Bill Text: NY S09336 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes a juvenile justice education task force to address effective coordination and programmatic coherence in the provision of educational opportunities and services to students in juvenile justice settings; provides for repeal of such provisions 60 days after submission to the governor and the legislature of the task force's report.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-05-31 - referred to education [S09336 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S09336-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9336 IN SENATE May 17, 2022 ___________ Introduced by Sen. BAILEY -- (at request of the State Education Depart- ment) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education AN ACT to establish a juvenile justice education task force to address effective coordination and programmatic coherence in the provision of educational opportunities and services to certain students; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative findings and declarations. The legislature 2 hereby finds and declares that there is a significant lack of effective 3 coordination and programmatic coherence in the provision of educational 4 opportunities and services to students in juvenile justice settings. 5 When youth must be confined, detention and placement settings provide an 6 opportunity to re-engage them in their education and future and to reset 7 their trajectory. These programs must plan for and support youth reentry 8 to the community, including working with the student's school of reentry 9 to ensure credits are granted for work accomplished while in confinement 10 and re-enrollment in school in the community. Educational programs 11 provided in juvenile justice settings have struggled to recruit and 12 retain New York State certified teachers; provide access to all core 13 academic courses required to obtain a New York State Regents Diploma; 14 and design quality, culturally and linguistically responsive and engag- 15 ing instruction to meet the extensive, critical needs of this consist- 16 ently shifting student population. Lack of access to state and federal 17 education funds for core educational services, delayed access to 18 students' records, rolling admissions and discharges, as well as barri- 19 ers to re-enrollment, and providing supports to students as they transi- 20 tion back to public and nonpublic schools have contributed to this situ- 21 ation. Incarcerated youth funds were originally to support students 22 between the ages of 16 and 21 in county jails. Since implementation of 23 New York's "raise the age law" pursuant to part WWW of chapter 59 of the 24 laws of 2017, incarcerated youth funds for jails have declined, as 16- 25 and 17-year-old students are placed in detention and other settings EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD15057-01-2S. 9336 2 1 which are ineligible for incarcerated youth funding. This makes it 2 difficult to sustain staffing and educational programming for incarcer- 3 ated 18- to 21-year-old students, who are still entitled to an educa- 4 tion. Additionally, the incarcerated youth formula provides a minimum 5 of $15,000 to the district of location which has not been updated since 6 1986 and is insufficient to maintain minimum educational programming. 7 Further, once returned to the community, these students need additional 8 supports to ensure continued success. 9 § 2. The state task force on juvenile justice education (hereinafter 10 referred to as "the task force") is hereby established. The task force 11 shall conduct and complete a thorough study and review of the needs of 12 educational programming across the spectrum of juvenile justice confine- 13 ment settings and the educational transition of youth post-confinement 14 and shall make actionable recommendations on the improvement thereof. 15 The task force shall study and make recommendations relating to: 16 (a) the provision of educational opportunities and services to 17 students in juvenile justice settings. Such settings include detention 18 settings, office of children and family services settings, foster care 19 settings, and county correctional facilities where students who are 20 under the age of 21 are entitled to attend school are placed or 21 confined; 22 (b) the creation of a statewide entity to provide or oversee such 23 educational opportunities and services; 24 (c) oversight of the provision of educational services by the educa- 25 tion department and the office of children and family services; 26 (d) access to federal and state funding mechanisms; 27 (e) access to career, occupational, certificate, licensure and techni- 28 cal courses; 29 (f) access to literacy and English language learner services; 30 (g) access to special education services; 31 (h) access to programs leading to a high school diploma or a high 32 school equivalency diploma; 33 (i) access to make up credit programs; 34 (j) access to programs and services through the education department's 35 office of adult career and continuing education services - vocational 36 rehabilitation and board of cooperative educational services; 37 (k) access to student records; 38 (l) appropriate accountability measures; and 39 (m) educational transition services provided to students returning to 40 the community after placement or confinement. 41 § 3. (a) The task force shall consist of 14 members to be appointed as 42 follows: 43 (i) the commissioner of education or his or her designee, who shall 44 serve as the chair of the task force and four members appointed by the 45 commissioner of education, in consultation with the board of regents; 46 (ii) five members appointed by the governor; one of whom shall serve 47 as vice chair of the task force; 48 (iii) two members appointed by the temporary president of the senate; 49 and 50 (iv) two members appointed by the speaker of the assembly. 51 (b) No member of the task force shall be disqualified from holding any 52 public office or employment, nor shall he or she forfeit any such office 53 or employment by reason of his or her appointment pursuant to this act. 54 (c) The members of the task force shall receive no compensation for 55 their services, but shall be allowed their actual and necessary expenses 56 incurred in the performance of their duties pursuant to this act,S. 9336 3 1 provided that the task force shall be authorized to conduct meetings in 2 a manner that minimizes travel and costs as determined by the commis- 3 sioner of education. 4 (d) The task force shall issue a report on its findings and recommen- 5 dations for improvement, including any legislative recommendations, to 6 the board of regents, the governor, the temporary president of the 7 senate, the speaker of the assembly and the chairs of the education 8 committees in the assembly and senate on or before December 31, 2022. 9 § 4. Subject to appropriation therefor, the task force is authorized 10 to contract with consultants, including institutions of higher education 11 and independent research organizations, to assist the task force in the 12 performance of its duties. 13 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be 14 deemed repealed on the sixtieth day after the task force on juvenile 15 justice education shall have submitted the report required by section 16 three of this act; provided that the commissioner of education shall 17 notify the legislative bill drafting commission upon filing the report 18 required in section three of this act in order that the commission may 19 maintain an accurate and timely effective data base of the official text 20 of the laws of the state of New York in furtherance of effectuating the 21 provisions of section 44 of the legislative law and section 70-b of the 22 public officers law.
