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Continuing with our bill update series, this update provides a comprehensive summary of bills we are tracking related to student services.
After School Programs
The creation of the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP) in last year’s budget raised questions in the field around what this new program would mean for the state’s preexisting after school programs, the After School Education and Safety Program (ASES), and the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC). Are the programs separate or does the state envision them working together as part of a universal after school system? What would a universal after school system even look like? Two bills have been introduced that look to answer these questions.
In attempt to coordinate the state’s various after school programs, AB 2501 by Assembly Member Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles) would establish the California Universal Afterschool Program Workgroup, which would be tasked with developing a roadmap for providing universal access to after school programs for all school-age children. The Workgroup would include representatives from local education agencies ( LEAs) and community-based organizations and be required to provide CDE and the Legislature with a final report of recommendations by October 1, 2024.
While AB 2501 seeks to develop best practices for establishing a universal after school system, AB 2507 by Assembly Member Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) focuses on maximizing the impact and reach of the state’s after school resources outside of ELOP. The state currently uses ASES funding to fund elementary and middle school programs and 21st CCLC funding for high, middle, and elementary school programs. Since ELOP is focused on providing after school services for TK-6 grade students, AB 2507 looks to ensure there is dedicated funding within these other after school funding sources for programs that serve middle and high school students. Specifically, the bill would do the following, beginning with the 2023-24 school year:
- Ensure the state maintains the current level of ASES funding that goes towards middle school programs by requiring that at least 30 percent of ASES funding be allocated for middle school programs.
- Prioritize 100 percent of 21st CCLC funding for community learning centers serving high school students, with any remaining funding going to community learning centers serving middle school students. 21st CCLC funding would no longer go to elementary school programs.
- Establish a statutory cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) for ASES and 21st CCLC programs
Both bills are pending action in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
COVID-19 Testing Plans
While the highest profile COVID-19 related legislation (SB 871 and AB 1993) stalled, one notable bill continues to move. There was little legislative will to mandate vaccinations for students or employees but thus far there has been support for SB 1479 by Senator Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), which would require all LEAs to develop a COVID-19 testing plan. Proponents of the bill, including the California Academy of Family Physicians, California Medical Association, and Teens for Vaccines, see testing as central to keeping school communities safe and campuses open for in-person instruction. The fate of this bill will likely be determined through the budget process given the bill is contingent on a state funding appropriation.
Tomorrow, with the release of the May Revision, we may learn whether Governor Newsom supports the bill’s intent. In February, the Governor released his SMARTER Plan, which laid out the next phase of the state’s COVID-19 response and included testing as a foundational piece of the state’s endemic strategy. However, the plan did not include many details on the role of schools with respect to testing. SB 1479 is also light on specifics, saying only that these plans would have to be consistent with guidance provided by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and that information on the plans would have to be reported to CDPH. The bill would require the state to provide supportive services to LEAs, including technical assistance, vendor support, guidance, monitoring, and testing education. However, not knowing what will be required in the plans, and how and when the plans would have to be carried out, is concerning to some. Moreover, school leaders have been beating the drum about their desire to be relieved of public health responsibilities and return the full attention of school staff to educating students. In this same vein, the field has also called attention to what some are referring to as the “Plandemic,” the increasing number of plans required of LEAs that take time away from directly serving students. SB 1479 is currently in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Other Student Services Legislation
Below is a list of other student services-related bills grouped by subcategory. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have questions related to any of the bills.
Sincerely,
-Iván
Iván Carrillo
Legislative Advocate | Capitol Advisors Group
After School
AB 2501 (Carrillo) - Before and After School Programs: California Universal Afterschool Program Workgroup.
Would establish the California Universal Afterschool Program Workgroup within the State Department of Education composed of certain members, including members appointed by the department, to evaluate policy and regulatory impediments to ensuring the quality of and increased access to after school programs and any access impediments faced by pupils and their families, develop legislative and regulatory recommendations and specific proposals to reduce those impediments, and develop a roadmap for providing universal access to after school programs to all school age children, as provided. The bill would appropriate an unspecified amount from the General Fund to the department to support the workgroup’s activities, and would require the workgroup to, among other things, provide a final report to the Legislature and the department on or before October 1, 2024. The bill would require the workgroup to be maintained through December 31, 2024, and would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2025.
AB 2507 (McCarty) - The Universal Afterschool Program: the After School Education and Safety Program: the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program.
