Full Text of SB0190 102nd General Assembly
SB0190eng 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning education.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Higher | 5 | | 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 | 17 | | homeless individual as defined under the federal | 18 | | McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. For the purposes of | 19 | | this definition, the term "fixed, regular, and adequate | 20 | | nighttime residence" does not include residence in an | 21 | | institution of higher education's on-campus housing. | 22 | | "Student in care" means any person, regardless of age, who | 23 | | is or was under the care and legal custody of the Department of |
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| 1 | | Children and Family Services, including youth for whom the | 2 | | Department has court-ordered legal responsibility, youth who | 3 | | aged out of care at age 18 or older, or youth formerly under | 4 | | care who have been adopted and were the subject of an adoption | 5 | | assistance agreement or who have been placed in private | 6 | | guardianship and were the subject of a subsidized guardianship | 7 | | agreement. | 8 | | Section 10. Housing and Opportunities that are Useful for | 9 | | Students' Excellence (HOUSE) liaison. | 10 | | (a) In an effort to provide assistance to students | 11 | | experiencing homelessness, each institution of higher | 12 | | education shall designate at least one staff member to serve | 13 | | as a liaison to assist homeless students enrolled at the | 14 | | institution. The designated staff member may be employed in | 15 | | the office of financial aid, in campus housing services, or in | 16 | | any other appropriate office or department as determined by | 17 | | the institution. | 18 | | (b) The liaison designated under subsection (a) shall | 19 | | offer assistance and resources to any homeless student or | 20 | | student in care enrolled at the institution. The liaison shall | 21 | | have all of the following responsibilities:
| 22 | | (1) To understand provisions pertaining to the | 23 | | financial aid eligibility of homeless students, including | 24 | | eligibility as an independent student under the federal | 25 | | Higher Education Act of 1965. |
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| 1 | | (2) To identify services and resources that are | 2 | | available to and appropriate for a homeless student. | 3 | | (3) To assist a homeless student or student in care in | 4 | | applying for and receiving federal and State financial aid | 5 | | and available services. | 6 | | (4) To track and monitor the graduation rate and | 7 | | retention rate of homeless students and students in care | 8 | | enrolled at the institution. | 9 | | (5) To report annually to the Board of Higher | 10 | | Education or the Illinois Community College Board, as | 11 | | appropriate, the number of homeless students and students | 12 | | in care enrolled at the institution. The report must | 13 | | include the number of students who received assistance or | 14 | | services through the liaison and the type of service or | 15 | | assistance received by the student. If the information is | 16 | | available, the report may describe the outcome for the | 17 | | student as a result of the services or assistance he or she | 18 | | received through the liaison. | 19 | | (6) To act as an intermediary between a homeless | 20 | | student or student in care and the office of financial | 21 | | aid, student support services, and campus housing | 22 | | services. | 23 | | (7) To connect a homeless student or student in care | 24 | | to a local continuum of care program. | 25 | | (8) To publish on the institution's website | 26 | | information about the services and resources available |
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| 1 | | through the institution's liaison, as well as contact | 2 | | information for local, State, and federal services. | 3 | | (9) To develop a plan to provide access to on-campus | 4 | | housing or to suitable off-campus housing between academic | 5 | | breaks to homeless students or students in care enrolled | 6 | | at the institution. | 7 | | (10) To train the institution's employees to identify | 8 | | students experiencing homelessness and to refer those | 9 | | students to the liaison. | 10 | | At his or her discretion, the liaison may provide any | 11 | | additional service he or she reasonably believes is within the | 12 | | purview of the role of liaison. | 13 | | (c) The Board of Higher Education and the Illinois | 14 | | Community College Board shall adopt rules, policies, and | 15 | | procedures to implement and administer this Act. Each Board | 16 | | must:
| 17 | | (1) provide access to a training program developed by | 18 | | a homeless advocacy organization; | 19 | | (2) require a liaison to receive training on an annual | 20 | | basis; | 21 | | (3) collaborate with the State Coordinator for | 22 | | McKinney-Vento Homeless Education and the contact liaisons | 23 | | designated under Section 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii) of Title 42 of | 24 | | the United States Code to facilitate the efficient | 25 | | transition of homeless students from secondary to | 26 | | postsecondary education and provide homeless students and |
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| 1 | | students in care information about support services, | 2 | | including financial aid, on-campus and off-campus housing, | 3 | | food and meal plan programs, and counseling services, and | 4 | | other resources and any other relevant information to | 5 | | assist these students; and | 6 | | (4) issue annual reports about students experiencing | 7 | | homelessness and students in care enrolled at academic | 8 | | institutions. | 9 | | (d) After 3 academic years, if the data submitted to the | 10 | | Board of Higher Education or the Illinois Community College | 11 | | Board, as appropriate, indicates that the number of students | 12 | | experiencing homelessness or the number of students in care | 13 | | exceeds 2% or more of the student body of the institution, the | 14 | | institution must create a position whose primary function is | 15 | | to carry out the responsibilities of a liaison as described in | 16 | | subsection (b). | 17 | | (e) Each institution that provides on-campus housing for | 18 | | students enrolled at the institution shall: | 19 | | (1) grant priority for on-campus housing to students | 20 | | experiencing homelessness and students in care who are | 21 | | enrolled at the institution, including, but not limited | 22 | | to, access to on-campus housing that remains open during | 23 | | academic breaks, and waive fees for the on-campus housing | 24 | | during academic breaks; | 25 | | (2) allow students experiencing homelessness and | 26 | | students in care who are enrolled part-time at the |
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| 1 | | institution to access on-campus housing; | 2 | | (3) provide information about the availability of | 3 | | on-campus housing to students experiencing homelessness | 4 | | and students in care; and | 5 | | (4) provide information about the services and | 6 | | assistance offered by the institution regarding | 7 | | homelessness in financial aid packets and admission | 8 | | packets and on the institution's website.
| 9 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect August | 10 | | 1, 2022.
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