Legislature(2009 - 2010)CAPITOL 106
03/09/2009 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview(s): Avant-garde Learning Foundation's Alaska Native Teacher Initiative and Education Alignment Study | |
| HB126 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 126 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 126-FOSTER CARE/CINA/EDUCATION OF HOMELESS 9:11:37 AM CHAIR SEATON announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 126, "An Act relating to continuing the secondary public education of a homeless student; relating to the purpose of certain laws as they relate to children; relating to tuition waivers, loans, and medical assistance for a child placed in out-of-home care by the state; relating to foster care; relating to children in need of aid; relating to foster care transition to independent living; and relating to juvenile programs and institutions." 9:13:00 AM CHAIR SEATON reminded the committee that it had before it CSHB 126, Version 26-LS0309\S, Mischel, 2/24/09, adopted on February 25, 2009. 9:13:13 AM REPRESENTATIVE LES GARA, Alaska State Legislature, speaking as the sponsor of HB 126, pointed out that the amendments in the committee packet address the concerns expressed during the last committee hearing. 9:14:28 AM AMANDA METIVIER, Coordinator, Facing Foster Care in Alaska (FFCA), informed the committee that she is an alumnus of Alaska's foster care program as well as a foster parent. Ms. Metivier related support for HB 126 on behalf of FFCA, which is Alaska's only statewide advocacy organization consisting of youth and foster care and those who have aged out of the foster care system. The FFCA works to improve child welfare, policy, and practice by sharing personal experiences regarding life in foster care in Alaska. This legislation reflects what youth in and from foster care have identified as a need. Last year, FFCA created a policy agenda. Ms. Metivier opined that children and youth in foster care deserve the same opportunities as those children who grow up with their natural parents. The state ultimately becomes a child's parent when he/she comes into state custody. Currently, the state provides support to children and youth awaiting foster care placement under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvement Act of 2001 ("McKinney-Vento Act"). The FFCA believes that school stability should be made available to all children in youth and foster care. She opined that it's an injustice to move children from foster home to foster home and allow school changes as well. Ms. Metivier then highlighted that for most young people, your th 18 birthday doesn't mean that your parents automatically stop providing financial and emotional support. However, for those young people in foster care who are 16-years-old and older, permanency is highly unlikely. Therefore, these young people age out of the system and statistics show that for these young people there's a high rate of homelessness, substance abuse, and incarceration. Therefore, providing opportunities for higher education for these young people allow the cycle of dependence on the system to be broken. 9:18:22 AM THERESA LOMBARDO, Casey Family Programs, began by offering the Casey Family Programs as a resource to the committee. She then related that the Casey Family Programs has been involved in a collaborative project with the Alaska Court System, the Office of Public Advocacy, the Office of Children's Services, the Anchorage School District, Facing Foster Care in Alaska (FFCA), and other organizations. The focus of [Casey Family Programs] has been to improve the educational outcomes for children and/or youth in foster care because the data clearly illustrates that the more placement changes youth experience, the less likely they'll finish school. The legislation before the committee places, for the first time, the term "education" in the child welfare statute and places the terms "child welfare" in the education statute in Alaska. The aforementioned is a remarkable step and necessary in this [dual] system to raise awareness and change the work in both fields. Ms. Lombardo then turned to the judicial education checklist that judges use any time a child in need of aid is before the court. Although that checklist is an optional tool for judges to use, it has raised awareness. Furthermore, the checklist seems to have united people in a way that hasn't occurred before. 9:21:50 AM BARBARA DEXTER, Educator, Child In Transition Homeless Project, Anchorage School District; District Liaison, McKinney-Vento, Anchorage School District (ASD), testified in favor of allowing foster children/youth staying in the school of origin. Of the 420 K-12 youth in foster care in the ASD, the school district has worked with about 150 in emergency situations and some transportation support has been provided to those children/youth. She advised that transportation costs are expensive, but allowing foster children/youth to remain in the school of origin avoids the months of educational lagging. Additionally, Ms. Dexter said she's in favor of the postsecondary funding and the support that will be offered for children/youth in foster care. 9:23:37 AM CHAIR SEATON closed public testimony. He then noted that the committee packet includes amendments for consideration. 