Current law establishes the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program to provide funds to school districts and certain charter schools to offer, outside of any instructional time, expanded learning opportunities, as defined, to pupils enrolled in classroom-based instructional programs in kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, under specified funding methodologies and program conditions. This bill would rename the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program as the Universal Afterschool Program and would change references to “expanded learning opportunity programs” to instead refer to “afterschool programs.”
Child Nutrition
AB 558 (Nazarian) - School Meals: Child Nutrition Act of 2022.
Would require the State Department of Education to develop, and to post on its internet website by July 1, 2023, guidance for local educational agencies participating in the federal School Breakfast Program that maintain kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 6, inclusive, on how to serve eligible nonschoolaged children breakfast or a morning snack at a local educational agency schoolsite. The bill would define “eligible nonschoolaged child” to mean a child who is not enrolled in school and who is a sibling, half sibling, or stepsibling of, or a foster child residing with, a pupil who is eligible for a free or reduced-price breakfast. The bill would require a guardian of an eligible nonschoolaged child to be present in order for the nonschoolaged child to receive breakfast or a morning snack. The bill would require the department to evaluate the guidance and to submit the evaluation to the Legislature by January 1, 2025. The bill would require a local educational agency that chooses to implement the department’s guidance to submit to the department certain information relating to serving breakfast and morning snacks to nonschoolaged children.
AB 661 (Bennett) - Recycling: Materials.
The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste. This bill would require a state agency, if fitness and quality are equal, to purchase recycled products instead of nonrecycled products, without regard to cost. The bill would substantially revise product categories. The bill would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, in consultation with the DGS, to update a list of products and minimum recycled content percentages, as determined to be appropriate, commencing January 1, 2026, and every 3 years thereafter. The bill would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery and the DGS to incorporate the updated list of products and minimum recycled content requirements into the State Contracting Manual, the Financial Information System for California, and the financial system of any department not utilizing the Financial Information System for California. The bill would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to maintain an internet website with current SABRC products and minimum recycled content requirements.
AB 2153 (Arambula) - California Fruit and Vegetable Supplemental Benefits Expansion Program.
Would establish the California Fruit and Vegetable Supplemental Benefits Expansion Program and create the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Expansion Fund in the State Treasury. The program would include a process and guidelines for the State Department of Social Services to, upon the deposit of sufficient moneys in the fund, enroll authorized retailers to enable those authorized retailers to provide supplemental benefits to CalFresh recipients who purchase California-grown fresh fruits and vegetables. The bill would authorize the department to initially allocate from any appropriation made for the purposes of the program, $140,000,000 for large authorized retailers that are not direct farm-to-consumer authorized retailers to provide supplemental benefits, $40,000,000 for small authorized retailers that are not direct farm-to-consumer authorized retailers to provide supplemental benefits, and $60,000,000 for direct farm-to-consumer authorized retailers to provide supplemental benefits.
AB 2640 (Valladares) - Pupil Health: Food Allergies: California Food Allergy Resource Internet Web Page.
Would require the State Department of Education to create the California Food Allergy Resource internet web page to provide voluntary guidance to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to help protect pupils with food allergies. The bill would require the department to ensure that the internet web page provides practical information, planning steps, and strategies for reducing allergic reactions to food within schools and early education centers. The bill would require the internet web page to include specified content, including state and federal resources available to pupils with food allergies, methods for pupils, or their parents and guardians, to initiate individualized food allergy management and prevention plans and to obtain food ingredient lists from school food providers, and strategies to minimize the risk of food anaphylaxis in school. The bill would encourage local educational agencies to consult the internet web page and use it as an equitable resource to ensure the inclusiveness of pupils with food allergies at school and to make it available to pupils, parents, and guardians annually.
AB 2810 (Arambula) - Student Nutrition: CalFresh: Student Eligibility: Federal Application for Student Aid Data.
Current law federal law provides for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Under existing state law, households are eligible to receive CalFresh benefits to the extent permitted by federal law. Current federal law provides that students who are enrolled in college or other institutions of higher education at least one-half time are not eligible for SNAP benefits unless they meet one of several specified exemptions. Current federal administrative guidance encourages institutions of higher education to use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) data to aid in the administration of several federal benefits programs, including SNAP. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to codify the federal administrative guidance encouraging institutions of higher education to use FAFSA data to inform students of eligibility for CalFresh. The bill would conform a definition of “half-time” student to the federal definition, for the purposes of determining CalFresh eligibility.
AJR 8 (Rivas, Luz) - School Meals: Federal National School Lunch Program.
