BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 854
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
AB 854
(Weber) - As Amended April 14, 2015
SUBJECT: Educational services: students in foster care
SUMMARY: Expands the uses of Foster Youth Services (FYS)
funding to support students in all foster care placements, makes
significant changes to the FYS program, and establishes a State
Foster Youth Services Director in the California Department of
Education (CDE). Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes findings and declarations relative to the academic
outcomes of students in foster care.
2)Allows FYS funding currently used to serve students placed in
licensed foster homes or county operated juvenile detention
facilities to be used to support any student in foster care.
3)Allows the FYS coordinator to work on behalf of any student in
foster care residing or attending school in their county.
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4)Defines foster youth, for the purposes of the FYS program, the
same as for the purposes of the Local Control Funding Formula.
5)Requires a FYS program, in consultation with school districts,
the county social services agency and county probation
department, to prescribe the methodology for designing
specific supports for students in foster care, and in doing
so, consider at least all of the following: the needs of
specific age groups, students in foster care in specific
geographic areas with the highest concentration of students in
foster care, and students in foster care with the greatest
academic need. Encourages a FYS program to first provide
services for students in foster care who reside in group homes
or other institutional settings.
6)Requires each FYS program to develop and implement a plan
documenting how the program will:
a) Collaborate with county child welfare agencies, county
probation departments, and school districts to minimize
changes in school placement and support the placement of
students in regular public school settings.
b) Collaborate with county child welfare agencies, county
probation departments, and school districts so that when it
is in the best interests of a student in foster care to
transfer schools, transfers are done at an educationally
appropriate time, educational records are quickly
transferred, appropriate partial credits are awarded, and
the student in foster care is quickly enrolled in
appropriate classes.
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1)Requires these plans to document how FYS programs will:
a) Collaborate with county child welfare agencies, county
probation departments, and school districts to ensure
students in foster care have an active education team that
includes an educational rights holder, caregiver, social
worker, teacher, counselor, court appointed special
advocate, other stakeholders, and the student if
appropriate
b) Participate in education teams as is helpful and needed.
c) Help the education team assess the educational strengths
and needs of a student in foster care, and help develop,
monitor, and update an education plan based on those
strengths and needs.
d) Provide tutoring, mentoring, counseling, transition,
school-based social work, and emancipation services, if
those services are determined to be needed by the Executive
Advisory Council, and if the county child welfare agency,
county probation department, or school district are unable
to provide those services.
e) Maintain information on all of the following for
purposes of ensuring that students in foster care,
education rights holders, and other education team members
are informed of all available opportunities for a student
to attend:
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1. available schools to ensure appropriate placement
2. educational programs, including linked learning
programs and special education programs
3. English learner programs
4. after school and summer enrichment opportunities
5. other appropriate supports and services
a) Maintain information on postsecondary educational
institutions, career technical education programs, and
postsecondary opportunities for purposes of ensuring that
students in foster care, education right holders and other
members of the education team have the information
necessary to support access to postsecondary education,
career program, and related supports, including financial
aid.
b) Collaborate with local postsecondary educational
institutions, including the California Community Colleges,
the California State University, and the University of
California, and with county independent living programs to
facilitate a seamless transition from high school to
postsecondary educational institutions, and to provide
students in foster care currently enrolled in high school
assistance with college applications, matriculation, and
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financial aid.
