Sec. 1. 3 MRSA §168-A, sub-§10, as amended by PL 2003, c. 20, Pt. F, §3, is further amended to read:

10. Staff. The Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service shall provide funding and staff assistance to the council from within its existing budgeted resources or from grants received by the school for that purpose until expiration of the cooperative agreement between the Legislative Council and the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service on June 30, 2005.__Beginning July 1, 2005, the Legislative Council shall provide staffing assistance to the council.__That assistance may not interfere with the staff support the Legislative Council provides to the Legislature. The Office of Policy and Legal Analysis shall draft all legislation submitted to the Legislature by the council.

Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §3-A, as amended by PL 1971, c. 622, §69-D, is further amended to read:

§3-A. State wards

When a state ward becomes 18 years of age and he the state ward and the department agree that need for care and support for educational, social or physical reasons exists, the department is authorized to continue care and support of this person to the age of 21 23 years of age.

Sec. 3. Participation in school activities by students residing with other than parent or parents. The Department of Human Services, the Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services and the Department of Education shall jointly study the impact of school parental consent requirements on opportunities for students residing with other than the parent or parents to participate in extracurricular and off-site school activities, identify barriers to participation in such activities by those students and develop a plan to address identified needs. In conducting the study, the departments shall solicit input from students residing with other than the parent or parents. The departments shall submit a written report on the results of the study, including suggested implementing legislation, to the Legislative Youth Advisory Council not later than December 15, 2004. Upon request of the council, a representative of each department shall appear before the council to discuss the study.