Homeless and foster care youth run into difficulties with their educational aspirations because of their lack of money and relationship with a caring adult to help them achieve better educational outcomes. Also, educational policies and systems cause them to remain in poverty and endure longer periods of homelessness.
Two bills, SB 252 and AB 1228 are designed to thwart poor educational outcomes among homeless and foster care youth.
SB 252 ensures that homeless youth have access to the California high school equivalency and proficiency exams by waiving the fee for homeless youth who can verify their status as a homeless youth.
Homeless youth encounter many challenges that often lead to disproportionately low rates of high school graduation. The costs of low graduation rates are very high, for students and for our state. Research shows that people who do not graduate from high school earn significantly less than high school graduates and experience greater levels of unemployment. This lack of income makes it extremely difficult for them to obtain stable housing and end their homelessness.
AB 1228 would extend priority for housing at the University of California (UC), the California State University (CSU) and the California Community Colleges (CCC) to homeless youth, and requests campuses to develop plans to ensure that homeless and foster youth have housing during breaks. The bill would also allow homeless students, as defined, to retain that status for six years from the date of admission to a UC, CSU or CCC campus.
Help get these bills signed into law by asking the Governor to sign. No homeless youth should be denied a chance to pursue their educational goals. And, no homeless or foster youth should experience housing insecurity during campus breaks.
Fax a letter: (916) 558-3177
Email a letter: [email protected].