Before and after school programs: enrollment: fees: homeless and foster youth: snacks or meals.

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 after school programs and before school programs to pupils in middle school or junior high school who attend daily. This bill, beginning July 1, 2017, would instead give first priority enrollment to pupils who are identified by the program as homeless youth, as defined, and pupils who are identified by the program as being in foster care, and 2nd priority enrollment, for programs serving middle and junior high school pupils, to pupils who attend the program daily. The bill, beginning July 1, 2017, would require an after school program or a before school program to inform the parent or caregiver of a pupil of the right of homeless children and foster children to receive priority enrollment and how to request priority enrollment. The bill, beginning July 1, 2017, would require the administrators of a program to allow self-certification of the pupil as a homeless youth or a foster youth, and would authorize administrators to obtain this information through the school district liaison designated for homeless children, as specified. The act provides that an after school program or a before school program is not required to charge family fees or conduct individual eligibility determinations based on need or income. This bill, beginning July 1, 2017, would prohibit a program that charges family fees from charging a fee to a family for a child if the program knows that the child is a homeless youth or for a child who the program knows is in foster care. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 8482.6, 8483, and 8483.1 of the Education Code proposed by AB 2615 that would become operative if this bill and AB 2615 are both enacted on or before January 1, 2017, and this bill is enacted last. The act authorizes the Legislature to amend certain of its provisions to further its purposes by majority vote of each house. The bill would set forth a legislative finding and declaration that it furthers the purposes of the act.