This measure would urge the federal government to provide school lunches free of charge to all elementary, middle school, and high school students in the United States.
SB 45 (Portantino) - Short-lived Climate Pollutants: Organic Waste Reduction Goals: Local Jurisdiction Assistance.
Current law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, to adopt regulations to achieve the organic waste reduction goals established by the state board for 2020 and 2025, as provided. Current law requires the department, no later than July 1, 2020, and in consultation with the state board, to analyze the progress that the waste sector, state government, and local governments have made in achieving these organic waste reduction goals. This bill would require the department, in consultation with the state board, to provide assistance to local jurisdictions, including, but not limited to, any funding appropriated by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, for purposes of assisting local agencies to comply with these provisions, including any regulations adopted by the department.
SB 364 (Skinner) - Pupil Meals.
Would require the State Department of Education to certify that applications for free or reduced-price meals made electronically available online by school district governing boards or county offices of education comply with specified requirements, including provisions prohibiting the misuse of information provided online by applicants. The bill would require applications for free and reduced-price meals, which are authorized to be submitted at any time during a schoolday, to be processed within 30 days of submission. To the extent that this provision would impose new duties on local educational agencies, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.
SB 907 (Pan) - Electronic Benefits Transfer Systems: Farmers’ Markets.
Would establish the Local, Equitable Access to Food (LEAF) Program and would require, upon an appropriation by the Legislature for these purposes, the Department of Food and Agriculture, with support from the State Department of Social Services, to establish a noncompetitive grant program designed to expand the use of EBT acceptance systems at California certified farmers’ markets and tribe-operated farmers’ markets on Indian reservations. The bill would, as part of that grant program, require grants to be provided to certified farmers’ market operators or farmers’ markets operated by tribal governments. The bill would limit the use of grant funds for specified activities relating to expanding the use of EBT acceptance systems at farmers’ markets, including, among others, scaling and improving EBT processes at existing certified farmers’ markets. The bill would create certain additional requirements for certified farmers’ markets that use grant funds to hire an individual, or to contract with a third party, to operate an EBT acceptance system, including a requirement that the person operating the EBT acceptance system be available at all times the certified farmers’ market is open to the public.
SB 1255 (Portantino) - Single-Use Products Waste Reduction: Dishwasher Grant Program for Waste Reduction in K–12 Schools and Community Colleges.
Would establish the Dishwasher Grant Program for Waste Reduction in K–12 Schools and Community Colleges to be administered by the State Department of Education to provide grants to school districts, charter schools, and community college districts for the purchase and installation of commercial dishwashers at the schoolsites and campuses, as specified. The bill would require the department to award grants of up to $40,000 per kitchen of a school or campus of an applicant district, as specified. The bill would require the department to develop administrative guidelines for implementation of the program, as specified. The bill would require the department to develop materials and conduct outreach to those local educational agencies about the program, as provided. The bill would authorize, for purposes of the program, the department to consult with the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and enter into interagency agreements with other state agencies. The bill would make the implementation of these provisions contingent on an appropriation being made for its purposes by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
SB 1308 (Caballero) - Public Educational Institutions: Purchase of Nondomestic Agricultural Food Products.
Current law requires a school district that solicits bids for the purchase of an agricultural product to accept a bid or price for that agricultural product when it is grown in California before accepting a bid or price for an agricultural product that is grown outside the state when the bid or price of the California-grown agricultural product does not exceed the lowest bid or price for an agricultural product produced outside the state and the quality of the California-grown agricultural product is comparable. Under current law, these provisions only apply to a contract to purchase agricultural products for a value that is less than the value of the threshold for supplies and services for which California has obligated itself under the Agreement on Government Procurement of the World Trade Organization. This bill would change the requirement for school districts to apply to the purchase of a domestic agricultural product that is grown outside the state, instead of an agricultural product that is grown outside of the state. The bill would also prohibit the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and all local educational agencies that solicit bids for the purchase of an agricultural food product from purchasing, and would request the University of California not to purchase, agricultural food products grown, packed, or processed nondomestically, unless the bid or price of the nondomestic agricultural food product is more than 25% lower than the bid or price of the domestic agricultural food product, the quality of the domestic agricultural food product is inferior to the quality of the agricultural food product grown, packed, or produced nondomestically, or the agricultural food product is not produced or manufactured domestically in sufficient and reasonably available quantities of a satisfactory quality to meet the needs of meals provided under the school meal program of the public postsecondary educational institution or local educational agency.
