Existing law, the California Fostering Connections to Success Act, revises and expands the scope of various programs relating to cash assistance and other services to and for the benefit of certain foster and adopted children, and other children who have been placed in out-of-home care, including children who receive Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) , Adoption Assistance Program, California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) , and Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) benefits. Among other provisions, the act extends specified foster care benefits to youth up to 21 years of age, if specified conditions are met. Existing law defines a nonminor dependent for these purposes as a foster child who is a current dependent child or ward of the juvenile court, or who is a nonminor under the transition jurisdiction of the juvenile court pursuant to a voluntary reentry agreement, and in accordance with a transitional independent living case plan who has attained 18 years of age while under an order of foster care placement by the juvenile court and is not older than 21 years of age. Existing law defines a nonminor former dependent or ward as a person who meets these criteria who reached 18 years of age while subject to an order for foster care placement, for whom dependency, delinquency, or transition jurisdiction has been terminated, and who is still under the general jurisdiction of the court. This bill would revise the definition of a nonminor dependent and former nonminor dependent to include a person who has not attained 21 years of age, if he or she was adjudged a ward of the court on the basis of criminal activity, was subject to an order for foster care placement at the time the petition to adjudge him or her a ward of the court was filed, and was held in secure confinement when he or she attained 18 years of age. This bill would make conforming changes to allow a court to assume or resume dependency jurisdiction or transition jurisdiction over a nonminor who satisfies this criteria. Because the bill would expand the application of the above county administered programs, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
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Existing law establishes the Office of Emergency Services within the office of the Governor and under the supervision of the Director of Emergency Services and makes the office responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or manmade disasters and emergencies. Existing law requires the office to serve as the central point of state government for the emergency reporting of spills, unauthorized releases, or other accidental releases of hazardous materials and to coordinate the notification of the appropriate state and local administering agencies that may be required to respond to those spills, unauthorized releases, or other accidental releases. Existing law also establishes the Curriculum Development Advisory Committee to provide advice on the development of specified course curricula and response training. This bill would require, upon a specified appropriation by the Legislature, the Curriculum Development Advisory Committee to review the curriculum and courses of instruction offered by public and private programs that train firefighters in response methods for oil-by-rail spills, require the Office of Emergency Services to compile a list of those curriculum and courses of instruction and make that list available to all fire departments, and establish a program to reimburse fire departments for costs incurred by those departments in sending firefighters to trainings, as provided.
(1) Existing law provides that school districts and county offices of education are responsible for the overall development of a comprehensive school safety plan for each of their constituent schools. Existing law requires the schoolsite council of a school to write and develop the school safety plan relevant to the needs and resources of the particular school. Existing law requires a schoolsite council or school safety planning committee, before adopting a school safety plan, to hold a public meeting at the schoolsite, as specified. Existing law requires schools to forward copies of their school safety plans to the school district or county office of education for approval. Existing law requires school districts and county offices of education annually to notify the State Department of Education regarding schools that fail to adopt a school safety plan. This bill would revise and recast those procedures. The bill would require the comprehensive school safety plan to include procedures related to individuals with guns on school campuses and at school-related functions, as provided. The bill would require, no later than October 15, 2016, and every year thereafter, each superintendent of a school district and county office of education to provide written notification to the Superintendent of Public Instruction certifying that each school within the school district and the county has complied with the requirement to adopt a comprehensive school safety plan. The bill would require certain school administrators to keep and maintain a copy of the most recent comprehensive school safety plan, as provided, and would require each principal to ensure that an updated copy of the comprehensive school safety plan is readily available to staff members, law enforcement, first responders, and the public. By requiring school and local educational agency officers to perform additional duties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The Charter Schools Act of 1992 allows one or more persons seeking to establish a charter school within a school district to circulate a petition to that effect. The act provides that a petition for the establishment of a charter school may be denied by the governing board of a school district upon a finding that the petition does not contain a reasonably comprehensive description of the procedures that the school will follow to ensure the health and safety of pupils and staff, including a requirement that each employee of the school furnish the school with a criminal record summary. The renewal of a charter is also governed by these criteria. This bill, in addition, would add the development of a school safety plan, which includes specified topics, and that is annually reviewed and updated by the school, to the procedures that the school will follow to ensure the health and safety of pupils and staff that are to be described in a petition for the establishment of, or application for the renewal of a charter of, a charter school. (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
The California Disaster Assistance Act generally provides that the state share for disaster project allocations to local agencies is no more than 75% of total state eligible costs, except for specified events for which the state share is up to 100% of state eligible costs. This bill would add the August 24, 2014, South Napa Earthquake to the list of events for which the state share of state eligible cost is up to 100%. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would declare June 6, 2015, to June 14, 2015, inclusive, as the 2015 California Invasive Species Action Week and would urge all Californians to participate in activities that raise awareness of invasive species issues and to take action to prevent their spread.
This measure would commemorate the centennial of the founding of Locke, California, would recognize and honor Locke, California, as the last remaining Chinatown in North America, and would urge all Californians to learn about the important history of Locke, California, and its inhabitants.
This measure would congratulate the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls on the celebration of its 50th anniversary, and recognize and commend the commission for its various contributions and accomplishments.
This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to enact legislation allowing immigrants to serve in the military if they are eligible under the President's Executive Order for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or Executive Order for Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents.
This measure would proclaim April 14, 2015, as Equal Pay Day in recognition of the need to eliminate the gender gap in earnings by women and to promote policies to ensure equal pay for all.
This measure would designate a portion of State Highway Route 44 in the City of Redding as the Richard "Dick" Dickerson Memorial Highway. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.