(a) As required pursuant to Section 11432(g)(6)(A)(i) of Title 42 of the United States Code, a local educational agency shall ensure that each school within the local educational agency identifies all homeless children and youths and unaccompanied youths enrolled at the school.
(b) (1) A local educational agency shall administer a housing questionnaire for purposes of identifying homeless children and youths and unaccompanied youths, as those terms are defined in Section 11434a(2) of Title 42 of the United States Code, in accordance with the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11303 et seq.). By the end of the 2021–22 school year, a local educational agency shall ensure that the housing questionnaire is based on best practices developed by the department pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (f) of Section 48852.5. The housing questionnaire shall include an explanation of the rights and protections a pupil has as a homeless child or youth or as an unaccompanied youth. The housing questionnaire shall be available in paper form.
(2) A local educational agency shall annually provide the housing questionnaire described in paragraph (1) to all parents or guardians of pupils and to all unaccompanied youths of the local educational agency.
(3) If the primary language of a pupil’s parent or guardian or an unaccompanied youth is not English, either of the following shall occur:
(A) The housing questionnaire shall be made available in the primary language of the unaccompanied youth or the pupil’s parent or guardian pursuant to Section 48985.
(B) An appropriate translation of the housing questionnaire shall be provided upon request of a pupil’s parent or guardian or an unaccompanied youth.
(4) A local educational agency shall collect the completed housing questionnaires that it administered pursuant to this section, and shall annually report to the department the number of homeless children and youths and unaccompanied youths enrolled.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 912, Sec. 1. (AB 2375) Effective January 1, 2023.)