SB 1413 (McGuire) - California Food Assistance Program: Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations.
Current federal law establishes the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), under which United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foods are provided to income-eligible households living on Indian reservations, and to American Indian households residing in approved areas near reservations, as an alternative to SNAP benefits. Current law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP), using state funds appropriated for the program, to provide nutrition benefits to households that are ineligible for CalFresh benefits solely due to their immigration status. Current law requires that the amount of nutrition benefits provided to each CFAP household be identical to the amount that would otherwise be provided to a household eligible for CalFresh benefits. This bill would, subject to an appropriation of state funds for CFAP, require the department to provide nutrition benefits to households that are ineligible for CalFresh benefits solely because they receive USDA Foods through FDPIR. The bill would require that the combined total of benefits provided under CFAP and FDPIR be identical to the amount that would otherwise be provided to a household eligible for CalFresh benefits. The bill would make conforming changes to related provisions.
SB 1481 (Becker) - Preschools, Child Daycare Facilities, and Trustline Providers: Meals.
The Early Education Act requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to, among other things, provide an inclusive and cost-effective preschool program, and declares the policy of the state that no child shall be hungry while in attendance in a preschool facility and that preschool programs have an obligation to provide for the nutritional needs of children in attendance. This bill would, subject to an appropriation for these purposes, require the State Department of Social Services to provide funding for (1) a supplemental state meal reimbursement for preschool facilities, child daycare facilities, and Trustline providers for up to 2 daily meals per child served through the CACFP at a rate equivalent to the state meal reimbursement for local educational agencies; (2) reimbursement of up to 2 daily meals per child served through the CACFP at a specified rate in order to establish a free meal program for all children receiving care from those facilities and providers; and (3) grants to those facilities and providers, and sponsors of the CACFP, to encourage their participation in and expansion of the CACFP. This bill would also increase the reimbursement rate for meals served in family daycare homes to 100 percent of the meals served.
SR 57 (Caballero) - Relative to School Meals.
Would resolve that the Senate expresses strong support for Buy American Provision requirements for all school food purchases to ensure our children consume food of the highest quality and safety that is reflective of our values by supporting local farmers, jobs, and our economy, and reinforcing California’s commitment as a world leader on climate change, environmental safeguards, and labor protections. The Senate calls on the 117th Congress of the United States to help the United States Department of Agriculture meet its obligations to maximize the use of goods, products, materials, and agricultural products produced in, and services offered in, the United States under the President’s executive order, and to minimize exceptions to, and maximize use of, domestic procurement in the upcoming reauthorization of the federal Child Nutrition Act.
Homeless/Foster Youth
AB 408 (Quirk-Silva) - Homeless Children and Youths: Reporting.
Would require a local educational agency, as defined to include a school district, county office of education, charter school, or special education local plan area, to establish homeless education program policies that are consistent with specified state laws, and would further require the local educational agency to update these policies at intervals not exceeding 3 years. The bill would require a local educational agency liaison for homeless children and youths and unaccompanied youths to provide training at least annually on designated subjects to classified and certificated employees of the local educational agency who work with pupils, as specified, and would further require the liaison to inform those employees of the availability of training and services the liaison provides to pupils who are experiencing, or are at risk of experiencing, homelessness.
AB 740 (McCarty) - Foster Youth: Suspension and Expulsion.
Would require the written notice of the intent to remove a pupil who is a foster child or youth by a charter school to also be in the native language of the foster child’s attorney and county social worker and inform the foster child’s attorney and county social worker of the right to initiate a hearing adjudicated by a neutral officer before the foster child may be involuntarily removed by the charter school. The bill would give a foster child’s attorney and county social worker the same rights a parent or guardian of a child has to receive a suspension notice, expulsion notice, manifestation determination notice, involuntary transfer notice, and other documents and related information.
AB 1615 (Ting) - Foster Youth: Housing.
Current law, subject to an annual appropriation in the annual Budget Act, requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to provide, under the Transitional Housing Program, funding to counties for allocation to child welfare services agencies to help young adults who are 18 to 24 years of age, inclusive, secure and maintain housing, with priority given to young adults formerly in the state’s foster care or probation systems. Current law, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, also requires the department to allocate funding to counties to provide housing navigators to help young adults who are 18 to 21 years of age, inclusive, secure and maintain housing, with priority given to young adults in the foster care system. Current law requires a child welfare agency that accepts any distribution of money pursuant to either program to report specified information to the department on an annual basis. This bill would rename to housing navigator program as the Housing Navigation and Maintenance Program, and would extend eligibility and priority for the program to help young adults who are 18 to 24 years of age, inclusive, with priority given to young adults formerly or currently in the foster care system.
