Bill Text: CA AB673 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 673

Bill Title: Unaccompanied homeless pupils: Unaccompanied Youth Support Grant Program.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Engrossed) 2026-06-29 - From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (June 29). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. [AB673 Detail]

Download: California-2025-AB673-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate June 18, 2026

Amended IN Senate June 08, 2026

Amended IN Assembly January 12, 2026

Amended IN Assembly January 05, 2026

Amended IN Assembly April 01, 2025

Amended IN Assembly March 28, 2025

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 673

Introduced by Assembly Member Jackson

February 14, 2025

An act to add Article 11 (commencing with Section 54810) to Chapter 9 of Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to pupil services.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 673, as amended, Jackson. Unaccompanied homeless pupils: Unaccompanied Youth Support Grant Program.

Existing law states the intent of the Legislature to ensure that all pupils in foster care and those who are homeless, as defined, have a meaningful opportunity to meet the challenging state pupil academic achievement standards to which all pupils are held. Existing law requires educators, county placing agencies, care providers, advocates, and the juvenile courts to work together to maintain stable school placements and to ensure that each pupil is placed in the least restrictive educational programs and has access to the academic resources, services, and extracurricular and enrichment activities that are available to all pupils, as provided.

This bill would require the State Department of Education to administer formula grants as part of a pilot program, to be known as the Unaccompanied Youth Support Grant Program, for school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to provide supports necessary to improve school attendance, pupil engagement, pupil graduation rates, and pupil wellbeing for unaccompanied youth, as defined, who are 16 ~~and~~ or 17 years of age, including connecting youth with resources to find stable housing. The bill would require, subject to an appropriation and subject to specified allocation metrics, 5-year grants that commence with the 2028–29 fiscal year, to be awarded by the Superintendent of Public Instruction to local educational agencies, or consortia of local educational agencies, to support unaccompanied youth, and would require grant funds to be used for, among other things, referrals to existing social services support systems, and providing basic needs and educational support services, as specified. The bill would require, to be eligible to apply for a grant under the program, a local educational agency to have identified at least one unaccompanied youth enrolled during the prior fiscal year, as specified. The bill would require local educational agencies applying for grant funds under the program to submit an application that includes, among other things, a description of how grant funds will be used to identify eligible pupils, the types of supports to be provided based on the eligible uses of grant funds, and the performance measures the local educational agency will use to measure progress towards program goals. The bill would require local educational agencies awarded grant funds under the program to submit annual reports to the department that include, among other things, a description of the expenditure of funds and the number and characteristics of unaccompanied youth served.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Youth who are experiencing homelessness include those who are runaways or unaccompanied minors, those who have left home for one or more nights or have been told to leave home, and those who have been abandoned or deserted. They survive without a trusted guardian or caretaker.

(b) In a 2023 national survey, California reported the largest number of unaccompanied youth, 10,173 people, accounting for more than one-third of all unaccompanied youth nationally.

(c) Local educational agencies, including charter schools, reported 286,853 enrolled homeless pupils for the 2023–24 school year as part of the annual End of Year 3 data submission in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System. Out of this total, 8,831 pupils were unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness. Approximately 74 percent were pupils enrolled in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, and 60 percent identified as Hispanic or Latino, 17 percent identified as White, 10 percent identified as African American, 5 percent identified as two or more races, 3 percent identified as Asian, and 2 percent identified as American Indian or Alaska Native.

(d) Children experiencing homelessness face extensive barriers to academic success. In comparison to their peers, homeless pupils are more likely to be suspended and chronically absent and are less likely to graduate from high school or attend college.

SEC. 2.

Article 11 (commencing with Section 54810) is added to Chapter 9 of Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:

Article 11. Unaccompanied Youth Support Grant Program

54810.

(a) (1) The department shall administer formula grants as part of a pilot program, to be known as the Unaccompanied Youth Support Grant Program, to local educational agencies for the purpose of providing supports necessary to improve school attendance, pupil engagement, pupil graduation rates, and pupil wellbeing for unaccompanied youth who are 16 ~~and~~ or 17 years of age, including connecting youth with resources to find stable housing.

