The 2020-21 Budget

Immigrant Legal Services at the
Public Higher Education Segments

In this post, we (1) provide background on immigrant residents in California and state funding for immigrant legal services, including for students at the California Community Colleges (CCC), California State University (CSU), and University of California (UC); (2) provide an implementation update on each segment’s immigrant legal services program; (3) describe the Governor’s January and May proposals to provide additional funding for immigrant legal services at the segments; and (4) provide an associated budget alternative for the Legislature to consider within the context of the state’s budget downturn.

Background

Various Legal Statuses Are Common Among California’s Large Population of Immigrants. According to the American Immigration Council, a nonpartisan organization based in Washington, D.C., about half of California’s 11 million immigrant residents are naturalized citizens, meaning they completed the process required for gaining U.S. citizenship. Another one-quarter have legal status, such as a green card or employment visa, and may be eligible to undertake the process of becoming a naturalized citizen. The remaining roughly one-quarter of the state’s immigrants (more than two million residents) are undocumented. Approximately 10 percent of these undocumented immigrants have a special status known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DACA status is available to certain immigrants who as children were brought into the country without federal authorization. Being granted DACA status allows qualifying individuals to receive a renewable two-year exemption from deportation as well as a work permit.

Since 2015‑16, State Has Funded Legal Services for Immigrant Residents. The state currently provides the Department of Social Services (DSS) with $45 million ongoing General Fund for the Immigration Services Funding program. Under this program, DSS contracts with nonprofit organizations (legal service providers) to help immigrants of all ages free of charge. Common services include (1) providing community-based outreach and education to immigrants (such as through “know your rights” presentations), (2) application assistance for immigrants seeking to become naturalized citizens, (3) consultations for undocumented individuals to discuss with an attorney options for obtaining legal immigration status (such as applying for a visa), (4) assistance with renewing DACA status, and (5) legal representation for undocumented immigrants facing deportation. In 2018‑19, the Immigration Services Funding program served 206,000 individuals through community-based outreach and education services. According to DSS, a smaller number of people received one-on-one services, including legal consultations, DACA renewal assistance, and representation in deportation proceedings. Though not specifically targeting them, the Immigration Services Funding program likely serves some college students and employees.

State Recently Started Funding Immigrant Legal Services Specifically for College Students. California’s three public higher education segments collectively serve tens of thousands of undocumented students. Specifically, CCC serves an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 undocumented students, CSU serves about 10,000, and UC serves about 4,000. In 2018‑19, the state began providing General Fund support for each of these three segments to offer legal services to these and other immigrant students (as well as employees). The primary purpose of the programs is to increase students’ access to these services by placing attorneys and other legal staff on campuses. The amount of funding provided, the agency administering the programs, the types of services provided, and the current status of program implementation vary by segment, as described in the next section.

Implementation Update

In this section, we provide an update on implementation of each segment’s immigrant legal services program. (We provided an initial update on program implementation in May 2019.) Figure 1 summarizes key components of these programs. As evident from the figure, programs at CCC and CSU are similar, but they differ somewhat from the UC program.

CCC

Funds Support New Program Administered by DSS. The 2018‑19 budget provided CCC with $10 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund for a new CCC immigrant legal services program. Provisional language in the budget stated that these funds were “to be allocated at the discretion” of DSS. As is common for Proposition 98-funded initiatives, the Chancellor’s Office passed the funds to DSS via a local fiscal agent (Los Angeles Community College District). Under state law, the funds are available for encumbrance until June 30, 2020 and must be spent by June 30, 2024.

Program Created “Hub” Model to Deliver Legal Services. DSS, the CCC Chancellor’s Office, and the Foundation for CCC (a nonprofit auxiliary of the Chancellor’s Office) met throughout 2018‑19 to determine the best way to structure the new program and use the one-time funds. Given the CCC system has 115 colleges, DSS and CCC decided to designate specified campuses as local “hubs” to house legal service providers. On average, each hub campus works with one other campus in the vicinity, often within the same community college district. CCC selected the hub colleges based on several factors, including the colleges’ estimated number of undocumented students and the colleges’ ability to provide dedicated office space and other in-kind support to host services.

