AB 27

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(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. 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. This bill would require a local educational agency to ensure that each school within the local educational agency identifies all homeless children and youths and unaccompanied youths, as defined, enrolled at the school. The bill would also require local educational agencies receiving designated federal funds to administer a housing questionnaire, as specified, for purposes of identifying homeless children and youths and unaccompanied youths, and to annually provide the housing questionnaire to all parents or guardians of pupils and unaccompanied youths of the local educational agency. This bill would require a school district, charter school, or county office of education to create an internet web page or post on its internet website a list of the local educational agency liaisons for homeless children and youths and unaccompanied youths in that school district, charter school, or county office of education, respectively, the contact information for those liaisons, and specific information regarding the educational rights and resources available to persons experiencing homelessness. The bill would require a school to post on its internet website, if the school has an internet website, the contact information for the liaison, if available. The bill would also require, if a school has an employee or person under contract whose duties include assisting the liaison in completing the liaison's duties under the federal act, the school to post on its internet website, if the school has an internet website, the contact information for that employee or person under contract. The bill would require data collected by the department or by a local educational agency under these provisions to be used in accordance with all state and federal laws regarding pupil privacy and the collection and use of pupil data. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would authorize $1,500,000 to be allocated to up to 3 county offices of education in different regions throughout the state for purposes of establishing technical assistance centers to foster relationships with community partners and other local educational agencies in each region, as provided. The bill would require the department to determine which county offices of education to allocate those funds to through a competitive process, as provided, and to take into account geographic diversity and concentrations of homeless children and youths and unaccompanied youths. The bill would require the technical assistance centers to be operative only for the duration of a specified federal grant period. (2) Existing law requires the department 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 develop, as specified, best practices and a model housing questionnaire 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. The bill would require the department to post the best practices and model housing questionnaire on its internet website. (3) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 48852.5 of the Education Code proposed by SB 400 to be operative only if this bill and SB 400 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (4) 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. (5) This bill would provide that, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the department would be authorized to use designated federal funds or the General Fund, or a combination of funds from these sources, to implement the provisions of the bill commencing with the 2021–22 school year. (6) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.