Bill Text: CA SB695 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Special education: individualized education programs: translation services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2020-01-13 - Veto sustained. [SB695 Detail]
Download: California-2019-SB695-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Senate
May 22, 2019 |
|
Amended
IN
Senate
April 10, 2019 |
| Senate Bill | No. 695 |
| Introduced by Senator Portantino |
February 22, 2019 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
This bill would authorize a city that has a housing element that has been approved by the department, as specified, to meet 5% of its share of the regional housing need by adopting of a program that meets certain, listed requirements, including that the program actively promote and assist in the placement of foster youth in
existing family-based households, as specified, and be approved by the council of governments that assigns the city’s share of regional housing needs or, in the absence of a council, by the department. For any subsequent planning period after the specified program has been adopted, the department or the council of governments, as applicable, would be prohibited from approving the program for these purposes, if the program was not responsible for meeting 2.5% or more of the city’s share of the regional housing need for the previous planning period. The bill would require the department or the council of governments, as applicable, to limit program approvals to the first 5 programs per region that apply and qualify for approval. The bill would require each city that has adopted a program to submit to the department or the council of governments, as applicable, 2 progress reports per planning period, on dates
established by the department or the council of governments. The bill would require each report to include the number of foster youth placements within the last year, as verified by the county’s program that manages foster youth placements.
The
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature finds and hereby declares all of the following:
(a)In 2015, 62,035 children and youth in California were living in foster care.
(b)Without the adequate number of foster parents and homes, more abused and neglected children will be placed into group homes and homes operated by foster family agencies, at a substantially higher cost to the state and counties.
(c)Under the current system, the outcomes for youth who turn 18 years of age in foster care are often grim. Many leave the system without family
support, at high risk of becoming victims of crime, becoming involved with the judicial system, homelessness, and unemployment. Many fail to complete high school and do not pursue higher education or vocational training.
(d)Foster youth who exit the system with permanent links to caring adults or families have a better chance for successful outcomes. When youth grow up in a family, that family is the major vehicle preparing them for the adult world. The values, skills, challenges, and opportunities that shape and define adulthood are woven into the fabric of their everyday lives. Through these lifelong connections, they discover what it means to learn, love, and live.
(e)To attain the goal of permanency, the state must be engaged in creating incentives that identify
responsible adults and families willing to take on this task. New communities need to be tapped to improve outcomes for foster youth exiting the system. All government entities should have an opportunity to participate in this goal through state incentives.
(f)Cities are not directly involved in finding quality, family-based households for foster youth, but the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) process creates many challenges in meeting the state’s requirement to plan for future population growth. Especially difficult to plan are low- and very low income housing. Since the housing
element does not address the final outcome, setting the density does not guarantee affordability. In fact, property owners may ultimately decide to build luxury condominiums too expensive for low-income people.
(g)While most cities plan and meet their RHNA requirement to zone for affordable housing, the market decides when they are built. When they are built, critics wonder whether they truly accommodate low-income Californians and whether having an approved housing element actually made the difference.
(h)Since the RHNA process does not plan for the fluctuating population of foster youth in need of immediate and future housing, flexibility is needed to both plan and fulfill the state’s responsibility to find quality foster parents. Zoning for future housing that may never be
built pales in comparison to the immediate and ongoing needs of foster care youth seeking quality family-based environments and permanency.
(i)In enacting this act, it is not the intent of the Legislature that cities avoid zoning for future populations. The purpose of this act is to give cities experiencing difficulty another tool to meet their RHNA requirement and involve them in the task of identifying
family-based environments for foster youth.
SEC. 2.SECTION 1.
Section 65584.8 is added to the Government Code, to read:65584.8.
For purposes of meeting its share of regional housing needs allocation pursuant to Section 65584, and notwithstanding any requirement for household income level for very low income households adopted pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 65584, a city may deem a unit of housing as a very low income household if the unit meets both of the following:(a)A city may meet 5 percent of its share of the regional housing need allocation pursuant to Section 65584 if the city has a housing element in the current cycle that has been deemed compliant by the department, and has adopted a program that meets all of the following requirements:
(1)Actively promotes placement
of foster youth in existing family-based households through advertisement and city-based incentives.
(2)Provides a process for coordinating city and county assistance to help interested persons by providing information and documents necessary to meet the responsibility of caring for foster youth.
(3)Serves as a resource to assist interested persons in accessing existing services that support the placement of foster youth in existing family-based households.
(4)Provides a plan to measure the success of the program, in coordination with the county’s current system of data outcomes.
(5)Is approved by the council of governments that assigns the city’s
share of regional housing needs or by the department, if there is no council of governments.
(6)(A)Results in the placement of foster youth in family-based households.
(B)It is the intent of the Legislature that each foster youth placement be considered a one-for-one regional housing needs allocation credit.
(b)For
any subsequent planning period after the program described in subdivision (a) has been adopted, the department or the council of governments, as applicable, shall not approve the program for the purposes of paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) if the program was not responsible for meeting 2.5 percent or more of the city’s share of the regional housing need pursuant to Section 65584, for the previous planning period.
(c)The
department or the council of governments, as applicable, shall limit approvals under paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) to the first five programs per region that apply and qualify for approval.
(d)(1)Each city that has adopted a program under this section shall submit to the
department or the council of governments, as applicable, two progress reports per planning period, on dates established by the department or the council of governments.
(2)Each report shall include, at a minimum, the number of foster youth placements within the last year, as verified by the county’s program that manages foster youth placements.