c) Facilitate on behalf of individual students in foster
care to ensure:
1. transfer of records
2. transcript analysis
3. credit recovery
4. timely individualized education programs
(IEPs) and special education services
5. timely placement in English learner programs
6. enrollment in, or transition to,
comprehensive schools or the least restrictive
educational placements
7. education entitlements specific to students
in foster care are provided
d) Collaborate with school districts, child welfare,
juvenile courts, and Special Education Local Plan Areas
(SELPAs) in an effort to ensure that students in foster
care have an identified education rights holders with the
capacity to support educational success by:
1. helping a school district identify the
education rights holder of a student in foster care
2. collaborating with county child welfare
agencies and county probation departments to identify
a responsible adult familiar with the student in
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foster care to serve as the student's education rights
holder
3. recruiting volunteer education rights holders
to be used only after the county child welfare agency,
county probation department, and juvenile court have
taken every reasonable effort to find a responsible
adult familiar with the student in foster care to
serve as the student's educational rights holder
4. training and building the capacity of
biological parents, foster parents, and all other
education rights holders to support educational
success, including the provision of information
related to requirements for postsecondary education
application, matriculation, enrollment, and financial
aid
a) Collaborate with county child welfare agencies, county
probation departments, and school districts to facilitate
information sharing. This includes, but is not limited to:
1. Collaborating with county child welfare
agencies and county probation departments to develop,
monitor, and regularly update the education portion of
child welfare and probation case plans
2. Providing education-related information to the
county child welfare agency to assist it in delivering
services to foster children, including education
status and progress information required to be
included in court reports
3. Responding to requests from the juvenile court
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for information and working with the juvenile court to
ensure the coordination and delivery of necessary
educational services
4. Establishing a mechanism for the efficient and
expeditious transfer of health and education records,
and the health and education passport
a) Support interagency efforts to improve the educational
outcomes of students in foster care. This includes:
1. Collaborating with county child welfare
agencies, county probation departments, and school
districts to gather and analyze aggregate information
on the educational challenges and outcomes of students
in foster care
2. Facilitating communication and collaboration
between school districts and county agencies,
including, but not limited to, county child welfare
agencies, county probation departments, county mental
health agencies, and courts within a county
3. Providing training and technical assistance to
school districts, governing boards of school
districts, county child welfare agencies, county
probation departments, and county mental health
agencies
4. Collaborating with local colleges and
universities to facilitate a seamless transition from
secondary to postsecondary educational institutions,
and provide students in foster care currently enrolled
in high school with assistance with college
application, matriculation, and financial aid
applications.
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1)Requires each FYS program to work with their county office of
education to ensure the implementation of portions of school
district and county office of education Local Control and
Accountability Plans that pertain to foster youth. States
that in doing so, FYS programs may consider:
a) Ensuring that the school district has the necessary
infrastructure to support the educational success of
students in foster care, which may include local policies,
practices, and agreements
b) Providing the school district's foster youth educational
liaison with additional resources to increase the liaison's
capacity to execute his or her responsibilities
c) Maintaining information on educational programs,
supports, and services provided by the school district,
including linked learning and career pathways programs,
credit-recovery classes, after school classes, school
tutoring resources, California High School Exit Examination
tutoring resources, other remediation services, school
social worker counseling, school-based mental health
services, in-school therapeutic services, summer enrichment
opportunities, support services offered to lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming youth,
college planning, and financial aid workshops and
counseling
d) Regularly assessing the educational strengths and needs
of students in foster care
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e) Developing, monitoring, and regularly updating an
education success plan for a student in foster care that
lists the strengths and needs, goals and objectives, and
the programs, supports, and services the student in foster
care will receive
f) Ensuring that each student in foster care receives the
programs, supports, or services specified in the student's
education plan needed by the student to succeed
academically
g) Carefully monitoring the educational progress of a
student in foster care and notifying the student's
education support team of significant changes
1)Requires that each FYS program establish an Executive Advisory
Council, as follows:
a) The Councils would be required to include
representatives from the county child welfare agency, the
county probation department, school districts, local
postsecondary educational institutions, and community
organizations, and if possible, include foster youth,
caregivers, education rights holders, and other interested
stakeholders. FYS coordinator would be a permanent member.
b) The Councils would be required to regularly review the
recommendations to the FYS plan.
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1)Requires that each school district or charter school receiving
funding through the Local Control Funding Formula to designate
a schoolsite-based staff person to serve as a liaison to
students in foster care, if the site has one or more students
in foster care. Requires school districts to provide contact
information for each site liaison to the school district
liaison and to the county FYS coordinator.
2)Modifies the requirements of the bi-annual FYS report to the
Legislature. Requires that the report include aggregate
educational outcome data for each county in which there were
at least 15 students in foster care who attended school in the
county, with information on each of the following indicators:
a) The number of students in foster care who attended
school in the county
b) The academic achievement of the students in foster care
who attended school in the county
c) The number of students in foster care who were suspended
or expelled
d) The number of students in foster care who were placed in
a juvenile hall, camp, ranch, or other county-operated
juvenile detention facility because of an incident of
juvenile delinquency
e) The truancy rates, attendance rates, and dropout rates
for students in foster care
f) The number of students in foster care participating in
foster youth services programs pursuant to this chapter who
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successfully transition to postsecondary education
1)Requires the CDE to collaborate with the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges and the Chancellor of the
California State University to identify indicators that can be
used to track access to postsecondary education for students
in foster care participating in a FYS program.
2)Requires that, whenever possible, the data in the report be
the same as is used by the Superintendent in determining the
Academic Performance Index or its successor.
