Students do better when they attend school. However, school absences are on the rise. We can solve this problem through supportive policies and safer schools, or by punishing parents. California has taken the punishment approach for the last 14 years, giving families in California’s anti-poverty CalWORKs program fines and threats of imprisonment. It’s having the opposite effect. Let’s get to the root of school absences and help families so that students can thrive. 

The impact of ICE raids and financial stress on school attendance is undeniable. The removal of protections like the sensitive locations policy impacts children & families dealing with heightened fear of deportation, leading many immigrant parents to keep their children home. AB 461 updates California truancy policy to push  supports over punishment when it comes to school attendance.

 It’s time we meet families where they’re at. 

There are many factors outside of a family’s control that create barriers to school attendance, such as eviction, job loss, and fear for family safety. Families should not be punished while navigating these obstacles. 

AB 461, authored by Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens, and puts an end to criminalization and sanctions against CalWORKs families facing school attendance challenges. Instead, it puts in place strong, compassionate alternatives to support families, advance equity, and help kids thrive.

This bill is championed by End Child Poverty California, SEIU CA, Parent Voices CA, Western Center on Law and Poverty, Coalition of CA Welfare Rights Organizations, End Poverty in California and County Welfare Directors Association of California.

CalWORKs is California’s program to provide equitable access to the services, resources and opportunities families need to increase resilience, achieve economic mobility, and break the cycle of poverty. AB 461 prevents harm to CalWORKs families by restoring cash assistance lost due to outdated truancy sanctions. The bill also ends criminalization and jail time for parents whose children are struggling with school attendance.

“Truancy has gone up drastically with the threat of imprisonment, with the threat of fines on the books,” said bill author Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens. AB 461 is needed now, Asm. Ahrens continued, because “we’re seeing there are no excused absences for your parents getting taken, or for you missing the bus, or if you can’t afford to go to school because you can’t financially get yourself there, like I was.”

I was a truant student and my parents were punished because of this. So we need to be doing everything we can to look at the data and see what actually helps students.

Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens on the importance of AB 461

“AB 461 is especially urgent considering the federal administration we have right now, with the removal of the sensitive locations policy and the ICE raids impacting children and families across the state,” shared Yesenia Jimenez,GRACE & End Child Poverty California Senior Policy Advocate. Jimenez emphasized that “raids have heightened fear of deportation among immigrant families, leading many parents to keep their children home. So this results in increased absences, where there are ICE raids, in their local community.” AB 461 recognizes real causes of truancy—like fear of deportation and bullying of LGBTQ+ youth—as the key issues, not neglect.

Dream Beyond Bars Fellow Jose Herrera received multiple truancy letters, some of them mistaken, creating extra stress for him and his family. Herrera shared, “if these errors were not corrected, I knew the problems that it could cause my mom, including extra financial burdens in the forms of truancy fines.”

AB 461 brings hope to youth and families navigating school attendance challenges, and ensures families are met with support, not punishment.

Jose Herrera, Dream Beyond Bars Fellow 

The data are clear that attendance fines only push families into deeper poverty. California is serious about student success. So we can leave policies that haven’t worked, and replace them with supportive policies that help families thrive.  

Claudia Gonzalez, Senior Program Associate at Vera Institute of Justice, spoke in support of AB 461 not only as a policy advocate but also as a formally incarcerated woman who was criminalized as a young person. “I lost most of my youth locked up because I was labeled as truant and as a bad kid. Unfortunately, these practices continued to harm other young people decades later. My mother also got in trouble. She was undocumented. She worked 3 jobs and was the sole provider for our family. She was fine and had to go to court. It put her and her family in jeopardy, and the fear of possible deportation became real. The solution to truancy should never be to criminalize folks or separate families.”

Parents and children, especially with those with trauma like mine, should not be punished, but instead supported with the resources that they deserve to thrive in school.

Claudia Gonzalez, Senior Program Associate at Vera Institute of Justice

“The solution to truancy should never be to criminalize folks or separate families.” Gonzalez continued. “If you want youth to thrive, it is critical to address these harmful practices. AB 461 eliminates harmful sanctions related to truancy like unnecessary jail time and fines, and it removes barriers to accessing critical familial programs like CalWorks.”