Bill Text: NY A09615 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides assistance for SUNY and CUNY students experiencing homelessness; designates liaison officers on campuses; creates systems for students experiencing homelessness to access support services and other resources available to the students.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-26 - referred to higher education [A09615 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A09615-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9615 IN ASSEMBLY March 26, 2024 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. HYNDMAN -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to providing assistance to students experiencing homelessness The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Title 7 of the education law is amended by adding a new 2 article 116 to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 116 4 HOMELESS STUDENT HOUSING ACCESS AND ASSISTANCE 5 Section 5800. Definition. 6 5801. Designation of liaison officers, regional contacts, and 7 campus contacts to assist students experiencing home- 8 lessness. 9 5802. Access to housing for students experiencing homelessness. 10 5803. Priority enrollment. 11 5804. Assistance with college fees for students experiencing 12 homelessness. 13 § 5800. Definition. For the purposes of this article, the term 14 "students experiencing homelessness" shall mean students who at any time 15 during the current school year or the twenty-four months immediately 16 preceding their enrollment in college have been "homeless children or 17 youth" as such term is defined under 42 U.S.C. Section 11434a, and 18 includes students who reside in a student housing facility maintained by 19 a college during an academic term but who are homeless between academic 20 terms. 21 § 5801. Designation of liaison officers, regional contacts, and campus 22 contacts to assist students experiencing homelessness. 1. The state 23 university of New York and the city university of New York each shall 24 hire at least one full-time equivalent staff member to act as a liaison 25 officer for current and incoming students experiencing homelessness. 26 2. The liaison officer shall: 27 (a) have knowledge of and expertise in federal and state financial aid 28 eligibility of students experiencing homelessness, including their EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06611-03-3A. 9615 2 1 eligibility as independent students under Section 1087vv of the federal 2 Higher Education Act, support services, including health services, hous- 3 ing resources offered by the college and external housing resources, 4 including housing navigation services and existing housing programs for 5 homeless or low-income individuals or families, meal plan and food 6 programs and assistance, counseling services, academic supports, and 7 other resources available to students at the university, and best prac- 8 tices to identify and serve students experiencing homelessness, with the 9 goal of maximizing their enrollment, retention, and success in college; 10 (b) create systems for students experiencing homelessness to access 11 support services and other resources available to the students at the 12 university; coordinate with the state university of New York and the 13 city university of New York on innovative programming aimed at increas- 14 ing access, enrollment, attendance and success in college for students 15 experiencing homelessness, including pilot initiatives as outlined in a 16 pilot program to increase enrollment, attendance, and success in college 17 for students experiencing homelessness; 18 (c) provide professional development and other technical assistance 19 activities to ensure campus contact persons for current and incoming 20 students experiencing homelessness at the university. Institute best 21 practices to identify students experiencing homelessness and have infor- 22 mation about financial aid, support services, and best practices 23 described by paragraph (a) of this subdivision; 24 (d) provide professional development and other technical assistance 25 activities to professors and university staff working in the areas of 26 financial aid, housing, student services, and teaching and academic 27 support regarding the characteristics, needs, strengths, and identifica- 28 tion of students experiencing homelessness; 29 (e) complete necessary administrative tasks and data collection 30 related to students experiencing homelessness, including developing, 31 administering, and analyzing the results of a survey annually, collabo- 32 ratively with campus contacts designated pursuant to subdivision four of 33 this section, social work interns, and other essential staff, to collect 34 data on student access to resources needed to address homelessness 35 across the state university of New York and the city university of New 36 York; and 37 (f) make available an annual report of the survey administered pursu- 38 ant to paragraph (e) of this subdivision on the websites of the state 39 university of New York and the city university of New York. 40 3. The state university of New York and the city university of New 41 York each shall require professors and university staff to attend at 42 least one training per year offered by the liaison officer for current 43 and incoming students experiencing homelessness. 