BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1909
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 10, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mike Feuer, Chair
AB 1909 (Ammiano) - As Amended: March 29, 2012
SUBJECT : FOSTER CHILDREN: PLACEMENT: SUSPENSION AND EXPULSION:
NOTIFICATIONS
KEY ISSUE : TO ENSURE THAT THE APPROPRIATE ADULT IS NOTIFIED,
SHOULD SCHOOL DISTRICTS BE REQUIRED TO NOTIFY THE FOSTER CHILD'S
ATTORNEY AND SOCIAL WORKER IN SPECIFIED SITUATIONS WHERE THE
FOSTER CHILD FACES POSSIBLE SUSPENSION OR EXPULSION FROM SCHOOL?
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print this bill is keyed
non-fiscal.
SYNOPSIS
This non-controversial bill, co-sponsored by Legal Advocates for
Children and Youth (LACY) and Public Counsel, seeks to require
that school districts provide notification to a foster youth's
court-appointed attorney and social worker when the foster youth
faces expulsion from school or is subject to a manifestation
determination IEP meeting prior to being suspended or expelled.
Under existing law, such notification is typically required to
be made only to the student's parent or guardian, which,
proponents contend, is inadequate when the student facing
expulsion or suspension is a foster youth. These advocates
contend that the child's attorney and social worker are often a
more stable, constant presence in the foster child's life,
particularly if the child is moving from one group home to
another, or one set of foster parents to another, and that the
court-appointed attorney for the child by law is required to
advocate for the protection, safety, and physical and emotional
well-being of the child. Supporters also assert that this bill
will not only ensure that foster youth have an adult advocate on
their side during the disciplinary process, but will help the
child's social worker or attorney to connect the child with
appropriate behavioral and mental health resources that will
help the child get back on track in his or her education. There
is no registered opposition to this bill, which is also double
referred to the Assembly Education Committee.
SUMMARY : Requires notification of a foster child's attorney and
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social worker (or appropriate welfare representative), in
addition to parental or guardian notification, in specified
situations where the foster child faces possible suspension or
expulsion from school. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires an agency that places a child in a licensed
children's institution or other out-of-home placement to
include, where practicable, the name and contact information
for a representative of the placing agency and the child's
attorney, in addition to other information that is currently
required to be shared with the educational liaison of the
child's local educational agency.
2)Requires the educational liaison of a foster child to notify
the foster child's attorney and the appropriate representative
of the county child welfare agency of any pending disciplinary
proceedings involving the child, including those for
expulsion, to extend a suspension, or to render a
manifestation determination for children with exceptional
needs.
3)Requires the school district to invite the foster child's
attorney and an appropriate representative of the county child
welfare agency to participate in any meeting with the foster
child and the child's parent or guardian to determine whether
to extend a suspension of the foster child, as specified.
4)Requires the school district to invite the foster child's
attorney and an appropriate representative of the county child
welfare agency to participate in the individualized education
program (IEP) team meeting to make a manifestation
determination.
5)Requires the school district to provide the foster child's
attorney and an appropriate representative of the county child
welfare agency with written notice, at least 10 calendar days
in advance, of any hearing to determine whether the foster
child should be expelled, including where a recommendation of
expulsion is required or a discretionary act.
6)Requires counsel for a foster child to provide his or her
contact information to the educational liaison of the child's
local educational agency if, for a child age 12 or older, the
child consents to the disclosure, or, for a child under age
12, counsel determines that disclosure is in the child's best
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interest.
7)Authorizes the summary of health and education information, a
component of each foster child's case plan, to include the
name and contact information for the educational liaison of
the child's local educational agency, as defined.
8)Makes other technical and non-substantive amendments to the
Education Code.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires every agency that places a child in a licensed
children's institution to notify the local educational agency
(LEA) at the time a pupil is placed in a licensed children's
institution, and to provide any available information of
immediate past education placements to facilitate prompt
transfer of records and appropriate placement. (Education
Code Section 48852. All further references are to this code
unless otherwise stated.)
2)Requires each LEA to designate an educational liaison for
foster children who is affiliated with the local foster
children services program in applicable school districts and
who is responsible for facilitating proper educational
placement for the foster child, school enrollment, and any
transfer between one school to another. (Section 48853.5)
3)Requires a school to hold an informal preliminary conference
between the student and the teacher or other school official
prior to any official suspension of the student; further
requires the school to notify the child's parent or guardian
in writing of any suspension that does occur, and to make a
reasonable effort to contact the a pupil's parent or guardian
in person or by phone at the time of suspension. (Section
48911(b)-(d).)
4)Authorizes a suspension to be extended only after a meeting,
in which the student and the student's parent or guardian were
invited to participate, to discuss whether the student's
presence at the school constitutes a danger to people or
property or a threat to disrupt the instructional process.
(Section 48911(g).)
5)Provides that a student subject to possible expulsion from
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school shall be entitled to a hearing to determine whether to
expel, with written notice of the hearing to be forwarded to
the student at least 10 calendar days before the date of the
hearing. (Section 48918(a).)
6)Specifies the administrative requirements and due process
rules that apply to expulsion hearings, as established by the
governing board of a school district. (Section 48918 (b)
through (j).)
7)Provides that court-appointed counsel for a foster child has a
primary responsibility to advocate for the protection, safety,
and physical and emotional well-being of the child. (Welfare
& Institutions Code Section 317(c).)