3)Requires that each county office of education with a FYS
program develop and enter into an agreement with the county
child welfare agency pursuant to which FYS program funds would
be used, to leverage funds received pursuant to Title IV-E of
the federal Social Security Act and any other funds that may
be used to specifically address the educational needs of
students in foster care, or requires that they jointly explain
in writing, annually, why a memorandum of understanding is not
practical or feasible.
1)Requires the SPI to identify a State FYS Director within the
department, who would be responsible for all of the following:
a) monitoring implementation of the FYS program
a) facilitating data sharing and reporting
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b) representing the department in policy and interagency
workgroups related to the educational success of students
in foster care, that may include, but is not limited to,
collaborating with child welfare, probation, and judicial
agencies
c) overseeing technical assistance
d) providing technical support and mediation to foster
youth services programs and their oversight boards
e) reviewing a county office of education's LCAP as it
relates to foster youth
f) Permits the State FYS Director to form an advisory
committee to provide consultation with regards to the above
responsibilities
1)Deletes requirements for the SPI to convene an advisory
committee.
2)States that the SPI may provide funding to one or more local
educational agencies to work with the State FYS Director to
provide statewide technical support to ensure educational,
child welfare, and judicial agencies receive the technical
support needed to improve the educational success of students
in foster care. Allows technical assistance to include:
a) state and local data sharing, and appropriate use of
shared data.
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b) improving county office of education FYS programs.
c) assisting school districts to develop and implement
specific actions and to increase the academic performance
of students in foster care
d) policy and legal guidance specific to students in foster
care
1)States that funding for the technical assistance described
above may come from the FYS appropriation in the annual Budget
Act, as determined by the Superintendent, but shall be no more
than 5 percent of the FYS budget allocation for the applicable
fiscal year.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the Foster Youth Services program to carry out a
number of activities to support the education of foster youth.
These include:
a) Working with the child welfare agency to minimize
changes in school placement, facilitating the prompt
transfer of educational records
b) Providing education-related information to the child
welfare agency to assist the child welfare agency to
deliver services to foster children
c) Responding to requests from the juvenile court for
information and working with the court to ensure the
delivery or coordination of necessary educational services
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d) Working to obtain and identify, and link children to,
mentoring, tutoring, vocational training, and other
services designed to enhance the educational prospects of
foster children, facilitating communication between the
foster care provider, the teacher, and any other school
staff or education service providers for the child,
e) Sharing information with the foster care provider
regarding available training programs that address
education issues for children in foster care,
f) Referring caregivers of foster youth who have special
education needs to special education programs and services.
1)Establishes a hierarchy of services provided through FYS
programs, as follows: tutoring, mentoring, counseling,
transitioning services, emancipation services, timely IEP
programs, establishing efficient records transfer.
2)Establishes a number of rights for students in foster care.
Among them are rights to immediate enrollment, rights to have
educational records transferred in a timely manner, rights to
remain in students' schools of origin, rights to exemptions
from locally adopted graduation requirements in excess of
state requirements, and the right to have partial credit
awarded for coursework.
3)Requires all LEAs to designate a staff person as the
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educational liaison for foster children, and requires that
person to ensure and facilitate the proper educational
placement, enrollment in school, and checkout from school of
foster children, and to ensure proper transfer of credits,
records, and grades when students change schools or school
districts.
4)Requires that public notice of the educational rights of
students who are homeless to be disseminated in schools.
FISCAL EFFECT: This bill has been keyed a state-mandated local
program by the Office of Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill. The author's office states, "Because FYS
programs are not authorized or funded to serve foster youth in
relative foster care settings, an estimated 67% of California's
foster youth are not eligible to receive FYS support that has
been proven to increase the educational success of students in
foster care.
This bill will refocus foster youth service programs such that
county offices of education better support the effective
implementation of LCFF requirements for foster youth; support
school districts in developing and implementing the portion of
their local control and accountability plan describing the
specific actions and strategies the school district will
undertake to increase the academic performance of students in
foster care, and facilitate collaboration between school
districts and the county agencies collectively responsible for
the educational success of students in foster care. Having
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developed deep expertise in foster youth education issues, the
FYS programs are uniquely well positioned to play this role."
