CFYETF In Person Meeting
Orange County Department of Education
January 13, 2014
Participants: Michelle Lustig, Jesse Hahnel, Betsy DeGarmoe, Susanna Kniffen, Casey Foster Ed, Melissa San Miguel, Amy Mejia, Michelle Francois, Martha Matthews, Vanessa Peters, Charmaine Linley, Carla Martinez, Jennie Zamora, Stefanie Benvenuto, Judy Morrison, Lacy Lenon Arthur, Carolyn Brennan, Rachel Velcoff Hults, Danielle Mole, Kyle Sporleder, Lori Fuller, Maura Keaney, Jill Sevaatasi, Karie Lew, Jessical Haspel, Corby Sturgis, Leecia Welch, Sandie Skinner, Ann Quirk, Patricia Caudillo, Laurie Kappe, Dan Senter, Patrick Hirsch, Patty Armani
I. Welcome and Agenda Review
We will add an update on JV 535.
II. Updates
Leadership Transition:
3 co-chairs serve for three years, with one chair terming out each year. Betsy will be transitioning out of her role as co-chair after the Ed Summit. We are currently looking for someone to step forward and volunteer as a co-chair in her place, starting in February.
Historically, the TF has asked folks to volunteer and then sent out an email requesting that our members vote on the new Chair.
Should we move away from the process we’ve previously adopted and have the Chairs determine which volunteer is the best fit? Consensus was yes.
Mia will send out an email soliciting volunteers later this week. If you are curious about details or would like to know more about the commitment, let Mia and the Chairs know.
Susanna suggested finding someone from a development perspective.
Budget:
LCFF was part of the Gov’s proposal, and it is now in the Special Topics area of our Task Force agendas.
JV 535:
AOC has tried to take the findings and orders that weren’t essential for a rights holder or LEA to have and move them into an attachment. The orders on 535 are the ones that rights holders would find helpful.
Corby Sturges will be organizing webinars on the forms within the next couple of months. He will send the information to the TF through Mia.
The best approach to get bench officers on board is to talk to presiding juvenile judges and encourage them.
Michelle Lustig will share a PowerPoint with Corby as an example.
A question arose whether form JV-535 must be used at each juvenile court hearing, including the initial/detention hearing. Under the current statutory and regulatory scheme, the answer is: Yes, form JV-535 must be used at each court hearing to designate the child’s educational rights holder under rules 5.649 and 5.651(b)(1) of the California Rules of Court.
Fact Sheets:
Betsy typed the edits into a Word document. Attorneys will look at them next and advise on any more edits or changes.
Purpose and audience for the Fact Sheets? There should be a general consensus on what we are aiming for. A common understanding could help for consistency.
Sheets are used to train social workers, used to explain laws to lay people at meetings, used to explain laws to foster youth, and for non attorneys involved in high level advocacy.
Karie, Ann and Martha will determine whether or not some of the sheets can be combined. Lacy will check with her office regarding designing the sheets into a web document.
Leecia Welch has the original Word copies. She will send them to Mia to send to Lacy and the attorneys. Carolyn will get us her edits to the early education sheet.
III. Legislative Ideas and Proposals for 2014
LCFF fact sheets:
If you have feedback, please share it with Mia or Jesse by COB on January 14, 2013. Unless there are objections, we will add the CFYTEF name and logo, which will help to anchor and legitimize the sheets. It will also help let folks know who to go to if they have questions or need more information. We will look into adding an email address and also designing them so that they are each different colors to differentiate the audiences.
Legislative Ideas and Proposals:
- AB 1441 – Stone. Partial credits issue. Schools have to accept them and give them but each does it differently which creates problems. Susanna is working with them to make it meatier and use model policies to help make a statewide standard.
- Standard definition of FY for ed code - If interested let Susanna know and the leg committee will take it up. Someone would need to step up and lead the effort, and Children Now could help with the legislative piece.
- Community Colleges – Special EOPS slots for foster youth
- Fee waivers are not dependent on income for foster youth.
- Decriminalization of some behaviors that occur in group homes
- Child care for children in foster care
- Group home reform – time limits of stays in group homes
- Improving how children's counsel is provided in CA
We are hoping to get the Legislative Special Topics group up and running with regular calls to discuss potentially proposing legislation on behalf of Task Force members and their Special Topics groups.