9:25:13 AM MIKE LESMANN, Community Relations Manager, Office of Children's Services (OCS), Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), related DHSS's support for the educational components of HB 126. He recalled that last year very similar legislation was introduced in the Senate by Senator Bettye Davis. The educational comments of HB 126 and the McKinney-Vento Act are important to OCS as well as the children and families served by the department. 9:26:33 AM REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ asked if the McKinney-Vento Act funds transportation in the state [for foster children/youth that stay in their school of origin]. MR. LESMANN stated his belief that the funding is provided to the school districts. 9:27:13 AM EDDY JEANS, Director, School Finance and Facilities Section, Department of Education and Early Development (EED), reported that currently about $150,000 comes through the department for the transportation component. The aforementioned funding is spread through the Anchorage, Juneau, Kenai, and Mat-Su School Districts. He recalled Superintendent Comeau's recent testimony that the Anchorage School District has to transfer $175,000 from operating funds to cover the entire cost of ASD's [transportation] program. Superintendent Comeau's testimony illustrates that all the funding doesn't come from the department or the federal government. Therefore, [HB 126] would require additional state support. However, Mr. Jeans noted that he hasn't had an opportunity to work with the school districts to formulate a fiscal note. 9:28:27 AM CHAIR SEATON opined that the fiscal note is likely to be indeterminate due to its dependence upon what the legislature appropriates. MR. JEANS noted his understanding that the Finance Committees won't accept an indeterminate fiscal note. Therefore, he expressed his desire to provide a fiscal note that specifies a range, which would be subject to appropriation. REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ pointed out that the legislation does have fiscal notes from DHSS. 9:29:37 AM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER, referring to page 2 of Version S, asked if "out-of-home care" refers to all foster care. MR. LESMANN replied yes. If DHSS petitions the court for custody of a child, then that child has to be removed from his/her home and placed elsewhere, that is considered "out-of- home care" or foster care. 9:30:32 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER asked if a child living at a state facility such as Covenant House is considered foster care. MR. LESMANN explained that for a child who is awarded to the department/state, the stay at Covenant House would hopefully be temporary and DHSS would work to return the child to the placement made by the department. 9:31:13 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER related her understanding that under the McKinney-Vento Act, which the state is already following, a child in Covenant House would be classified as homeless. However, the point of HB 126 seems to apply McKinney-Vento when a foster home is found for a child in state custody that hasn't already been in foster placement. MR. LESMANN opined that he and Representative Gardner's understanding is the same. This legislation applies to those children/youth awaiting foster care placement that have been removed from their home and placed in an emergency setting. MR. JEANS related his understanding that HB 126 expands the McKinney-Vento Act beyond those children/youth who are awaiting placement to include children who are actually placed. REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER explained that one is a homeless population who receives the [McKinney-Vento Act] services. Although the child/youth is no longer homeless when there's a foster care placement, the desire is for the McKinney-Vento Act provisions to apply to those children/youth, she surmised. 9:33:04 AM REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ asked if there will be a fiscal note to identify the costs associated with the waiver of tuition for state institutions. MR. JEANS specified that such information would come from the University of Alaska System or the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education (ACPE). 9:33:31 AM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER, referring to page 3, line 31, of Version S, asked if the term "adequate" is used elsewhere in statute to define the public education system. MR. JEANS opined that the term "adequate" won't appear in Title XIV to help define the public school education system. In further response to Representative Keller, Mr. Jeans suggested that the committee would need to ask Legislative Legal & Research Services whether the state is incurring any liability by using the term "adequate." 9:35:36 AM REPRESENTATIVE EDGMON inquired as to whether the term "permanently housed" on page 2, line 21 is defined in regulation. REPRESENTATIVE GARA specified that the term "permanently housed," which is language used in McKinney-Vento to define homeless children, will be removed by one of the proposed amendments because it's not relevant to HB 126. 