The "Invisible Achievement Gap." A 2013 report by the Center
for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd, titled "The
Invisible Achievement Gap," for the first time linked education
and child welfare data to identify the achievement gap for
students in foster care relative to their peers. It found,
based on 2009-10 educational data, that students in foster care
represented a subgroup distinct in many ways from other
low-income students. Among the findings in this report were
that foster youth:
have among the lowest scores in English-language arts
have the lowest scores in mathematics of any subgroup
have the highest dropout rate, nearly three times the
rate of other students
have the lowest high school graduation rate of any
subgroup
The report also found that students in foster care are more
likely to change schools during the school year, more likely to
be enrolled in low-performing schools, less likely to
participate in state assessments, and significantly more likely
to be enrolled in nontraditional schools.
Local Control Funding Formula and foster youth. The 2013
legislation establishing Local Control Funding Formula (Chapter
47, Statutes of 2013) recognized foster youth as a special
population of students requiring more attention, and required
LEAs to identify ways in which they will improve the educational
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outcomes of these students in their Local Control Accountability
Plans (LCAPs).
Three recent reports have examined the district LCAP goals and
strategies to support foster youth:
A 2015 report commissioned by the National Youth Law
Center and conducted by SRI, International noted that while
"LCFF has begun to shine a bright light on the needs of
foster youth," problems persist in the areas of data
sharing, the shortage of educational rights holders, and
compliance with the law regarding records transfer and
school enrollment, among others. The report found that "on
balance, initial LCAPs did not recognize the needs of
foster youth."
A 2015 report from Public Counsel, which focused on
school climate and foster youth as reflected in LCAPs,
found that " districts have fallen short of collecting and
analyzing baseline data, and incorporating in their LCAPs
specific interventions to improve school climate for foster
youth" and that "few school districts identified unique
attendance-related goals or actions for foster youth."
A 2014 report by The Education Trust - West on the first
year of LCFF implementation found that "most districts do
not directly and distinctly address the needs of foster
youth in their first-year LCAPs, apart from saying they
will receive the same services as all students." One
section of that report written by FosterEd (an initiative
of the National Center for Youth Law,) reports that "the
vast majority of district LCAPs [of the 10 districts with
the largest enrollment of foster youth] do not include the
unique interventions and infrastructure elements critical
to help foster youth. However, a few districts - both large
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and small - have well-developed and promising plans for
closing the foster youth achievement gap. LAUSD's plan is
particularly noteworthy for the large district investment
in foster youth. LAUSD has allocated $9.9 million to hire
75 foster youth counselors and school social workers
specifically responsible for identifying the student's
educational strengths and needs in addition to monitoring
educational progress."
FYS funding history. To put the proposed changes to FYS in
context, the Committee may wish to consider the funding history
of this program.
FYS began in 1973 as a pilot program operated by four school
districts: San Juan Unified School District, Mount Diablo
Unified School District, Sacramento City Unified School District,
and Elk Grove Unified School District.
In 1981 the Legislature and Governor established the program in
statute and provided dedicated state funding for the programs.
The statute authorizing the program stated that instruction,
counseling, tutoring, and provision of related services for
foster youth were state priorities. In 1988, the Legislature
established uniform data collection requirements for the four FYS
programs, and required biennial reports on their progress and
effectiveness. In 1992, the Legislature funded two additional FYS
programs through the Paramount Unified School District and the
Placer/Nevada Counties Consortium.
In 1998 FYS was expanded through the budget process, with a $6
million increase in funding. This funding allowed expansion of
the program statewide through county offices of education, and
targeted foster youth living in licensed children's institutions
(also known as group homes). This change was part of a broad set
of reforms prompted by concerns about the conditions of foster
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youth residing in group homes. The expansion was part of SB 933
(Thompson, Chapter 311, Statutes of 1998) which made numerous
other changes to foster care group home law in several policy
areas. The decision to target FYS funding to students in group
homes was made without prejudice to the educational needs of
students in other foster care placements; it reflected the reform
agenda in that year.
FYS was expanded again through the budget process in 2006. AB
1808 (Steinberg, Chapter 75, Statutes of 2006) expanded eligible
students to include foster youth residing in Foster Homes, Foster
Family Agencies, Court Specified Placements, and Juvenile
Detention Facilities, and the budget increased the appropriation
for this program to $18.3 million. Budget reductions during the
recession reduced the appropriation to $15.1 million.
In 2013 the Local Control Funding Formula eliminated
approximately three-quarters of all K-12 education categorical
programs, but FYS is one of the few programs that has remained
"outside" as a dedicated funding source.
FYS program outcomes. In its 2014 report to the Legislature,
the CDE reported that for students served by FYS in the 2012-13
school year:
72 percent of foster youth served gained more than one
month of academic growth per month of tutoring received,
surpassing the target objective by 12 percent.
