Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program: postsecondary education financial aid applications.

Existing law establishes the Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program, under the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to provide supplemental funding to county offices of education, or a consortium of county offices of education, to coordinate and ensure that local educational agencies within its jurisdiction are providing services to foster youth pupils pursuant to a foster youth services coordinating plan with the purpose of ensuring positive educational outcomes. As part of the program, existing law authorizes a county office of education, or a consortium of county offices of education, to apply to the Superintendent for grant funding to operate an education-based foster youth services coordinating program. As a condition of receiving funds, existing law requires a program to develop and implement a foster youth services plan that includes, among other things, a description of how the local program will facilitate coordination with local postsecondary educational institutions to ensure foster youth pupils meet admission requirements and access programs that support their matriculation needs. This bill would require the plan to also describe how the program will coordinate efforts to ensure, to the extent possible, the completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or the California Dream Act Application for foster youth pupils who are in grade 12. Existing law requires the Superintendent, by July 1 of each even-numbered year, to report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature and the Governor on the Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program. Existing law requires the report to include aggregate educational outcome data for each county in which there were at least 15 pupils in foster care who attended school in the county with information on, among other things, the number of participating foster youth pupils who successfully transition to postsecondary education. This bill would require the report to also include the number and percentage of pupils in foster care who successfully complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid or California Dream Act Application while in grade 12.