9:36:51 AM REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ moved that the committee adopt Amendment 1, labeled 26-LS0309\S.4, Mischel, 3/5/09, which read: Page 1, line 9, following "(b)": Insert "and (d)" Page 2, following line 12: Insert a new subsection to read: "(d) A school district is required to comply with this section only (1) if the legislature appropriates funds for the purpose; and (2) to the extent possible using funds appropriated for the purpose." Reletter the following subsection accordingly. Page 3, following line 8: Insert a new subsection to read: "(d) A state-supported educational institution in the state is required to provide a waiver under (a) of this section only if the legislature appropriates funds for the purpose of offsetting waivers under this section. If an appropriation is not sufficient to fully offset waivers for each person entitled to a waiver under (a) of this section, the institution may offer full or partial waivers to eligible applicants as funding permits and at the discretion of the institution." REPRESENTATIVE KELLER objected. 9:37:42 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARA explained that Amendment 1 addresses the non-state entities that are financially burdened by HB 126. Amendment 1 makes changes such that school districts only have to comply with the additional transportation requirements in HB 126 to the extent the state provides funding. Amendment 1 further allows tuition assistance to the extent the state provides for those services. The amendment specifies that if state funding isn't provided, the non-state entities aren't required to comply with the transportation and tuition requirements. Amendment 1, he explained, ensures that the legislature doesn't pass an unfunded mandate. 9:39:02 AM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER removed his objection to Amendment 1. There being no further objection, Amendment 1 was adopted. 9:39:25 AM REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ moved that the committee adopt Amendment 2, labeled 26-LS0309\S.5, Mischel, 3/5/09, which read: Page 1, line 9: Delete "Except as provided in (b) of this section, the" Insert "The" Page 1, line 12: Delete "during the homelessness" Insert "for the remainder of the current school year or, if the student is attending school for a summer term, for the remainder of the summer term," Page 1, line 13, following "2001)": Insert ", as those provisions existed on February 1, 2009" Page 2, line 2: Delete "(1)" Page 2, line 3: Delete "; or" Insert "." Page 2, lines 4 - 7: Delete all material. Page 2, lines 20 - 21: Delete "that the student attended when permanently housed or the school" Page 2, line 31: Delete "loans, grants," Insert "grants" Page 3, line 1: Delete "and" Page 3, following line 1: Insert a new paragraph to read: "(4) has applied for an available federal education loan; and" Renumber the following paragraph accordingly. Page 3, lines 3 - 4: Delete all material and insert: "(b) The amount of the waiver to which a person is entitled under this section is the amount of unmet need for tuition, room, and board expenses, as determined by the commission, after deducting all available funding for the school year from education loans, grants, or scholarships for a person eligible for a waiver." Page 3, line 5: Delete "including a loan under AS 14.43.112," Page 3, lines 9 - 22: Delete all material. Renumber the following bill sections accordingly. Page 9, following line 15: Insert a new bill section to read: "* Sec. 9. AS 47.10.080(c) is amended to read: (c) If the court finds that the child is a child in need of aid, the court shall (1) order the child committed to the department for placement in an appropriate setting for a period of time not to exceed two years or in any event not to extend past the date the child becomes 19 years of age, except that the department or the child's guardian ad litem may petition for and the court may grant in a hearing (A) one-year extensions of commitment that do not extend beyond the child's 19th birthday if the extension is in the best interests of the child; and (B) one-year extensions of commitment that do not extend beyond the child's 21st birthday [AN ADDITIONAL ONE-YEAR PERIOD OF STATE CUSTODY PAST 19 YEARS OF AGE] if the continued state custody is in the best interests of the person and the person consents to it; (2) order the child released to a parent, adult family member, or guardian of the child or to another suitable person, and, in appropriate cases, order the parent, adult family member, guardian, or other person to provide medical or other care and treatment; if the court releases the child, it shall direct the department to supervise the care and treatment given to the child, but the court may dispense with the department's supervision if the court finds that the adult to whom the child is released will adequately care for the child without supervision; the department's supervision may not exceed two years or in any event extend past the date the child reaches 19 years of age, except that the department or the child's guardian ad litem may petition for and the court may grant in a hearing (A) one-year extensions of supervision that do not extend beyond the child's 19th birthday if the extensions are in the best interests of the child; and (B) an additional one-year period of supervision past 19 years of age if the continued supervision is in the best interests of the person and the person consents to it; or (3) order, under the grounds specified in (o) of this section or AS 47.10.088, the termination of parental rights and responsibilities of one or both parents and commit the child to the custody of the department, and the department shall report quarterly to the court on efforts being made to find a permanent placement for the child." Renumber the following bill sections accordingly. Page 11, line 9: Delete "receiving services under the program" Insert "eligible for services under the program who has left out-of-home care" Page 11, line 10: Delete "less" Insert "more" Page 11, line 12: Delete "after the individual leaves out-of-home care" Insert "and shall end before the individual is 23 years of age" 9:39:49 AM CHAIR SEATON objected for discussion purposes. 