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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| SENATE BILL |
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| INTRODUCED BY FONTANA, PIPPY, BROWNE, TARTAGLIONE, ERICKSON, FARNESE, WILLIAMS, WARD, BOSCOLA, COSTA, FERLO, HUGHES, BREWSTER, WASHINGTON, DINNIMAN, KITCHEN, GREENLEAF, KASUNIC, STACK, YUDICHAK, EARLL, BLAKE AND SOLOBAY, JANUARY 18, 2011 |
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| REFERRED TO EDUCATION, JANUARY 18, 2011 |
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| AN ACT |
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1 | Establishing a task force within the Department of Education, |
2 | providing for its powers and duties and providing for |
3 | administrative support. |
4 | The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
5 | hereby enacts as follows: |
6 | Section 1. Task force on homeless children's education. |
7 | (a) Establishment.--There is established within the |
8 | Department of Education a task force on homeless children's |
9 | education. |
10 | (b) Composition.--The task force shall be composed of the |
11 | following members: |
12 | (1) The Secretary of Education, who shall act as |
13 | chairperson of the task force. |
14 | (2) The Secretary of Public Welfare or a designee from |
15 | the Office of Children, Youth and Families. |
16 | (3) Fifteen members to be appointed by the Secretary of |
17 | Education, within 30 days of the effective date of this act, |
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1 | to include: |
2 | (i) Five representatives of local agencies assisting |
3 | homeless children and families, one each from |
4 | southwestern, northwestern, central, southeastern and |
5 | northeastern Pennsylvania. |
6 | (ii) Four representatives from the Commonwealth's |
7 | public schools, one of which shall be from a charter |
8 | school, representing urban, suburban and rural areas of |
9 | Pennsylvania. |
10 | (iii) Three representatives from Pennsylvania |
11 | intermediate units. |
12 | (iv) Three representatives from Pennsylvania social |
13 | services organizations or advocacy organizations with |
14 | experience working with homeless children and education |
15 | issues. |
16 | (c) Study.--The task force shall conduct a study of the |
17 | homeless child population and their educational needs in this |
18 | Commonwealth. The Department of Education shall develop uniform |
19 | forms and surveys necessary for obtaining the information |
20 | required for the study. The study shall include: |
21 | (1) A demographic survey of homeless parents and |
22 | homeless youth that includes, but is not limited to: |
23 | (i) length of homelessness; |
24 | (ii) number of episodes of homelessness; |
25 | (iii) highest educational level attained by homeless |
26 | parents; |
27 | (iv) living situation of homeless students; |
28 | (v) ages and grade levels of homeless students; |
29 | (vi) school attendance rates and gaps in enrollment |
30 | and truancy rates; |
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1 | (vii) average number of school changes; |
2 | (viii) access to remedial services; |
3 | (ix) access to after school programs; |
4 | (x) access to and use of Title I funds and all other |
5 | funding sources to support homeless students; |
6 | (xi) drop-out rates of homeless students; |
7 | (xii) standardized test scores, including State |
8 | standardized test scores; and |
9 | (xiii) causes and signs of homelessness. |
10 | (2) An assessment of the difficulties in serving |
11 | homeless students. |
12 | (3) An assessment of different school-aged students, |
13 | including unaccompanied youth. |
14 | (4) An assessment of barriers to serving the needs of |
15 | preschool children experiencing homelessness, including |
16 | ensuring access to early intervention services. |
17 | (5) An assessment of successful strategies for serving |
18 | homeless students, including strategies for informing |
19 | parents, students and school districts of the educational |
20 | services available to homeless students. |
21 | (6) An assessment of the relationship between homeless |
22 | shelters and school personnel and effective protocols to |
23 | serve homeless students. |
24 | (7) An assessment of best practices used in other states |
25 | to educate homeless students. |
26 | (8) An assessment of methods for the accurate |
27 | identification and counting of homeless students in pre-K |
28 | through twelfth grade, including unaccompanied youth. |
29 | (9) Recommendations regarding data currently collected |
30 | by the department that could be desegregated on an ongoing |
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1 | basis in regard to homelessness of children. |
2 | (d) Report to the General Assembly.--The task force shall |
3 | issue a report of its findings and recommendations to the |
4 | Governor, the President pro tempore of the Senate, the Minority |
5 | Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of |
6 | Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of |
7 | Representatives, the chairman and minority chairman of the |
8 | Education Committee of the Senate and the chairman and minority |
9 | chairman of the Education Committee of the House of |
10 | Representatives, and provide periodic updates of this report at |
11 | least once every three years. The initial report shall be |
12 | submitted within one year after the first meeting of the task |
13 | force and distributed to those State and local agencies that |
14 | work with homeless children, as well as to all Pennsylvania |
15 | school districts. Subsequent reports shall be made based on a |
16 | schedule developed by the task force which shall be indicated in |
17 | the initial report. |
18 | (e) Meetings.--The task force shall meet at least once each |
19 | quarter and shall hold its first meeting within 60 days of the |
20 | effective date of this act. |
21 | (f) Compensation.--Task force members shall receive no |
22 | compensation for their services but shall be reimbursed for all |
23 | necessary travel and other reasonable expenses incurred in |
24 | connection with the performance of their duties as members. |
25 | (g) Duties of department.--The Department of Education shall |
26 | provide administrative support, office space and any other |
27 | technical assistance required by the task force to carry out its |
28 | duties under this section, including access to all reports and |
29 | data required by the Federal Government to comply with Title I |
30 | of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (Public |
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1 | Law 89-10, 20 U.S.C. Ch. 63, et seq.) and McKinney-Vento |
2 | Homeless Assistance Act of 1986 (Public Law 100-77, 42 U.S.C. § |
3 | 11301, et seq.). |
4 | Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days. |
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