community Schools Act.
2)Makes the following changes in the definition section:
a) Changes "Secretary of Child Development and Education"
to "Secretary for Education".
b) Changes Agency secretary as a reference to the
"California Health and Human Services Agency" instead of
the "Health and Welfare Agency".
3)Specifies that the Healthy Start Support Services for Children
Program Council is hereby established to replace the Healthy
Start Support Services for Children Program Council.
Specifies that the Healthy Start Support Services for Children
Program Council shall operate as specified.
4)Specifies that the members of the council may designate
representatives.
5)Specifies that the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI)
shall award grants to a local educational agency (LEA) or
consortium to pay the costs of planning and coordination
activities, instead of planning and operating costs.
6)Makes changes to the grants as follows:
a) Increases the types of grants that may be awarded to
applicant LEAs or consortia from two to three.
b) Requires a grant request to include a commitment to
carry out the program to be implemented by the grant from
the governing board of any applicant LEA, as well as
relevant memoranda of understanding with any local
governmental agency partners.
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c) Specifies that if applicable, proposals included in the
application shall outline plans for the phased expansion of
any program districtwide or countywide.
d) Specifies that the use of operational grants shall be
limited to coordination activities either at the site or at
the community or district level.
e) Authorizes the SPI to award supplemental funds for
direct service to a LEA or consortium to address a specific
and serious service gap. Requires a request for
supplemental funds to include a plan for evaluating the
impact of providing the new service and for paying for the
service once the grant has ended.
f) Strikes the provision limiting the use of operational
grants to no more than 50% for expenditure on direct
services.
g) Requires a grant application to also include the
following:
i) A description of how the proposed programs will
relate to or will be integrated into, the school system
governance structure, such as schoolsite councils or
school improvement plans.
ii) A description of how the proposed programs will be
integrated into existing health and human services
initiatives, such as differential response efforts,
Mental Health Services Act planning, local First 5
California initiatives, or existing family resource
centers.
h) Requires the program plan submitted with an operational
grant application to include a specific explanation of how
any Medi-Cal administrative activities reimbursements might
be reinvested into the program.
7)Authorizes the SPI to provide LEAs with information about
appropriate public funding models.
8)Adds, information regarding improvements in average daily
attendance as well as individual attendance for pupils who
have directly benefited from program services, in the required
report to the SPI.
9)Strikes an obsolete provision authorizing a LEA or consortium
that received an operational grant in the 1992 calendar year
to retain up to $50,000 of any amount not expended within the
three-year grant period.
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EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Healthy Start Support Services for Children
Act and expresses the intent of the Legislature to help
children in need of assistance to overcome the barriers of
healthy, productive lives by encouraging and fostering local
interagency collaboration and communication to more
efficiently and effectively deliver support services to
children and their families, prevent the duplication of
services and unnecessary expenditures, and improve the
effectiveness of services.
2)Establishes the Healthy Start Support Services for Children
Program Council and grant program.
3)Specifies that the SPI shall award the following two types of
grants to applicant LEAs or consortia: 1) a planning grant of
no more than $50,000 for applicants that have demonstrated a
need to implement a program but that are not ready to begin
the operation of the program, or that are in need of
additional planning to expand existing support services
programs; 2) an operational grant of no more than $300,000 to
LEAs or consortia that have demonstrated readiness to begin
operation of a program or to expand existing support services
programs.
4)Requires a LEA or consortium to provide a match of one dollar
for every four dollars awarded.
5)Specifies information that must be provided in the application
and specifies eligible schools to include schools with a
specified percentage of pupils from families that receive
public assistance, have limited English proficiency, or are
eligible to receive free or reduced-priced meals.
6)Requires each LEA or consortium that receives an operational
grant to submit a report to the SPI with specified
information.
7)Requires each LEA or consortium applying for a grant to
establish procedures to ensure on-going consultation and
collaboration with local agencies. Requires the consultation
and collaboration process to involve parents or guardians,
teachers, and representatives of each member agency or private
partner who will provide, or is anticipated to provide,
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services.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background . The Healthy Start Support Services for
Children Act, enacted in 1991, established a grant program,
known as Healthy Start, to enable a LEAs or two or more LEAs
forming a consortium to work with local partners, including
community organizations, local governmental agencies, and
businesses, to provide comprehensive, school-community
integrated services and activities to improve the lives of
pupils and their families. It is well documented that kids have
better chance of academic success if their health, family life,
nutritional needs are well cared for. Healthy Start provides
planning and operational grants to initiate and provide children
and their families with health and social support services, such
as immunizations, dental, vision and hearing testing and
services, mental health counseling, prenatal care, substance
abuse prevention and treatment services, academic support
services, counseling, nutrition services, and assistance with
getting public benefits. At least four of the services must be
provided at the schoolsite or at a site near, or adjacent to,
the school.
