SECTIONS 42920-42925 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 42920-42925

42920. (a) The Legislature finds as follows:
(1) It is essential to recognize, identify and plan for the
critical and unique needs of children residing in licensed community
care facilities.
(2) A high percentage of these foster children are working
substantially below grade level, are being retained at least one year
in the same grade level, and become school dropouts.
(3) Without programs specifically designed to meet their
individual needs, foster children are frequently dysfunctional human
beings at great penal and welfare costs.
(b) The Legislature further finds and declares that the
instruction, counseling, tutoring, and related services for foster
children that provide program effectiveness and potential cost
savings shall be a state priority. Funding for that purpose is hereby
provided to the following unified school districts and consortia
that have successfully operated foster children services program
sites: Elk Grove, Mount Diablo, Sacramento City, San Juan, and
Paramount, and the Placer-Nevada consortium.

42920.5. (a) Commencing with fiscal year 1982-83, and each fiscal
year thereafter, each of the six program sites specified in
subdivision (b) of Section 42920 shall receive, in addition to the
base revenue limit, an allowance from the amount annually transferred
to Section A of the State School Fund equal to the amount the
district spent on foster children service programs in fiscal year
1981-82, adjusted to reflect cost-of-living increases by the total
percentage increase received by all categorical education programs.
In no event shall this cost-of-living adjustment exceed the inflation
adjustment provided pursuant to Section 42238.
This allowance shall be used exclusively for foster children
services.
The six program sites may continue to record revenue received
pursuant to this subdivision in the same manner used to record
revenue received for foster children services in the 1981-82 fiscal
year.
The six program sites shall maintain their foster children
services programs in fiscal year 1995-96 and each subsequent fiscal
year at a program level comparable to that at which they administered
those programs in fiscal year 1994-95.
(b) Commencing with fiscal year 1982-83, the base revenue of each
of the six school districts specified in subdivision (b) of Section
42920 shall be permanently reduced in an amount equal to the amount
spent on foster children services in fiscal year 1981-82.

42921. (a) In addition to the six program sites specified in
Section 42920, any county office of education, or consortium of
county offices of education, may elect to apply to the Superintendent
of Public Instruction for grant funding, to the extent funds are
available, to operate an education-based foster youth services
program to provide educational and support services for foster
children who reside in a licensed foster home or county-operated
juvenile detention facility. The provision of educational and support
services to foster youth in licensed foster homes shall also apply
to foster youth services programs in operation as of July 1, 2006,
and receiving grant funding.
(b) Each foster youth services program operated pursuant to this
chapter, if sufficient funds are available, shall have at least one
person identified as the foster youth educational services
coordinator. The foster youth educational services coordinator shall
facilitate the provision of educational services pursuant to
subdivision (d) to any foster child in the county who is either under
the jurisdiction of the juvenile court pursuant to Section 300 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code or under the jurisdiction of the
juvenile court pursuant to Section 601 or 602 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code who is placed in a licensed foster home or
county-operated juvenile detention facility. A program operated
pursuant to this chapter may prescribe the methodology for
determining which children may be served. Applicable methodologies
may include, but are not limited to, serving specific age groups,
serving children in specific geographic areas with the highest
concentration of foster children or serving the children with the
greatest academic need. It is the intent of the Legislature that
children with the greatest need for services be identified as the
first priority for foster youth services.
(c) The responsibilities of the foster youth educational services
coordinator shall include, but shall not be limited to, all of the
following:
(1) Working with the child welfare agency to minimize changes in
school placement.
(2) Facilitating the prompt transfer of educational records,
including the health and education passport, between educational
institutions when placement changes are necessary.
(3) Providing education-related information to the child welfare
agency to assist the child welfare agency to deliver services to
foster children, including, but not limited to, educational status
and progress information required for inclusion in court reports by
Section 16010 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(4) Responding to requests from the juvenile court for information
and working with the court to ensure the delivery or coordination of
necessary educational services.
(5) 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.
(6) Facilitating communication between the foster care provider,
the teacher, and any other school staff or education service
providers for the child.
(7) Sharing information with the foster care provider regarding
available training programs that address education issues for
children in foster care.
(8) Referring caregivers of foster youth who have special
education needs to special education programs and services.
(d) Each foster youth services program operated pursuant to this
chapter shall include guiding principles that establish a hierarchy
of services, in accordance with the following order:
(1) Provide, or arrange for the referral to, tutoring services for
foster youth.
(2) Provide, or arrange for the referral to, services that meet
local needs identified through collaborative relationships and local
advisory groups, which may include, but shall not be limited to, all
of the following:
(A) Mentoring.
(B) Counseling.
(C) Transitioning services.
(D) Emancipation services.
(3) Facilitation of timely individualized education programs, in
accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20
U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.), and of all special education services.
(4) Establishing collaborative relationships and local advisory
groups.
(5) Establishing a mechanism for the efficient and expeditious
transfer of health and education records and the health and education
passport.
(e) For purposes of this section, "licensed foster home" means a
licensed foster family home, certified foster family agency home,
court-specified home, or licensed care institution (group home).

42922. Any school district which provides educational services for
foster children pursuant to Section 42921 shall receive funding in
any fiscal year for those services only by such sums as may be
specifically appropriated by the annual Budget Act of the Legislature
for that fiscal year for support of those school-centered foster
children services which provide program effectiveness and potential
cost savings to the state.
The Legislature may appropriate moneys from the General Fund for
this purpose, or, if sufficient funds are available, from the Foster
Children and Parent Training Fund pursuant to the provisions of
Section 903.7 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

42923. (a) Each school district providing foster children services
pursuant to this chapter shall, by January 1 of each even-numbered
year, report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction any
information as may be required by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction for the purpose of subdivision (b).
(b) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall, by February 15
of each even-numbered year, report to the Legislature and the
Governor on the foster children services provided by school
districts. The report shall be prepared with the advice and
assistance of providers of foster children services and shall
include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) Recommendations regarding the continuation of services.
(2) Recommendations regarding the effectiveness of the services,
unless program effectiveness is assessed in any other report covering
the same time period.
(3) Recommendations regarding the broadening of the application of
those services.
(4) Information which shall be sufficient to determine, at a
minimum, whether these services have resulted in a major quantitative
improvement or deterioration in any of the following indicators:
(A) Pupil academic achievement.
(B) The incidence of pupil discipline problems or juvenile
delinquency.
(C) Pupil dropout rates or truancy rates.
(5) A discussion of the meaning and implications of the indicators
contained in paragraph (4).

42924. Any funds allocated to school districts for foster children
services pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 42920 or Section
42922 shall be used only for foster children services and any funds
not used by districts for those services shall revert to the state
General Fund.

42925. (a) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall form an
advisory committee to make recommendations regarding the allocation
of available funds to school districts applying to receive funding
for foster children programs pursuant to subdivision (b). The
advisory committee shall include, but not be limited to,
representatives from the Department of the Youth Authority, from the
State Department of Social Services, and from foster children
services programs. Members of the advisory committee shall serve
without compensation, including travel and per diem.
(b) Any school district which chooses to provide foster children
services programs pursuant to Section 42921 may apply to the
Superintendent of Public Instruction and to the advisory committee
for funding for those programs.
(c) On or before November 1 of each year, the Superintendent of
Public Instruction shall provide the Governor with a proposed sum to
be included in the Governor's budget for the ensuing fiscal year for
allocation to school districts wishing to provide foster children
services programs pursuant to Section 42921. Recommendations
regarding the specific programs to be funded and the amount to be
allocated to each shall be included with the proposed sum.