8)Requires the case plan for each child placed in foster care to
contain a summary of health and educational information or
records of the child, including the names and addresses of the
child's health, dental, and education providers, as specified.
(Welfare & Institutions Code Section 16010.)
COMMENTS : This non-controversial bill, co-sponsored by Legal
Advocates for Children and Youth (LACY) and Public Counsel,
seeks to require that school districts provide notification to a
foster youth's court-appointed attorney and social worker when
the foster youth faces expulsion from school or is subject to a
manifestation determination IEP meeting prior to being suspended
or expelled. Under existing law, such notification is typically
required to be made only to the student's parent or guardian,
which, proponents contend, is inadequate when the student facing
expulsion or suspension is a foster youth.
The author further explains the need for the bill as follows:
While current law requires that a parent is notified when
their child faces expulsion or is subject to a
manifestation determination Individualized Education
Program (IEP) meeting (for students with disabilities, a
meeting with appropriate school officials to determine if
their conduct was linked to their disability), it is
often unclear to the school who is the appropriate adult
to contact for a foster youth. Consequently, foster youth
are often left without anyone to advocate for them during
the short timeline for an expulsion hearing or
manifestation determination IEP meeting. This can result
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in the child being removed from school or expelled
without the foster care agency or the child's attorney
knowing the students' academic situation before it is too
late. These notifications are essential to parental
engagement with school administrators and teachers to
understand and address the underlying cause of the
student's behavioral issues and determine an appropriate
response. A lack of notification to parties responsible
for the foster youth's welfare creates a missed
opportunity to address the root causes of that youth's
behavioral issues and may lead to an unnecessary
disruption in the foster youth's education.
This bill requires timely notification to appropriate adults in
a foster child's life who are responsible for advocating in the
child's best interest. Under existing law, the dependency court
may appoint an attorney to represent any child removed from the
physical custody of his or her parents. A primary
responsibility of the attorney is to advocate for the
protection, safety, and physical and emotional well-being of the
child. (Welfare and Institutions Code Section 317(c).)
Existing law also requires an expulsion hearing to be held
within 30 school days of the underlying incident, and the rights
that the child loses if the expulsion is upheld are significant.
(Education Code Section 48918(a).) For any child facing a
pending expulsion, it is essential that key people responsible
for the child's welfare are informed of this fact. For many
children, this is accomplished simply by notifying the child's
parents, but in the case of foster youth, additional
notification to adults responsible for the youth's welfare seems
prudent and warranted.
This bill expands notification to include the foster youth's
court-appointed attorney and welfare agency designee (i.e. a
county social worker assigned to the youth) in expulsion
hearings and other specified disciplinary proceedings involving
the foster youth. Supporters and foster youth advocates contend
that the child's attorney and social worker are often a more
stable, constant presence in the foster child's life,
particularly for foster youth who may have mental health and
emotional needs, are moved from placement to placement, or may
not have a stable caregiver. Because it is the statutory
responsibility of the attorney to represent the child's best
interest, being informed of any disciplinary problems at school
is necessary for the attorney carry out his or her duties under
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the statute.
Studies show that foster children have greater needs but receive
less adult support in disciplinary situations at school.
According to supporters of the bill, foster youth are more
likely to exhibit emotional and behavioral problems than their
non-foster peers, which often impact their school behavior.
They cite research indicating that foster youth receive
disproportionate levels of discipline in relation to their
non-foster peers and are more likely to be suspended or
expelled. In one study conducted in San Mateo, researchers
concluded that foster youth were ten times more likely than
their non-foster counterparts to be expelled and 2.5 times more
likely to be suspended. (Castrechini, S. "Issue Brief:
Educational Outcomes for Court-Dependent Youth in San Mateo
County." Stanford: Gardner Center (2009).) Another study
conducted on foster youth in several states showed that
two-thirds (67%) of youth in out-of-home care had been suspended
from school at least once, compared to 28% in a national sample
of general population youth, while about one-sixth (17%) of the
foster youth had been expelled compared with 5% of the general
population sample. (Courtney, M., et al. "Issue Brief: The
Educational Status of Foster Children." Chicago: Chapin Hall
Center (2004).)
For these reasons, supporters believe this bill will benefit
foster youth by not only ensuring that they have an adult
advocate on their side during the disciplinary process, but that
the social worker or attorney can connect the youth with
appropriate behavioral and mental health resources that will
help the child cope and get back on track in their education.
In fact, in its letter of support, the Elk Grove Unified School
District reports promising early results with this approach,
where for the past two years they have employed implemented a
similar policy of notifying attorneys for foster youth in
disciplinary situations. In the first year of implementing
their program (2009 to 2010), Elk Grove reports a 63% decrease
in foster youth expelled since beginning the notification
policy.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Public Counsel (co-sponsor)
AB 1909
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Legal Advocates for Children and Youth (co-sponsor)
Advancement Project
Alameda County Foster Youth Alliance (FYA)
The Alliance for Children's Rights
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Communities United Institute
California State Bar Family Law Section
Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ)
California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association
(CPPCA)
Chief Probation Officers of California
Children's Advocacy Institute, University of San Diego School of
Law
Children's Defense Fund
Children Now
Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
Elk Grove Unified School District Foster Youth Services
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California
Legal Services for Children
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
(NASW-CA)
National Center for Youth Law
New America Foundation
Restorative Schools Vision Project
San Francisco Unified School District
Youth and Education Law Project, Mills Legal Clinic at Stanford
Law School
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Anthony Lew / JUD. / (916) 319-2334