(2) Grant funds shall be awarded to a local educational agency or a consortium of local educational agencies pursuant to subdivision (d) and shall be available for expenditure for five years from the date of receipt.

(3) Eligible uses of grant funds include all of the following:

(A) Supporting connections and establishing referrals to existing community-based organizations, licensed youth shelter programs, county welfare departments, and local continuums of care to enable eligible pupils to access housing navigation services, social services, child welfare services, and family stabilization services administered by those entities.

(B) Providing basic needs, including items such as clothing, food, and stipends for transportation.

(C) Providing educational support services and tutoring provided directly by the local educational agency or through a partner nonprofit or service provider.

(D) Providing employment readiness and skills development, including skills related to independent living.

(E) Supporting connections and establishing referrals to health, behavioral health, and other supportive services.

(b) To be eligible to apply for a grant under the program, a local educational agency shall have identified at least one unaccompanied youth enrolled during the prior fiscal year as reported in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System.

(c) (1) A local educational agency applying to receive a grant under the program shall submit an application to the department in the form and manner prescribed by the department.

(2) The application shall include all of the following information:

(A) A description of the local educational agency.

(B) A description of existing partnerships between the local educational agency and other agencies or organizations to support unaccompanied youth, as applicable.

(C) A description of how grant funds will be used to identify eligible pupils, the types of supports to be provided based on the eligible uses of grant funds, and the performance measures the local educational agency will use to measure progress towards program goals.

(D) The number of homeless children and youths, and unaccompanied youth, as those terms are defined under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11434a), enrolled within the local educational agency during the prior fiscal year, as reported in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System.

(3) The department may establish additional application requirements or criteria necessary to ensure effective program administration, accountability, and equitable geographic distribution of grant awards consistent with the purpose and the eligible grant uses pursuant to this section.

(d) (1) Commencing with the 2028–29 fiscal year, and subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act for these purposes, the Superintendent shall allocate funding to local educational agencies, or consortia of local educational agencies, that have submitted applications and been determined eligible to receive a grant pursuant to this section.

(2) The Superintendent shall reserve 30 percent of the total funds appropriated for the program in any given fiscal year to be distributed to all participating local educational agencies or consortia of local educational agencies as base grants.

(3) After the reservation and allocation of base grants pursuant to paragraph (2), the Superintendent shall allocate the remaining funding based on a weighted formula using the following metrics:

(A) Seventy percent of the allocation shall be based on the proportionate number of unaccompanied youth identified within the local educational agency or the consortium of local educational agencies in the prior fiscal year.

(B) Twenty percent of the allocation shall be based on indicators of concentrated need within the territory served by the local educational agency or the consortium of local educational agencies, as determined by the Superintendent based on both of the following metrics:

(i) The rate of chronic absenteeism among homeless pupils.

(ii) The percentage of identified homeless children and youths, as defined under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11434a), enrolled within the local educational agency or the consortium of local educational agencies that exceeds the statewide average percentage of homeless pupil enrollment.

(C) Ten percent of the allocation shall be based on the structural scale and geographic barriers of the applicant, including the number of school districts within the county and the documented capacity of the local educational agency to coordinate regional housing and supportive services.

(e) On or before October 31 of each fiscal year, the Superintendent shall submit a report detailing the final funding allocations made pursuant to subdivision (d) to the Department of Finance, the state board, and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature for oversight and review.

(f) (1) A local educational agency awarded grant funds under the program shall submit an annual report to the department, in the form and manner prescribed by the department, describing the expenditure of funds, the number and characteristics of unaccompanied youth served, the services ~~and housing~~ provided, and measurable outcomes related to housing stability, school attendance, and educational attainment.

(2) Upon completion of the five-year grant cycle, the department shall submit a report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, evaluating program outcomes and recommending whether the program should be expanded or made permanent.

(g) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code) and Section 33308.5, the department may implement this section through management bulletins or similar letters of instruction.

(h) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school.

(2) “Nonprofit” means a nonprofit public benefit corporation.

(3) “Program” means the Unaccompanied Youth Support Grant Program created pursuant to this section.

(4) “Unaccompanied youth” means a homeless child or youth not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian as defined in Section 11434a(6) of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301 et seq.).