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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 01171989 - IO.1 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 1. 0. 1 1 ,F Contra FROM: 1988 INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE Costa n. s January 9 , 1989 ��, ��`� County DATE: �rTd couKt{ Impact of Group Home Placements on East County SUBJECT: School Districts and Feasibility of Requiring Land Use Permits for Group Homes for Children SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 . Request the County Administrator to schedule a meeting with Assemblyman Robert Campbell, the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and the five East County school district superintendents to discuss the need for a special program to finance the additional educational and transportation impact on small rural school districts of children referred to as LCI (Licensed Children' s Institution) children. 2 . Request the Director of Community Development and County Counsel to prepare the necessary documents to allow the Board of Supervisors to require a Land Use Permit for licensed group homes for seven or more children in case legislation to mitigate the additional costs of such children on small school districts is not successful in the next few months so that such procedures can be implemented by the Board of Supervisors if it is felt necessary to do so for an interim period of time while a more permanent solution is devised. 3 . Remove this matter as a referral to our Committee. BACKGROUND- On December 20, 1988, the Board of Supervisors approved a report from our Committee which authorized our Committee to meet with the East County school district superintendents in an effort to resolve the financial problems which are being faced by these districts because of the large number of physically handicapped children who are being placed in group homes in East County. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: RECO ENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR X RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPR VE OTHER Sunne W. McPeak Tr /kson SIGNATUREM: ACTION OF BOARD ON January 17• 1989 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT I I I ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. CC: County Administrator ATTESTED Community Development Director PH BATCHELO LERKOFTHEBOARDOF County Counsel SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Assemblyman Robert Campbell (via CAO) East County Superintendents (via CAO) M382 (10/88) BY DEPUTY Page 2 On January 9, 1989, our Committee met with Linda Parks from the Brentwood Union School District and the superintendents from the five East County school districts. - As described to our Committee, the problem stems from several factors: 1 . The fact that a disproportionate number of special education children are being admitted to East County school districts because of the number of group homes for these children which are being licensed in East County. 2 . The fact that special education . funds are not distributed to school districts on an Average Daily Attendance (ADA) basis as are regular education funds. Instead, the district is funded for special education children on a fixed formula basis which does not seem to take into account extenuating circumstances outside of the control of the school district which can increase the number of such children actually in the district. 3 . The fact that while transportation for non-special education children is optional with a school district, the district is mandated to provide appropriate transportation to . special education children and that appropriate transportation is often very expensive. 4 . The fact that the school district receives no additional funding to meet the special transportation needs of physically handicapped children. The East County school districts indicated to our Committee that they have a disproportionate number of physically handicapped special education children due to the number of group homes being licensed in East County specifically for physically handicapped children, and that meeting the educational and transportation needs of these children has brought some of the school districts close to the verge of bankruptcy. While our Committee does not pretend to be expert in the funding of educational programs, it appears that the State must do a better job of meeting the special education needs of small, rural districts, particularly when the impact on the school district is outside of the district' s control. We believe that a special high-impact program for small or rural school districts which are negatively impacted by special education demands must be implemented by the State of California. We would like the State to look at the possibility of using Proposition 98 funds for at least a pilot program in the East County area to assist in meeting these extraordinary needs. While our Committee does not want to discourage or control the number of group homes which are located in Contra Costa County to serve the needs of physically handicapped children, we will recommend the implementation of a land use permit requirement for such facilities which are licensed for seven or more children, at least as an interim' measure, if other forms of relief do not appear to be forthcoming in the next few weeks . In order to , address these needs, we are asking the County Administrator: to . contact Assemblyman Campbell, who, because of his position as Chairman of the Assembly Ways and Means Subcommittee 'on Education, is in a unique position to address this problem, and ask Assemblyman Campbell to meet with Supervisor Torlakson in his capacity as Chairman of the Board of j Page 3 Supervisors and the superintendents of the five East County school districts to discuss what role the State of California can play in resolving this problem. . We are also asking the Community Development Department staff and the County Counsel to . prepare the necessary documents to implement a Land Use Permit . requirement in case other solutions are unable to be implemented in the short-term" so that the County can assist the school districts in getting a handle on this problem. We hope not to have to use this land use authority, but we will not hesitate to recommend it to the Board of Supervisors as an interim measure if nothing else seems to be able to control the unfunded influx of handicapped children into East County.