DSS Has Selected Providers, With Services Currently Being Rolled Out Remotely. In November 2019, DSS notified 9 providers that they had been selected to provide immigrant legal services at 65 hub campuses located throughout the state. Since that time, the providers have hired and trained attorneys and other staff assigned to the designated hub campuses. Many providers began scheduling appointments and offering legal services in spring 2020. In some cases, these services started up just as community colleges were closing their physical campuses in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak. Currently, providers are offering consultations and other services through remote means such as video conferences and phone calls. Based on our discussions with several providers, these remote programs are operational at most hub campuses, with other programs scheduled to be rolled out by early June. In addition, providers indicate they are conducting outreach at non-hub campuses so students are aware of how to access legal services.

Contracts Awarded Over Multiyear Period. DSS’ contracts with the nine providers total $9.5 million and run through January 30, 2022. DSS also has entered into multiyear contracts with (1) the Foundation for CCC to provide technical assistance to DSS, and (2) the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, to provide support to the legal service providers as well as post up-to-date information for students and staff on the CCC Chancellor’s Office website. Figure 2 summarizes these agreements.

Focus Is on Students and Staff Seeking Relatively Basic Legal Services. According to the DSS contracts, each legal service provider is to conduct one-on-one consultations and assist students with completing basic legal forms (such as DACA renewals). Providers are referring students and staff needing more complex, time-consuming legal services (such as representation in deportation proceedings) to off-campus services. Providers are handling some of these more complex cases at their main off-campus offices (supported from the Immigrant Services Funding program and other public or private grants), or they are referring students and staff to other community-based providers with capacity to assist.

Providers Expect to Serve Tens of Thousands of CCC Students and Staff Over Contract Period. Using the 2018‑19 funds, the nonprofit organizations involved (that is, the nine legal service providers and two technical assistance providers) have hired a total of 66 full-time attorneys as well as 33 other project staff to support the CCC program. Over the multiyear contract period, these organizations have committed to (1) serve more than 46,000 CCC students and staff through education and outreach (such as workshops and other events) and (2) provide consultations, DACA renewals, and other on-campus legal services to nearly 19,000 CCC students and staff.

CSU

Funds Support DSS-Administered Program. The 2018‑19 budget provided $7 million one-time non-Proposition 98 General Fund for CSU immigrant legal services. Unlike with CCC, the budget appropriated funds for CSU legal services directly to DSS. The department, in turn, is expected to contract directly with legal providers to serve campuses. Provisional language requires 2018‑19 funds to be encumbered by June 30, 2020 and spent by June 30, 2024.

Campuses Served by Four Providers. As CSU has only one-fifth the number of campuses as CCC, DSS elected to support on-campus activities at each of CSU’s 23 campuses. Toward the end of 2018‑19, DSS finalized contracts with four legal service providers as well as the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, which is to provide statewide technical assistance and support. Figure 3 shows that these contracts total $5.6 million. Of this amount, $2.8 million annually is designated for services provided in 2019‑20 and 2020‑21, with a couple of service contracts extending into 2021‑22. Of the original $7 million appropriated in 2018‑19, $1.4 million remains to supplement contracts (such as covering higher-than-expected increases in cases).

CSU Students and Staff Are Accessing Services. Providers began offering services at every CSU campus in fall 2019. According to DSS, providers have focused on education and outreach as well as initial one-on-one consultations. Through the first four months of operations, providers have given education and outreach services to a total of 771 students and staff and legal consultations to 902 students and staff. Providers also have assisted 259 students and staff with DACA renewals or other immigration applications. (The number of recipients receiving a consultation or other legal service is a duplicated count.) In response to campus facility closures in March 2020, providers began offering their services and consultations through video conferencing and other remote technology. As with CCC, family members are not eligible to receive on-campus services, and providers are referring students and staff with more complex immigration cases to off-campus services in the community.

State Provided Ongoing Funding for Program in 2019‑20. Though DSS has not yet expended all the one-time funding provided in 2018‑19, the state provided $7 million ongoing funding for the program beginning in 2019‑20. Given this funding—as well as the $1.4 million in unencumbered funds from 2018‑19—DSS, in consultation with CSU, is in the process of amending the existing contracts with some of the four legal service providers. In discussions with our office, DSS indicated it intends to proceed with two main augmentations: (1) extending program eligibility to students’ and employees’ family members and (2) offering a fuller range of on-campus legal services (such as representation in deportation proceedings). As of early May, DSS and the providers had not yet determined the exact scope and amount of each contract.