AB 1663 (Maienschein) - Protective Proceedings.
The Guardianship-Conservatorship Law generally establishes the standards and procedures for the appointment of, and termination of an appointment for, a guardian or conservator of a person, an estate, or both. Under current law, a court may appoint the Director of Developmental Services as guardian or conservator of the person and estate or person or estate of a developmentally disabled person, and in which case a specified order of preferences for deciding between equally qualified prospective conservators does not apply. Current law authorizes the director to have these conservatorship duties performed through a regional center, or an agency or individual designated by the regional center, as specified.This bill would revise various procedures in the conservatorship process.
AB 1735 (Bryan) - Foster Care: Rights.
Current law provides that it is the policy of the state that all minors and nonminors in foster care have specified rights, including, among others, the right to receive medical, dental, vision, and mental health services and the right to be informed of these rights in an age and developmentally appropriate manner and to receive a copy of these rights, at specified intervals. This bill would additionally provide that a child who speaks a primary language other than English has the right to receive a copy of those rights in their primary language. The bill also would require, when a child is entitled to receive a copy of the court report, case plan, and transition to independent living plan, those items to be provided in the child’s primary language.
AB 1861 (Bryan) - Tax Credit: Hiring: Foster care.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill, for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2023, and before January 1, 2028, would allow a credit against the taxes imposed under both laws to a qualified taxpayer, as defined, that employs an eligible individual in a prescribed amount, not exceeding $30,000, based on the number of hours an eligible individual worked for the eligible employer during the taxable year. The bill would define the term “eligible individual” to mean a person who is at least 16 years of age but not older than 26 years of age, who spent time in foster care on or after becoming 13 years of age, and who is verified by a county child welfare agency or the State Department of Social Services, as provided.
AB 2189 (Friedman) - Foster Youth.
Current law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which is permitted to adjudge certain children to be a ward or a dependent of the court under certain circumstances, and authorizes the juvenile court to retain jurisdiction over those persons until they attain 21 years of age. Current law authorizes nonminors who have not yet attained 21 years of age and who exited foster care at or after the age of majority to petition the court to resume dependency jurisdiction or to assume transition jurisdiction over the nonminor. Under current law, the county welfare department is required to submit reports at the first regularly scheduled review hearing after a dependent child has attained 16 years of age, at the last regularly scheduled review hearing before a dependent child attains 18 years of age, and at every regularly scheduled review hearing thereafter, verifying that specified information, documents, and services have been provided to the child or nonminor. This bill would require certain additional verifications to be included in those reports, including, among other things, verification that specified information has been included in the child’s or nonminor’s case plan.
AB 2259 (Berman) - Foster Youth: Substance Use Disorders.
Would require the State Department of Social Services, in collaboration with the State Department of Health Care Services, to establish a grant program to fund the development and implementation of evidence-based models and promising practices to serve foster youth with substance use disorders who are residing in family-based settings. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services, in the establishment of the grant program, to take specified actions, including, among others, developing an application process and establishing requirements for models and practices funded with a grant. The bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to provide technical assistance to grantees, counties, and providers to support implementation of evidence-based models and promising practices.
AB 2306 (Cooley) - Foster Care.
Current law provides for the implementation of the resource family approval process, which replaces the multiple processes for licensing foster family homes, certifying foster homes by foster family agencies, approving relatives and nonrelative extended family members as foster care providers, and approving guardians and adoptive families. Current law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide payments to foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in foster care. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to license specialized foster homes for transition-aged youth, as defined, targeting the needs of older foster youth, from 16 to 21 years of age, inclusive. Under the bill, these entities would serve as residential facilities providing board, care, and supervision by a resource parent under standards developed by the department, in consultation with county placing agencies, foster youth, and interested stakeholders. The bill would authorize the additional standards to be supported by professional staff, as specified.
AB 2375 (Rivas, Luz) - Homeless Children and Youths and Unaccompanied Youths: Housing Questionnaire.
Current law requires a local educational agency that receives certain funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to administer a housing questionnaire, as specified, by annually providing it to all parents or guardians of pupils and to all unaccompanied youths of the local educational agency for purposes of identifying homeless children and youths and unaccompanied youths of the local educational agency, and by, commencing no later than the beginning of the 2021–22 school year, ensuring that the housing questionnaire is based on best practices developed by the State Department of Education. This bill instead would require a local educational agency, regardless of the receipt of those federal funds, to ensure, by the end of the 2021–22 school year, that the housing questionnaire is based on best practices developed by the department.
