Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton
Filed: 3/19/2021
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1 | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 190
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 190 by replacing | ||||||
3 | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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4 | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | ||||||
5 | Higher Education Housing and Opportunities Act. | ||||||
6 | Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act: | ||||||
7 | "Institution of higher education" or "institution" means | ||||||
8 | any publicly or privately operated university, college, | ||||||
9 | community college, business, technical, or vocational school, | ||||||
10 | or other educational institution offering degrees and | ||||||
11 | instruction beyond the secondary school level. | ||||||
12 | "Student experiencing homelessness" or "homeless student" | ||||||
13 | means an individual enrolled in an institution who lacks or is | ||||||
14 | at imminent risk of lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate | ||||||
15 | nighttime residence or whose parent or legal guardian is | ||||||
16 | unable or unwilling to provide shelter and care and includes a |
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1 | homeless individual as defined under the federal | ||||||
2 | McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. For the purposes of | ||||||
3 | this definition, the term "fixed, regular, and adequate | ||||||
4 | nighttime residence" does not include residence in an | ||||||
5 | institution of higher education's on-campus housing. | ||||||
6 | "Student in care" means any person, regardless of age, who | ||||||
7 | is or was under the care and legal custody of the Department of | ||||||
8 | Children and Family Services, including youth for whom the | ||||||
9 | Department has court-ordered legal responsibility, youth who | ||||||
10 | aged out of care at age 18 or older, or youth formerly under | ||||||
11 | care who have been adopted and were the subject of an adoption | ||||||
12 | assistance agreement or who have been placed in private | ||||||
13 | guardianship and were the subject of a subsidized guardianship | ||||||
14 | agreement. | ||||||
15 | Section 10. Housing and Opportunities that are Useful for | ||||||
16 | Students' Excellence (HOUSE) liaison. | ||||||
17 | (a) In an effort to provide assistance to students | ||||||
18 | experiencing homelessness, each institution of higher | ||||||
19 | education shall designate at least one staff member to serve | ||||||
20 | as a liaison to assist homeless students enrolled at the | ||||||
21 | institution. The designated staff member may be employed in | ||||||
22 | the office of financial aid, in campus housing services, or in | ||||||
23 | any other appropriate office or department as determined by | ||||||
24 | the institution. | ||||||
25 | (b) The liaison designated under subsection (a) shall |
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1 | offer assistance and resources to any homeless student or | ||||||
2 | student in care enrolled at the institution. The liaison shall | ||||||
3 | have all of the following responsibilities:
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4 | (1) To understand provisions pertaining to the | ||||||
5 | financial aid eligibility of homeless students, including | ||||||
6 | eligibility as an independent student under the federal | ||||||
7 | Higher Education Act of 1965. | ||||||
8 | (2) To identify services and resources that are | ||||||
9 | available to and appropriate for a homeless student. | ||||||
10 | (3) To assist a homeless student or student in care in | ||||||
11 | applying for and receiving federal and State financial aid | ||||||
12 | and available services. | ||||||
13 | (4) To track and monitor the graduation rate and | ||||||
14 | retention rate of homeless students and students in care | ||||||
15 | enrolled at the institution. | ||||||
16 | (5) To report annually to the Board of Higher | ||||||
17 | Education or the Illinois Community College Board, as | ||||||
18 | appropriate, the number of homeless students and students | ||||||
19 | in care enrolled at the institution. The report must | ||||||
20 | include the number of students who received assistance or | ||||||
21 | services through the liaison and the type of service or | ||||||
22 | assistance received by the student. If the information is | ||||||
23 | available, the report may describe the outcome for the | ||||||
24 | student as a result of the services or assistance he or she | ||||||
25 | received through the liaison. | ||||||
26 | (6) To act as an intermediary between a homeless |
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1 | student or student in care and the office of financial | ||||||
2 | aid, student support services, and campus housing | ||||||
3 | services. | ||||||
4 | (7) To connect a homeless student or student in care | ||||||
5 | to a local continuum of care program. | ||||||
6 | (8) To publish on the institution's website | ||||||
7 | information about the services and resources available | ||||||
8 | through the institution's liaison, as well as contact | ||||||
9 | information for local, State, and federal services. | ||||||
10 | (9) To develop a plan to provide access to on-campus | ||||||
11 | housing or to suitable off-campus housing between academic | ||||||
12 | breaks to homeless students or students in care enrolled | ||||||
13 | at the institution. | ||||||
14 | (10) To train the institution's employees to identify | ||||||
15 | students experiencing homelessness and to refer those | ||||||
16 | students to the liaison. | ||||||
17 | At his or her discretion, the liaison may provide any | ||||||
18 | additional service he or she reasonably believes is within the | ||||||
19 | purview of the role of liaison. | ||||||
20 | (c) The Board of Higher Education and the Illinois | ||||||
21 | Community College Board shall adopt rules, policies, and | ||||||
22 | procedures to implement and administer this Act. Each Board | ||||||
23 | must:
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24 | (1) provide access to a training program developed by | ||||||
25 | a homeless advocacy organization; | ||||||
26 | (2) require a liaison to receive training on an annual |
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1 | basis; | ||||||
2 | (3) collaborate with the State Coordinator for | ||||||
3 | McKinney-Vento Homeless Education and the contact liaisons | ||||||
4 | designated under Section 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii) of Title 42 of | ||||||
5 | the United States Code to facilitate the efficient | ||||||
6 | transition of homeless students from secondary to | ||||||
7 | postsecondary education and provide homeless students and | ||||||
8 | students in care information about support services, | ||||||
9 | including financial aid, on-campus and off-campus housing, | ||||||
10 | food and meal plan programs, and counseling services, and | ||||||
11 | other resources and any other relevant information to | ||||||
12 | assist these students; and | ||||||
13 | (4) issue annual reports about students experiencing | ||||||
14 | homelessness and students in care enrolled at academic | ||||||
15 | institutions. | ||||||
16 | (d) After 3 academic years, if the data submitted to the | ||||||
17 | Board of Higher Education or the Illinois Community College | ||||||
18 | Board, as appropriate, indicates that the number of students | ||||||
19 | experiencing homelessness or the number of students in care | ||||||
20 | exceeds 2% or more of the student body of the institution, the | ||||||
21 | institution must create a position whose primary function is | ||||||
22 | to carry out the responsibilities of a liaison as described in | ||||||
23 | subsection (b). | ||||||
24 | (e) Each institution that provides on-campus housing for | ||||||
25 | students enrolled at the institution shall: | ||||||
26 | (1) grant priority for on-campus housing to students |
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1 | experiencing homelessness and students in care who are | ||||||
2 | enrolled at the institution, including but not limited to, | ||||||
3 | access to on-campus housing that remains open during | ||||||
4 | academic breaks, and waive fees for the on-campus housing | ||||||
5 | during academic breaks; | ||||||
6 | (2) allow students experiencing homelessness and | ||||||
7 | students in care who are enrolled part-time at the | ||||||
8 | institution to access on-campus housing; | ||||||
9 | (3) provide information about the availability of | ||||||
10 | on-campus housing to students experiencing homelessness | ||||||
11 | and students in care; and | ||||||
12 | (4) provide information about the services and | ||||||
13 | assistance offered by the institution regarding | ||||||
14 | homelessness in financial aid packets and admission | ||||||
15 | packets and on the institution's website.
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16 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect August | ||||||
17 | 1, 2022.".
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