Bill Text: CA AB408 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Homeless children and youths: reporting.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2022-09-30 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 904, Statutes of 2022. [AB408 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB408-Chaptered.html
Assembly Bill
No. 408
CHAPTER 904
An act to add Sections 48851.3 and 48852.3 to the Education Code, relating to homeless children and youths.
[
Approved by
Governor
September 30, 2022.
Filed with
Secretary of State
September 30, 2022.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 408, Quirk-Silva.
Homeless children and youths: reporting.
(1) Existing federal law, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, provides grants to states to carry out activities relating to the education of homeless children and youths, as defined, including, among others, providing services and activities to improve the identification of homeless children and youths and to enable them to enroll in, attend, and succeed in school. The act requires a state plan submitted for the receipt of the grant to include assurances that local educational agencies will designate an appropriate staff person to act as a local educational agency liaison for homeless children and youths and a description of how the state will ensure that local educational agencies and their liaisons will comply with specified requirements of the act, including the identification of homeless children and youths.
Existing federal law, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also allocates funds for states to provide services for homeless children and youth, as provided.
Under existing state law, public schools, including charter schools, and county offices of education are required to immediately enroll a homeless child or youth seeking enrollment, except as specified. Existing law requires a local educational agency liaison for homeless children and youths to ensure that public notice of the educational rights of homeless children and youths is disseminated in schools within the liaison’s local educational agency that provide services pursuant to the act. Existing law also requires the department to develop best practices that a local educational agency may use to identify and obtain accurate data on all homeless children and youths and unaccompanied youths
enrolled in schools of the local educational agency and a model housing questionnaire, and to post this information on its internet website.
This bill would require a local educational agency, as defined to include a school district, county office of education, charter school, or special education local plan area, to establish homeless education program policies that are consistent with specified state laws and use the above-described resources developed and posted on the department’s internet website and resources developed by homeless education technical assistance centers established using certain federal funds. The bill would further require the local educational agency to update these policies at intervals not exceeding 3 years. The bill
would require a local educational agency liaison for homeless children and youths and unaccompanied youths to provide training at least annually on designated subjects to classified and certificated employees of the local educational agency who work with pupils experiencing homelessness pursuant to federal law, as specified. The bill would also encourage a local educational agency liaison to offer that training to all other classified and certificated employees, as provided. The bill would further require the liaison to inform
both
those
groups of employees of the availability of training and services the liaison provides to pupils who are experiencing, or are at risk of experiencing, homelessness.
By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) Existing law requires the State Department of Education to provide, among other things, informational and training materials to local educational agency liaisons regarding the educational rights of homeless children and youths and the responsibilities of the liaisons.
This bill would require the department, to the extent possible within existing resources,
to develop and implement a plan for monitoring the compliance of local educational agencies with state laws relating to youth experiencing homelessness. The bill would require the monitoring plan to include reviews of the local educational agencies including, but not limited to, schoolsite inspections to ensure that the state is not underestimating the number of youth experiencing homelessness.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 48851.3 is added to the Education Code, to read:48851.3.
(a) As used in this section, “liaison” means a local educational agency liaison for homeless children and youths and unaccompanied youths designated pursuant to Section 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii) of Title 42 of the United States Code.(b) A local educational agency shall establish homeless education program policies that are consistent with the provisions of this chapter and use resources developed by the department and posted on the department’s internet website pursuant to Section 48852.5 and resources developed by homeless education
technical assistance centers established using funding from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). The local educational agency shall update these policies at intervals that shall not exceed three years.
(c) A liaison shall do both of the following:
(1) (A) Offer training to local educational agency certificated and classified employees providing services to pupils experiencing homelessness, pursuant to Section 11432(g)(6)(A)(ix) of Title 42 of the United States Code, including, but not limited to, teachers, support staff, and other school staff who work with pupils, at least annually relating to both of the following:
(i) The homeless education program policies established under subdivision (b).
(ii) Recognition of signs that pupils are experiencing, or are at risk of experiencing, homelessness.
(B) A liaison is encouraged to offer the training described in subparagraph (A) to all local educational agency certificated and classified employees, including, but not limited to, teachers, support staff, and other school staff who work with pupils.
(2) Inform the employees described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) of the availability of training and the services the liaison provides to aid in the identification and provision of services to pupils who are experiencing, or are at risk of experiencing, homelessness.