AB 2403 (Bennett) - CalFresh: Foster Youth.
Would require the State Department of Social Services to conduct a study to examine the effectiveness of CalFresh benefits for foster youth and would require the study to include, at a minimum, specified components, including, among others, a measurement of health outcomes for foster youth who are enrolled in CalFresh. Participation in the study by foster youth would be voluntary, and the bill would require the department to obtain consent from a foster youth before they may participate in the study. Under the bill, “health outcomes” would include, among other things, changes in the study participants’ nutrition levels and changes in their knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about good nutrition. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2026, to submit a report to the Senate and Assembly Committees on Human Services that includes the results of the study.
AB 2502 (Cervantes) - Foster Care.
Current law requires, for all youth in foster care, a county social worker to create a case plan within a specified timeframe after the child is introduced into the foster care system. Current law requires, when appropriate, for a child who is 16 years of age or older and for a nonminor dependent, the case plan to include the transitional independent living plan (TILP), a written description of the programs and services that will help the child, consistent with the child’s best interests, to prepare for the transition from foster care to successful adulthood. This bill would additionally require the TILP to include emergency plans to address any issues that may arise for the child or nonminor dependent during a state of emergency declared by the Governor, and would require the TILP to be developed with concreteness and specificity by the child’s 17th birthday.
AB 2663 (Ramos) - Youth Acceptance Project.
Would, on or before July 1, 2023, require the State Department of Social Services to establish a 5-year pilot program, the Youth Acceptance Project (YAP), in order to increase permanency outcomes for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or plus (LGBTQ+) and gender-expansive youth, as defined, in up to 5 counties, to be selected to participate on a voluntary basis in the pilot program, as specified. The bill would set forth qualifying conditions for YAP services, including the youth’s receipt of child welfare services or being at risk of entering foster care, or being homeless or at risk of homelessness.
AB 2945 (Arambula) - Foster Care: Enrichment Activities.
Would establish the California Foster Youth Enrichment Grant Pilot Program, to be administered by the State Department of Social Services. The bill would require the department to develop an application for the program and to solicit applications from foster youth. The bill would authorize foster youth to use grant money to participate in various activities to enhance their skills, abilities, self-esteem, or overall well-being. The bill would make those provisions operative upon appropriation by the Legislature.
SB 234 (Wiener) - Transition Aged Youth Housing Program.
Would establish the Transition Aged Youth Housing Program for the purpose of creating housing for transition aged youth under 26 years of age, who have been removed from their homes, are experiencing homelessness unaccompanied by a parent or legal guardian, or are under the jurisdiction of a court, as specified, and would require the council to develop, implement, and administer the program.
SB 854 (Skinner) - Hope, Opportunity, Perseverance, and Empowerment (HOPE) for Children Act of 2022.
Would require the Treasurer, on or before February 15, 2023, to convene a workgroup to advise the Legislature on the policy and funds necessary to establish trust fund accounts for children whose parent or guardian died from the COVID-19 virus and foster children most immediately, and eventually for all children born into low-income homes. The bill would require, no later than March 1, 2023, the workgroup to submit a report to the Legislature that includes its advice and considerations for the trust fund accounts and identifies the authority necessary to expand an existing trust fund program or create a new program to include all children born into low-income circumstances and assesses the funding to do that, among other things.
SB 1341 (Cortese) - Homeless Pupils: California Success, Opportunity, and Academic Resilience (SOAR) Guaranteed Income Program.
Would, until August 1, 2024, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, establish the California Success, Opportunity, and Academic Resilience (SOAR) Guaranteed Income Program. The program would award public school pupils who are in grade 12, have completed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid or California Dream Act application, and are homeless children or youths guaranteed income each month for at least 4 months from April 1, 2023, to August 1, 2023, inclusive, as provided. The bill would establish the California SOAR Guaranteed Income Fund as the initial depository of all moneys appropriated, donated, or otherwise received for the program, and upon appropriation by the Legislature, would provide moneys in the fund to eligible participants.
AJR 1 (Kalra) - Abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
This measure would urge the federal government to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement within the Department of Homeland Security, and implement an orderly and just transfer of essential and basic legally required functions in a manner that upholds values of due process, equality under the law, and family unity.
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