9:39:54 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARA explained that Amendment 2 clarifies that the McKinney-Vento concept will be adopted, and therefore as a child in foster care moves through various placements, he/she stays in the same school if the parent, guardian, and child feel that's in the child's best interest. The McKinney-Vento Act has standards for involving the youth, parent, and guardian. If the foster child/youth stays in the same locality, he/she would stay in the same school and transportation funding would be provided through the end of the school year or summer school term. When the new term begins, the presumption is that the foster child/youth will attend the school where he/she resides. The amendment also clarifies, with changes to page 1, line 13, that the legislation refers to federal law as it exists today. Amendment 2 also makes changes to clarify that HB 126 applies to foster children. 9:42:16 AM REPRESENTATIVE EDGMON requested clarification regarding what is considered the school of origin. REPRESENTATIVE GARA specified that with the passage of Amendment 2 the school of origin will be the school the foster child/youth was in prior to the new placement. REPRESENTATIVE EDGMON questioned how the school of origin provision is applied in a situation in which a child attended school while living with his/her parents, then attended another school once placed in emergency foster care and would remain in that school if the child was placed in a second foster home [during the school year]. REPRESENTATIVE GARA answered that in such a situation the child would remain in the first school [the child attended when with his/her parents] through the end of the term. The desire, he stated, is for the child not to have to change school once he/she receives a foster care placement [or even a second foster care placement]. 9:43:42 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER interjected that oftentimes when a child is removed from his/her parents, there is no way of knowing how long the child will be out of the home. Therefore, the child is often placed in a temporary home that's not intended for more than say 30 days. The desire is to not change schools due to that temporary placement. If the parents don't do what they need to do, then the child is moved to a more permanent placement. Thus, the child is often moved several times early on. 9:44:33 AM CHAIR SEATON clarified that [the amendment and legislation] aren't addressing the child's placement, but rather discusses maintaining the child in his/her original school. 9:44:52 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARA related that the federal funding for the class of children covered by the McKinney-Vento Act, homeless children and those foster children awaiting placement, largely covers the cost. He noted that in Anchorage an additional $170,000 has to be obtained just to meet the class of kids covered by the McKinney-Vento Act. The state would provide funds for those foster children not covered by the McKinney- Vento Act. 9:45:24 AM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER opined that the federal requirements that exist today [under the McKinney-Vento Act] must include more than just transportation. He requested a list of those requirements. REPRESENTATIVE GARA said that the focus has been on the McKinney-Vento Act provisions regarding maintaining the child in the same school. There may be some additional provisions of the Act that [HB 126] doesn't necessarily intend to incorporate. The McKinney-Vento Act addresses keeping the child in the same school and forwarding the child's transcript to the new school as soon as possible. If a child is moved to a new school, the child has a right to attend that school, even if the transcript hasn't yet arrived. 9:47:46 AM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER pointed out then that the legislation needs work because the language on page 2, line 1, refers to "the requirements in (a)", "requirements" plural. Furthermore, the seven-day transfer is not included in subsection (a). 9:48:21 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARA said that the desire [with HB 126] is to address the school of origin and transportation aspects of the McKinney-Vento Act. To that end, he said he would entertain the following conceptual amendment: Page 1, line 11, following "origin"; Delete "for providing comparable education" 9:49:22 AM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER requested a clean committee substitute (CS) prior to action on the legislation. 9:49:45 AM CHAIR SEATON returned the committee's attention to Amendment 2. 9:50:11 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARA explained that the legislation provides for financial assistance for foster youth for postsecondary education. Amendment 2, on page 2, lines 3-24 of the amendment, allows part of the financial assistance to include loans, not just funds from the grant. There is no need to create a new state loan program, and thus Amendment 2 eliminates the provisions of HB 126 that create a new state loan program. Therefore, foster youth will apply for available federal loans and the financial assistance will be for the amount of need beyond what's available in federal grants and loans. Foster youth will also be required to apply for whatever other funds are available in order to minimize the state's costs. 