IV. Special Topics Overview
School Discipline:
They just submitted their workshop for the Ed Summit. On monthly calls they continue to discuss the challenges of AB 1909. They are still wrapping up their stakeholder template letters. The AOC has Children's Counsel contacts, and Dan will look into procuring their list.
School Stability:
This group is waiting to film their youth interviews. They have a small grant coming though Education Equals, which they will use for equipment.
Lori’s survey is looking at, county by county, how much is being drawn down for transportation. They hope to cross reference the funding piece with the data on how frequently FY transfer schools.
Ed Advocacy:
They’ve been reaching out to various counties to gather training materials and anything that is helpful in court reporting. National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect will include a panel on how to train ed advocates for children in foster care (FosterEd, San Diego, New York).
ECE:
They are using a survey to try to figure out why foster youth are experiencing barriers in resource centers. They would also like to increase their membership. Patricia Caudillo in Madera is interested in helping this effort – Mia will connect the two.
LCFF:
CDE came out with spending regulationsand an LCAP template. There are issues reading now much money per year should be spent on the subgroup and what that means. The LCAP template is the template that will be provided to SDs into which they are to insert their LCAPs.
The coalition of organizations weighing in on this issue has not taken a position on spending regulations.
SBE meeting is Wednesday and Thursday of this week.
Two CDE workshops are scheduled for the Summit which will discuss data sharing.
The API testing issue is not a primary focus right now. It has no bearing on foster youth being included in the LCAP.
CORRECTION: Only districts with 15 or more foster youth need to include goals, actions and expenditures for foster youth.
Our understanding is that CDE and CDSS have signed an MOU and that the initial notification to school districts on their children in foster care will happen this spring. We believe it will essentially be a 1-2 time per year data matchnot long after the uploading of data to CalPADS. The CDE leads on this project understands the district side of this, but not the county office of education perspective. There is a meeting this Wednesday in Sacramento at the COE. Mia will email the invitation out tomorrow morning.
LAUSD LCFF Outreach session – they were more aware of foster youth issues than Patrick anticipated.
Right now districts don’t know yet what they need or what they are going to do.
LCFF Workgroup:
They will be splitting their attention between state and local issues.At the state level, it would be helpful to have folks in attendance at the upcoming SBE meeting to represent the needs of foster youth.
If you read any material or resources/ examples of LCAPS for districts, please let this group (or Mia) know so that it can be added to other materials comprising the community of practice.
Susanna suggests talking again during the next meeting on Special Topics – which to continue, which to close out and new issues that have arisen.
Status of Current Special Topics Groups:
- School Discipline – continue
- School Stability – continue
- Ed Advocacy – Needs feedback from the TF on direction. They might need to recruit new members to implementation of the new rules of court and judicial forms related to education. Betsy will join in April. Corby will also volunteer.
- ECE – continue, would like to promote membership
- Post Secondary – continue?
- LCFF – continue and Virginia could Chair and integrate the data component. Mia will look and see if there were other initial volunteers. Martha would also be able to Chair if necessary.
- ERMHS – this group has struggled to get off the ground and gain membership. Michelle Lustig added that this problem is big and there are a lot of larger issues attached to it. Disban.
- Data –Virginia has volunteered to chair the workgroup and needs time to be brought up to speed. Data’s presentation on FYSIS was successful. Incorporating it into LCFF could be valuable. Disband.
Most of the Special Topics this year have focused on implementation and are not centered on legislation and so Susanna will be stepping down. Jessica Haspel will be taking her place.
If you are interested in joining or Chairing a subgroup, let Mia know.
V. Ed Summit Update
Registration will go out tomorrow at $300 per person. There is 40 workshops covering a wide variety of topics. Keynote speakers are Rhonda Sciortinoand Kevin Brown – both are foster youth and advocates for education.
The Summit begins on Monday and ends of Tuesday afternoon. Late Tuesday afternoon there are leg visits and a reception.
Foster Club is being engaged by Stuart Foundation to help increase youth voice at the Summit.
Leg Visits:
If you can’tlobby due to your position or employer, let Susanna know. If there are enough non-lobby attendees they can visit and provide informal information sessions with legislators that don’t cross the line. We will make this an option on the registration site so folks will not be deterred from participating due to the leg component.
Charmaine Linley is interested in helping with registration. We’ll also need help selling books for the presenters.
VI. Next Steps and Close
February 3rd from 3-5 conference call 866-231-3596, code 7282345#.