Eligible schools are kindergarten through grade six schools with
at least 50% of students who are from families that receive
California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Program
(CalWORKs) benefits or are English Learners, or qualify for free
or reduced-price meals; and grades seven through twelve schools
with at least 35% of students who are from families that receive
CalWORKs benefits or are English Learners, or qualify for free
or reduced-price meals. Two-year planning grants of no more
than $50,000 are awarded to LEA or consortium applicants that
have demonstrated a need to implement a program but that are not
ready to begin the operation of the program, or that are in need
of additional planning to expand existing support services
programs. Five-year operational grants of no more than $300,000
are awarded to LEAs or consortia that have demonstrated
readiness to begin operation of a program or to expand existing
support services programs. The California Department of
Education (CDE) reports that 823 planning grants, 651
operational grants, and 19 combined planning and operational
grants of up to $450,000 have been awarded through this program,
impacting the lives of more than two million children and their
families. The program was last funded at $10 million in fiscal
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year 2006-07. While there are contracts in the process of
completing the terms of their grants, this program has not been
funded since 2006-07.
According to the CDE, evaluations of the programs show positive
impact on education, including increases in test scores,
improved attendance and classroom behavior, and greater parent
involvement; and health and welfare, including reduction in
unmet need for basic goods and services (e.g., food, clothing,
transportation), reduction in unmet need for medical and dental
care, improvement in emotional health and family functioning,
and reduction in teen risk behaviors.
This bill makes a number of changes to the Healthy Start
program, including changing the name of the Act to the Healthy
Start Community Schools Act. The sponsor, Partnership for
Children and Youth, states, "These changes will bring the
existing program up-to-date based on twenty years of lessons
from the field. This bill couples the success of California's
Healthy Start Program with the momentum of the nationwide
community schools movement. The Healthy Start Community Schools
program will provide the opportunity for school districts and
local governments to intentionally partner to provide a
comprehensive array of services addresses many barriers to
learning. As a result, school attendance and learning increase
among participating students."
Among the major changes proposed by the bill is changing the
intended use of the grants. The bill limits operational grants
to coordination activities and strikes the authority to use
operational grants for direct services. The bill provides for
some level of direct services through the establishment of a
supplemental grant. The grant level is not specified in the
bill; the author may wish to consider establishing funding
parameters for this new grant. The request for supplemental
funds must be for a specific service gap. According to the
sponsor, this is to better focus funds for the purpose of
establishing a structure that will tap into other resources to
ensure that services are long lasting. Using funds for direct
services result in a short-term program that disappears when
grant funds are exhausted.
Other revisions to the program proposed by the bill are
consistent with the change in focus of the program from
providing direct services to establishing long-term structure of
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support, including requiring the governing board of a LEA to:
commit to carry out the program intended to be implemented
through the startup funds; indicate how the program will be
expanded districtwide or countywide and how the program will be
integrated into existing school or local initiatives and
structures; and allowing the SPI to provide information on
appropriate public funding models in its capacity to provide
technical assistance.
According to the CDE, a major goal of Healthy Start is to build
capacity at the schoolsite to sustain these supports and
services with other resources when the grant has ended. The
changes proposed by this bill are consistent with this goal.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Partnership for Children and Youth (sponsor)
California School Health Centers Association
California School Nurses Organization
CANFIT
Children Now
Community Clinic Association of San Bernardino County
Humboldt County Healthy Start, Schools and Communities
Partnership
LA Health Action
Local District 6 Healthy Start (Los Angeles Unified School
District)
Partnership for Children and Youth
Redwood Children's Services, Inc.
Redwood City 2020
Salud Para La Gente
South Bay Union School District's Healthy Starts
Tony Stewart Healthy Start
Tulare Community Health Clinic
True Lasting Connections Family Resource Center
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
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