44 4. The liaison officer for the state university of New York shall hire 45 one part-time adjunct staff to serve as regional contacts in each of ten 46 economic development regions. Regional contacts shall supervise the 47 campus contacts in their regions and support the liaison officer to 48 ensure that students experiencing homelessness are identified, informed 49 of services available to them, and able to access support services and 50 other resources available in the region. 51 5. The liaison officer for the city university of New York shall hire 52 five part-time adjunct staff to serve as regional contacts. Regional 53 contacts shall supervise the campus contacts in their regions and 54 support the liaison officer to ensure that students experiencing home- 55 lessness are identified, informed of services available to them, andA. 9615 3 1 able to access support services and other resources available in the 2 region. 3 6. Each college shall designate and may provide a stipend to, at least 4 one person, who may be an employee of the college or an undergraduate or 5 graduate level student of any college who is completing an internship as 6 part of obtaining a degree in social work or a related field, to act as 7 a campus contact person for current and incoming students experiencing 8 homelessness. 9 7. The campus contact person shall: 10 (a) institute best practices to identify current and incoming students 11 experiencing homelessness, including: 12 (i) posting flyers, posters, and other written materials about the 13 rights of students experiencing homelessness, using understandable and 14 culturally competent language, in locations on campus and in the commu- 15 nity where students experiencing homelessness are likely to see them; 16 (ii) posting using understandable and culturally competent information 17 about the rights of students experiencing homelessness on college 18 websites and social media; 19 (iii) collaborating with student organizations and organizations 20 providing food, housing, or other services on campus and in the communi- 21 ty; and 22 (iv) sharing information about the rights of students experiencing 23 homelessness and the process to refer students who may be experiencing 24 homelessness to the campus contact with professors and other campus 25 staff; 26 (b) provide students experiencing homelessness with information 27 regarding their federal and state financial aid eligibility, including 28 their eligibility as independent students under Section 1087vv of the 29 federal Higher Education Act, and assistance to such students to ensure 30 they are able to apply for and receive federal and state financial aid 31 and all available on and off campus services for which they are eligi- 32 ble; 33 (c) provide students experiencing homelessness with information 34 regarding support services, health services, housing resources offered 35 by the college and external housing resources, housing navigation 36 services and existing housing programs for homeless or low-income indi- 37 viduals or families, meal plan and food programs and assistance, coun- 38 seling services, academic supports, and other resources available to the 39 students at the college; 40 (d) participate in professional development and other technical 41 assistance activities offered by the liaison officer; and 42 (e) contact liaisons designated under 42 U.S.C. Section 43 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii) as necessary to facilitate successful transitions 44 from secondary to postsecondary education for students experiencing 45 homelessness. 46 § 5802. Access to housing for students experiencing homelessness. Each 47 college shall: 48 1. prioritize students experiencing homelessness for access to exist- 49 ing housing resources offered by the college, as needed, during and 50 between academic terms, including granting them first priority for hous- 51 ing facilities that remain open for occupation during the most days in a 52 calendar year; and 53 2. develop a plan to connect students experiencing homelessness with 54 external housing resources when existing housing resources offered by 55 the college are not available, including through working with existing 56 housing programs for homeless or low-income individuals or families.A. 9615 4 1 § 5803. Priority enrollment. Each college that administers a priority 2 enrollment system shall grant priority in that system for enrollment in 3 classes to students experiencing homelessness. 4 § 5804. Assistance with college fees for students experiencing home- 5 lessness. For students experiencing homelessness, each college shall: 6 1. waive administrative fees and fees based on enrollment, including 7 health and wellness, student activity, consolidated services, and tech- 8 nology fees, that are not fully covered by a student's financial aid 9 package; and 10 2. defer the payment of any fee or deposit, including housing fees and 11 deposits, that are covered by a student's financial aid package until 12 the college receives the aid, such that students will not incur late 13 fees on payments delayed while awaiting disbursement of financial aid. 14 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to the 15 academic year next succeeding the date on which this act shall have 16 become a law.
