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AB-2555 Cradle-to-career initiatives: plan.(2013-2014)

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AB2555:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 23, 2014

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2013–2014 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2555

Introduced by Assembly Member Bocanegra
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ian Calderon and Jones-Sawyer)

February 21, 2014

An act to add and repeal Section 33134 of to the Education Code, relating to cradle-to-career initiatives.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2555, as amended, Bocanegra. Cradle-to-career initiatives: report. plan.
Existing law establishes the Superintendent of Public Instruction and requires the Superintendent to develop, and submit to the State Board of Education for approval, information to strengthen and promote the opportunities for quality involvement by parents and guardians in schoolsite councils.
This bill would require the Superintendent, in conjunction collaboration with specified entities, to develop a report exploring the feasibility of establishing and expanding cradle-to-career initiatives that are collective-impact strategies containing specified tenets. 5-year plan for expanding cradle-to-career initiatives throughout the state. The bill would require the 5-year plan to include certain things, including a description of the components of effective cradle-to-career initiatives, and recommendations, as specified. The bill would require the Superintendent to provide the Legislature with an interim status report by July 1, 2016, and to submit the plan to the Legislature a final report by December 1, 2016. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2021. The bill would make specified findings and declarations.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) All children throughout California, regardless of their families’ socioeconomic, English learner, or special education status, or the neighborhoods in which they reside, deserve access to a high-quality education, health services, and social services that will prepare them to succeed in college and in their careers, and that will allow them to become productive citizens contributing to the wealth of our cities, state, and nation.
(b) Many children living in California’s most distressed communities lack access to opportunities that will ensure adequate academic, social, and physical and mental health preparation to achieve success and help end family and neighborhood poverty.
(c) Innovative and comprehensive approaches to break the cycle of poverty are necessary for creating opportunities for children to succeed and ultimately help turn around poor neighborhoods.
(d) Long-term investments in underserved children’s academic, social, and health development and the strengthening of a system of family and community support shared by various stakeholders are also needed to sustain the future of our communities.
(e) The Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City has demonstrated the lasting benefit of developing a network of support services to revitalize an entire community by focusing on the educational, social, and physical and mental health of children.
(f) The federal Promise Neighborhoods Initiative, inspired by the Harlem Children’s Zone, seeks to develop a cradle-to-career pipeline of support services in specific neighborhoods that will transform communities.
(g) Of 78 California communities that applied for a federal Promise Neighborhoods Initiative grant, eight communities were selected to receive planning or implementation grants.
(h) Many of the communities that were not selected to receive a federal Promise Neighborhoods Initiative grant continue to work on developing community plans because cross-community planning provides lasting benefits in aligning and maximizing community resources.
(i) Many full-service community schools are currently operating in California, and hundreds of California schools have implemented components of community schools, such as 226 school-based health centers, robust afterschool programs, and other community partnerships that support children and families.
(j) Integrated support services programs represent a proven pupil-centric approach focused on promoting academic success by coordinating support services. These programs serve 1,500,000 pupils nationwide and a recent Child Trends report found that in the Los Angeles Unified School District, these programs showed 99 percent retention of potential dropouts, propelled 96 percent of eligible high school seniors to graduation, and successfully helped 97 percent of pupils continue to the next grade.
(k) Establishing a network of services to serve families breaks down many unnecessary barriers in the effective delivery of programs and services.
(l) The alignment of local, state, and federal resources can maximize existing funds and better serve specific communities.

SECTION 1.SEC. 2.

 Section 33134 is added to the Education Code, to read:

33134.
 (a) The Superintendent, in conjunction collaboration with the State Department of Social Services, the Employment Development Department, the California Health and Human Services Agency, the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, the Department of Transportation, the California Children and Families Commission, the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the Chancellor of the California State University, the President of the University of California, the California Workforce Investment Board, the Department of Parks and Recreation, teacher organizations, chambers of commerce, industry representatives, research centers, parent organizations, school administrators, representatives of regional occupational centers and programs, community-based organizations, labor organizations, and other interested parties deemed appropriate by the Superintendent, shall develop a report that explores the feasibility of establishing and expanding cradle-to-career initiatives that are collective-impact strategies with all of the following tenets: five-year plan for expanding cradle-to-career initiatives throughout the state.

