Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Youth Homelessness topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bill would create five-year pilot to help unaccompanied 16–17-year-old youth stay in school
Summary
AB 673 would establish a five-year unaccompanied-youth support grant to help identified 16–17-year-old students experiencing homelessness but not in a parent or guardian’s custody access housing navigation, basic needs, tutoring and employment support; the committee passed the bill as amended to the Senate Human Services Committee after questions about overlap with McKinney-Vento and funding.
Assemblymember Jackson introduced AB 673 to create an unaccompanied youth support grant pilot that would fund local educational agencies to connect 16- and 17-year-old students who are not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian to housing navigation, basic needs, tutoring, employment readiness and social services.
Eric Dunk, a legislative representative at the California Department of Education speaking for the state superintendent, summarized statewide need: LEAs reported 287,000 pupils experiencing homelessness in 2023–24 and about 9,000 of those were unaccompanied youth. He said the bill would use a weighted formula to target LEAs with greatest need and require annual outcome reporting and a final evaluation to the Legislature.
Committee members asked how AB 673 would interact with existing federal McKinney-Vento requirements and state programs such as HETAC and HIP. Dunk and other witnesses said McKinney-Vento requires LEAs to identify homeless students and designate a homeless liaison, but that federal funding is inconsistent and reaches a minority of districts; AB 673 aims to augment local capacity to find and serve unaccompanied youth who can be ‘‘invisible’’ to the system.
Some members raised budget concerns and whether current state grants cover the population. The author and proponents said the bill is a targeted pilot with reporting and evaluation to determine effectiveness and possible alignment with other funding streams; the committee passed the bill as amended to the Senate Human Services Committee and left the item on call for absent members.
