(a) Commencing with the 2015–16 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program, administered by the Superintendent, is hereby established 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 the plan established in Section 42921, with the purpose of ensuring positive educational outcomes.

(b) A foster youth services coordinating program shall meet minimum standards established by the Superintendent to ensure the provisions of Section 42921 are implemented, and shall be required to meet those minimum standards annually as a condition of continued funding.

(c) As a condition of receiving funds, a county office of education, or a consortium of county offices of education, shall work with the local educational agencies within the county or consortium of counties, and shall coordinate services to ensure that, for the 2015–16 and 2016–17 fiscal years, the level of direct services provided to support foster youth pupils is not less than what was provided in the 2014–15 fiscal year through the foster youth services program established pursuant to Section 42921, as it read on June 30, 2015. In meeting this requirement, services for foster youth pupils may be provided through one or any combination of state funding, including, but not limited to, the local control funding formula, or federal, local, or other funding.

(d) For the 2015–16 fiscal year, the allocation amount for which any county office of education or consortium of county offices of education is eligible shall not be less than the amount allocated to that county or consortium in the 2014–15 fiscal year, including the allocation amounts of school districts identified in Section 42920, as it read on June 30, 2015. This subdivision applies only if a county office of education or consortium of county offices of education elects to apply for grant funding pursuant to Section 42921.

(e) On or before October 31, 2015, the Superintendent shall develop an allocation formula to determine the allocation amounts for which each county office of education or consortium of county offices of education is eligible. The Superintendent, within 30 days of the developing the allocation formula, shall submit the allocation formula to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature and the Department of Finance for review, and the Department of Finance shall approve the allocation formula within 30 days of submission by the Superintendent. The allocation formula may be revised annually upon submission to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature and approval by the Department of Finance within 30 days of submission by the Superintendent. The Superintendent may include additional criteria in the allocation formula, but shall apply, at a minimum, the following criteria:

(1) The number of pupils in foster care in the county.

(2) The number of school districts in the county.

(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (e), commencing with the 2016–17 fiscal year, the Superintendent shall provide a base grant of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) to each participating county office of education or consortium of county offices of education that served at least one foster youth pupil in the prior fiscal year.

(g) After providing base grants pursuant to subdivision (f), the Superintendent shall allocate the remaining funding to participating county offices of education or consortium of county offices of education based on the following criteria:

(1) Seventy percent of the allocation shall be based on the number of pupils in foster care in the county.

(2) Thirty percent of the allocation shall be based on the number of school districts in the county.

(h) The allocation pursuant to subdivision (g) shall be applied after consideration of subdivision (b) of Section 42926.

(i) For purposes of this chapter, “local educational agency” means a county office of education, school district, or charter school.

(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 29, Sec. 10. (SB 828) Effective June 27, 2016.)