(1)Aligning local, state, federal, and private resources to maximize existing dollars and better serve children and their families.

(2)Focusing coordinated efforts in one geographic location to target a specific scope of children and their families.

(3)Sharing a focus on pupil success and mobilizing senior community leaders around a policy, program, and quality-improvement agenda.

(4)Providing for partnerships among schools, government, and community-based organizations.

(5)Providing for collaborative leadership structures that play an essential function in the alignment of planning, resource development, and implementation at both the school and community levels.

(6)Coordinating improvements across multiple sectors, such as housing, education, employment, transportation, and health.

(7)Selecting and targeting research-informed milestones, such as kindergarten readiness, third grade reading levels, and high school graduation rates, and focusing on the collective effort of partners in attaining these goals.

(8)Providing for a results-driven focus on improving the educational and life outcomes of children, both to ensure brighter futures for young people and to create healthier, safer neighborhoods with greater access to employment opportunities.

(9)Using the principles of equity and academic excellence to drive the initiative to meet the needs of all pupils, including those pupils identified as vulnerable to social disconnection and dropping out of school.

(10)Reflecting local employment opportunities, needs, and objectives with input from, and coordination with, residents, community leaders, and local institutions.

(b)In developing the cradle-to-career initiatives, the Superintendent shall consider approaches that include, but are not limited to, community schools, promise neighborhoods, and healthy communities efforts in the state.

(c)The report shall include all of the following components:

(1)Methods for developing and sharing models of cradle-to-career initiatives.

(2)Strategies for effective implementation of the cradle-to-career initiatives.

(3)Recommendations for supporting regional coalitions in planning and developing the cradle-to-career initiatives.

(b) The five-year plan shall include all of the following:
(1) A description of the components of effective cradle-to-career initiatives.
(2) Identification of successful models of cradle-to-career initiatives, including measurements of their impacts.
(3) Strategies for effective implementation of cradle-to-career initiatives, including how the initiatives can be coordinated with local control and accountability plans.
(4) Methods for developing and sustaining cradle-to-career initiatives, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(A) Leveraging existing funding and services.
(B) Providing incentives for collaboration.
(C) Identifying new funding opportunities.
(D) Providing technical support.
(E) Developing greater connectivity between state entities.
(F) Evaluating success.
(5) Recommendations for supporting regional coalitions in planning and developing cradle-to-career initiatives.
(6) Recommendations for ensuring that the state’s most distressed neighborhoods and communities are prioritized in the expansion of cradle-to-career initiatives.
(7) A five-year timeline for implementing the recommendations.
(c) (1) For purposes of this section, cradle-to-career initiatives include, but are not limited to, collaborative school and community programs and services that align local, state, federal, and private resources and that focus on the following objectives:
(A) Ensuring that children are healthy.
(B) Increasing the learning opportunities and academic achievement of all pupils.
(C) Strengthening family structures.
(D) Establishing safe neighborhoods.
(E) Expanding college and career opportunities.
(2) Cradle-to-career initiatives in the state also include, but are not limited to, full-service community centers, promise neighborhoods, wraparound programs, school-based health centers, and healthy community efforts.
(d) (1) The Superintendent shall, upon appropriation by the Legislature, Legislature for purposes of this section, use state and federal funds, or federal funds, or both, to implement this section.
(2) To the extent that funding pursuant to paragraph (1) is insufficient, the The Superintendent may apply for and accept grants, and receive donations and other financial support from public or private sources for purposes of this section.

(e)On or before July 1, 2016, the Superintendent shall, pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, report to the Legislature on the status of completing the report.

(f)

(e) On or before December 1, 2016, the Superintendent shall, pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, submit a final report the plan developed pursuant to subdivision (a) with recommendations to the Legislature.

(g)Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this section shall become inoperative on December 1, 2020, and, as of January 1, 2021, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2021, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.