9:51:50 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARA then turned to page 3 of Amendment 2, which has to do with the ability of the state to extend foster care and the associated benefits to age 21. There is federal funding, he noted, to extend foster care to age 21. Referring to page 4, line 8, of Amendment 2, Representative Gara explained that the state has a transitional services program for foster youth, the Independent Living Program, which helps foster youth to age 23. Currently, the help that the Independent Living Program provides has some gaps that the aforementioned portion of Amendment 2 attempts to fill, including providing rental assistance for foster youth coming out of care. 9:53:35 AM CHAIR SEATON reminded the sponsor that the committee's purview is limited to education-related matters. Therefore, Chair Seaton offered an amendment to Amendment 2 such that the language on pages 3 and 4 of Amendment 2 would be deleted. 9:55:06 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER, indicating objection to the amendment to Amendment 2, remarked that she doesn't find it problematic to incorporate the amendments requested by the sponsor that include matters not related to education. Incorporating the portions of Amendment 2 that aren't related to education would allow the legislation to contain the elements desired by the sponsor prior to the next committee of referral. 9:55:45 AM CHAIR SEATON said that he has been clear that consideration of HB 126 would only address the education-related aspects. Therefore, he said he is uncomfortable incorporating amendments that include provisions that aren't related to education. Chair Seaton then reiterated his motion to amend Amendment 2 by deleting pages 3 and 4 of Amendment 2. 9:56:24 AM REPRESENTATIVE BUCH asked if deleting the provisions of the amendment is common practice. CHAIR SEATON said that normally he doesn't request that the committee restrict its consideration to one aspect of the legislation. However, the sponsor desired to move the legislation from committee fairly quickly and deleting the provisions not related to education is a method in which that can be achieved. Since the committee hasn't taken testimony on the provisions of HB 126 not related to education, Chair Seaton said that he's uncomfortable considering amendments on those matters. 9:59:41 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER removed her objection to the amendment to Amendment 2. There being no further objection, the amendment to Amendment 2 was adopted. 10:00:04 AM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER asked if the committee could inquire as to the [definition] of the term "adequate" prior to moving this legislation. He opined of the potential downside to using the term "adequate." CHAIR SEATON indicated agreement with the suggestion. 10:00:39 AM CHAIR SEATON removed his objection to Amendment 2, as amended. There being no further objection, Amendment 2, as amended, was adopted. 10:01:15 AM CHAIR SEATON moved that the committee adopt Conceptual Amendment 3, which read: Page 1, line 11, Delete "and for providing comparable education" 10:01:36 AM REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ objected for discussion purposes. 10:02:15 AM REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ removed her objection. There being no further objection, Conceptual Amendment 3 was adopted. 10:02:45 AM The committee took an at-ease from 10:02 a.m. to 10:04 a.m. 10:04:29 AM REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ offered Conceptual Amendment 4, which read: Page 3, line 31, Delete "adequate" CHAIR SEATON objected for discussion purposes. REPRESENTATIVE GARA said that although he doesn't share the concern with use of the term "adequate," he doesn't want to add educational requirements that change those in the education code. Therefore, he said he was fine with the amendment. 10:05:30 AM CHAIR SEATON removed his objection. There being further objection, Conceptual Amendment 4 was adopted. 10:06:20 AM CHAIR SEATON announced that he would honor the request to have a CS drafted for the committee's consideration at its next meeting. 10:06:52 AM REPRESENTATIVE BUCH noted his objection to holding the legislation. 10:07:31 AM CHAIR SEATON suggested that members review the CS prior to the next meeting in order that the legislation could be reported from committee if there are no questions. [HB 126 was held over.]
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Avant Garde Learning Foundation Alaska Native Teacher Initiative and Education Alignment Study.pdf |
HEDC 3/9/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| CS126 amendment S 4 (2).pdf |
HEDC 3/9/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| hb 126 materials.pdf |
HEDC 2/25/2009 8:00:00 AM HEDC 3/2/2009 8:00:00 AM HEDC 3/9/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 126 |
| workdraft HB 126.pdf |
HEDC 2/25/2009 8:00:00 AM HEDC 3/2/2009 8:00:00 AM HEDC 3/9/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 126 |
| Testimony to the House Education Subcommittee - Avant Garde.doc |
HEDC 3/9/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| CS126 amendment S 5 (2).pdf |
HEDC 3/9/2009 8:00:00 AM |