62 percent of eligible twelfth graders completed a high
school program (compared to the general foster care
graduation rate of 58%)
0.19 percent of foster youth served were expelled,
surpassing the target rate of less than 5 percent
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students exceeded their attendance target rate of 90
percent
Refocusing the FYS program around support and coordination.
Since the establishment of the FYS program in statute in 1981,
and the last funding increases in 1998 and 2006, major changes in
policy around the education of foster youth have occurred.
The FYS program was largely built around a direct service model,
providing tutoring, mentoring, counseling, and other services to
students - services for which there was little dedicated funding
in 1973. The program statute still reflects this model,
requiring a hierarchy of services, for example, starting with
tutoring.
Over the course of this program's history the landscape of school
finance and accountability has changed dramatically. Most
notably, through the Local Control Funding Formula and LCAPs,
school districts are both receiving more support for, and being
held accountable for, the educational needs and outcomes of
students in foster care as never before.
This bill proposes to replace the FYS model in statute with a new
role for the program - one of support, coordination, planning,
and leadership. This is evident, for example, in the provision
of this bill which requires that direct services be provided only
if they cannot be provided by other agencies, such as school
districts.
Given LCFF and many other policy changes since the FYS program
statute was written, an updating is justified. The Committee may
wish to consider that the programmatic changes in this bill would
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shift the role of the FYS from direct services to the creation of
a kind of support infrastructure for the education of students in
foster care.
Related budget request. A coalition of organizations and LEAs
has submitted a budget request for an augmentation of $20 to $30
million for FYS in the 2015-16 budget. This amount is estimated
to provide enough funding to serve all students in foster care,
should the authorization be provided through this bill to serve
students in any placement.
Recommended amendments. Staff recommends the following
amendments to this bill:
1)This measure refers to "education teams" and "education plans"
in various provisions of the bill. The author indicates that
these are intended to refer to existing teams and plans
(student success teams and individualized education plans, for
example) or in the case of "teams" refer to the set of
individuals supporting foster youth. The author's intent is
not to require the establishment of new teams or plans.
Staff recommends a clarifying amendment which would define
these teams and plans as existing plans and teams, and also
state that nothing in that definition prohibits the creation
of new plans and teams for the support of foster youth.
2)This bill refers frequently to school districts. The author
indicates that this bill is intended to improve support
through the FYS program to students in a variety of education
placements, including alternative education programs operated
by county offices of education. Staff recommends that
references to school districts, as appropriate, be changed to
"local educational agencies," which includes both school
districts and county office of education.
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3)Staff recommends including court appointed special advocates
(CASAs) as members of the local councils established by this
bill.
4)Staff recommends that when the bill refers to educational
rights of foster youth information on complaint procedures, as
applicable, be included.
5)Staff recommends two technical amendments: page 11, line 39,
delete "care"; page 12 line 17 deleted "summer enrichment
opportunities."
Related legislation. AB 379 (Gordon) would make complaints
regarding the educational rights of students in foster care
subject to the Uniform Complaint Procedures process. That bill
was approved by this Committee on March 25th, 2015.
AB 224 (Jones-Sawyer) requires that a notice of educational
rights of foster youth be created and disseminated. That bill
was approved by this Committee on March 25th, 2015.
Prior legislation. SB 933 (Thompson, Chapter 311, Statutes of
1998) expanded the FYS program statewide through county offices
of education, and targeted funding to students residing in
licensed children's institutions.
AB 1808 (Steinberg, Chapter 75, Statutes of 2006) Expanded the
FYS program to serve youth in foster family homes, foster family
agencies, and juvenile detention facilities.
AB 2489 (Leno) of the 2005-06 Session would have expanded the
FYS program and required that each program identify a foster
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youth educational services advocate.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
National Center for Youth Law (sponsor)
Alameda County CASA
American Civil Liberties Union of California
California Alliance for Child and Family Services
California CASA Association
California Peace Alliance
California School Boards Association
CASA of Los Angeles
CASA of Santa Cruz County
Community Coalition
East Bay Asian Youth Center
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Equality California
Glenn County Office of Education
Greater New Beginnings
Hillsides
Humboldt County Office of Education Foster Youth Education
Services Program
John Burton Foundation for Children Without Homes
Legal Advocates for Children and Youth
Legal Services for Children
PolicyLink
Public Counsel
Reading and Beyond
Santa Cruz County Office of Education
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Santa Cruz Superior Court
Youth Law Center
Several individuals
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087