UC

Funds Support UC Center. The 2018‑19 budget provided UC with $4 million one-time non-Proposition 98 General Fund for immigrant legal services. Provisional language requires these funds to be spent by June 30, 2022. Unlike with CCC and CSU, these funds were provided directly to UC and are not administered through DSS. This is because UC has its own center—the UC Immigrant Legal Services Center (operating out of the UC Davis law school)—that provides immigrant legal services to students at nine of UC’s ten campuses. (UC Berkeley contracts separately with a nonprofit entity for its legal services.) The center currently employs 11 staff, with some attorneys located on UC campuses and others serving campuses remotely from UC Davis. Founded in 2015, UC initially supported the center with discretionary funds. In 2017‑18, the center spent approximately $1.3 million.

UC Spending 2018‑19 Funds Over Multiyear Period. The UC Office of the President reports the UC center will have spent about $2 million of its $4 million 2018‑19 appropriation by June 30, 2020 ($700,000 in 2018‑19 and $1.3 million in 2019‑20). The center anticipates it will spend another $1.7 million in state funds in 2020‑21—leaving an estimated $315,000 of its 2018‑19 appropriation available for program costs in 2021‑22.

UC Offers Full Range of Legal Services to Students and Their Families. Compared with CCC and CSU, UC offers students a more extensive set of on-campus legal services—from workshops and consultations to direct representation in federal immigration court. Moreover, UC also offers these services to family members of students. In 2018‑19, the UC center reports that it opened 1,476 cases, consisting of 784 DACA renewal applications, 330 consultations, and 362 other legal services.

Governor’s Proposals

Governor’s January Budget and May Revision Contain Additional Funding for Immigrant Legal Services at Two of the Segments. For CCC’s immigrant legal services program, the Governor’s January budget proposed $10 million ongoing Proposition 98 General Fund. Similar to the one-time funds appropriated in the 2018‑19 budget, the Chancellor’s Office would be required to contract with a CCC district, which would then pass through the funds to DSS. Proposed provisional language requires DSS to provide updates to the Legislature on use of the proposed funds, but no reporting dates are specified. For UC’s immigrant legal services program, the Governor’s January budget proposed $345,000 ongoing General Fund. According to the administration, this amount is intended to sustain (rather than expand) the center’s operations in 2020‑21. For CSU’s immigrant legal services program, the Governor did not propose any adjustments to its existing $7 million in ongoing funding. The May Revision retains all of these January proposals. (The May Revision also proposes no reduction to the $45 million in ongoing funding currently provided for DSS’ Immigration Services Funding program.)

LAO Alternative

In this section, we provide a budget alternative for the Legislature to consider. This alternative recognizes that the state budget condition in 2019‑20 and 2020‑21 has deteriorated significantly since the Governor introduced his January budget proposal. This alternative, described in more detail below, retains existing legal services at the three segments through 2020‑21 but does not fund expansion of these services.

Reject New Ongoing Augmentations and Sweep Unused 2019‑20 Funds. Given the downturn in the state budget, the Legislature is unlikely to have the budget capacity to augment state programs at this time. Consistent with these developments, as well as the Governor’s and Assembly’s recent statements about needed budget revisions, the Legislature could remove the ongoing 2020‑21 funding included in the January budget and May Revision for CCC, CSU, and UC. Relative to the Governor’s January budget, this option reduces Proposition 98 General Fund spending by $10 million and non-Proposition 98 General Fund spending by $7.3 million ($7 million for DSS’ program for CSU plus $345,000 for UC’s program). The Legislature also could sweep any unencumbered 2019‑20 non-Proposition 98 General Fund for CSU’s program.

Under This Option, All Three Segments Could Sustain Legal Services Through 2020‑21. At CCC and CSU, contracts are in place through at least the end of the budget year using the segments’ one-time 2018‑19 appropriations. At UC, the legal services center expects to end 2020‑21with some of its 2018‑19 General Fund appropriation still remaining.

Revisit Program Funding Levels in the Future. The recent expansion of immigrant legal services to college and university campuses suggests the state saw an important opportunity in this area. Despite the availability of unspent one-time funds, some legislators likely would be disappointed if new ongoing funding were not provided for these services in 2020‑21. The Legislature, however, could revisit additional funding for these programs next year, making associate funding decisions at that time based upon its available resources and budget priorities.