AB 891: Pupil services: transportation.
- Session Year: 2015-2016
- House: Assembly
- Latest Version Date: 2015-05-21
(1)The After School Education and Safety Program Act of 2002, enacted by initiative statute, establishes the After School Education and Safety Program to serve pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 9, inclusive, at participating public elementary, middle, junior high, and charter schools. The act gives priority enrollment in both after school and before school programs to pupils in middle school or junior high school who attend daily.
This bill would instead give first priority enrollment to homeless youth, as defined, 2nd priority enrollment to pupils in CalWORKs assistance units, as described, and 3rd priority enrollment, for programs serving middle and junior high school pupils, to pupils who attend the program daily.
The act provides that an after school and before school program is not required to charge family fees or conduct individual eligibility determination based on need or income.
This bill would prohibit a program that charges family fees from charging a fee to a family with a homeless youth or a family who is part of a CalWORKs assistance unit.
(2)Existing
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to provide for the transportation of pupils to and from school whenever in the judgment of the board the transportation is advisable and good reasons exist to do so.
This bill would require a pupil entitled to free or reduced-price meals, or who attends a school that participates in the Community Eligibility Option, to be entitled to free transportation to and from school provided by the local educational agency, if certain conditions are met. The bill would require the local educational agency to designate a liaison to implement a plan, in consultation with specified stakeholders, to ensure that all entitled pupils receive free transportation in a timely manner.
By requiring new duties on a local educational agency, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(3)Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and other social services to needy families through the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant program, state, and county funds. Existing law specifies the amounts of cash aid to be paid each month to CalWORKs recipients.
This bill would require that a $200 supplement to the amount of cash aid provided under the program be paid to a CalWORKs recipient 19 years of age and under, upon verification that the recipient has obtained a high school diploma or its equivalent.
The bill would also, among other things, require the State Department of Social Services, in coordination with the State Department of Education, to identify a method and to use that method to track the high school completion rates of children in an assistance unit, and to make publicly available an aggregate report of these high school completion rates tracked by the department.
The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to, in consultation with specified entities, design a youth subsidized employment program for youth 15 to 19 years of age, inclusive, who are eligible for benefits under this bill and needy youth, as defined, and would require the program to provide paid employment, occupational skills training, and other relevant services.
The bill would require a child in an assistance unit to receive, in advance, a transportation service supplement to the amount of cash aid provided under the program to pay for transportation services in order for the child to participate in an After School Education and Safety Program (ASES).
By increasing county administrative duties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The bill would authorize the State Department of Social Services to implement the above provisions by all-county letters or similar instructions until regulations are adopted and would require the department to adopt regulations on or before January 1, 2018.
(4)Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program.
This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill.
(5)The
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 these statutory provisions.
