"SUMMARY OF WELFARE BILL, 8/4/97"
On August 5, the Legislature sent to the governor AB 1542,
the welfare bill that implements last summer's federal bill.
This analysis was provided to the members of the State
Senate when they debated and voted on the bill.
SENATE FLOOR COMMITTEE ANALYSIS
...............................
Bill No: AB 1542
Authors: Thompson/Maddy /Ducheny/Ashburn
SUBJECT OF BILL: Welfare Reform
ANALYSIS:
Federal Law Implementation
The federal welfare reform bill, PL 104-193, made numerous
changes to social and health services including placing
federal AFDC (now TANF) and federal child care funding into
two separate block grants, increasing the flexibility of
states to revise TANF and child care programs, and
increasing the percentage of the AFDC caseload that must be
employed or in a federally-approved work activity (the
percentages are called work participation rates). In
addition, the federal bill imposed a 60-month, cumulative
lifetime limit on the receipt of federal TANF benefits by
adult recipients, but allowed states to exempt 20% of the
caseload from this limit. The federal bill also requires
certain recipients to be engaged in a work activity after 24
cumulative months on aid. TANF increases the flexibility of
states to revise AFDC program administration, including
eligibility requirements and other provisions.
The proposed amendments to AB 1542 include a number of
provisions to implement the new federal TANF law.
California's revised AFDC and GAIN programs would be renamed
"California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids" or
"CalWORKs".
CHILD CARE
The current system of federal and state child care subsidies
for low-income parents in California is administratively
complex and involves over one dozen subsidized child care
programs with varying eligibility standards. The Department
of Social Services administers GAIN, Non-GAIN Education and
Training (NET), Transitional Child Care (TCC), and a child
care disregard program. The Department of Education
administers the bulk of federal and state child care
subsidies, mostly through contracts with centers or
Alternative Payment(AP) programs. AP programs contract with
the Department of Education and provide vouchers for child
care which allow parents to choose center-based care, family
day care, or license exempt providers. HR 3734, the federal
welfare reform bill, consolidated various federal child care
funding streams into one Child Care and Development Block
Grant, and specified that a minimum of 70% of the federal
block grant funds be used for families attempting to work
their way off welfare or at-risk of welfare.
Amendments
These amendments would revise existing child care subsidy
programs. The amendments repeal the At-Risk and
Transitional Child Care programs and incorporate these
programs into a revised "three stage" child care system for
families in CalWORKs. The amendments would also provide a
capped entitlement for recipient families in Stage I which
is administered by county welfare departments and lasts up
to six months. The amendments would provide a capped
entitlement for Stage II, which is administered by
Alternative Payment Programs under contract with the State
Department of Education (SDE). Stage II child care would
serve parents on aid while in job training, work activities,
and transitioning off of aid and for two years once they are
off aid. Stage III would incorporate recipient families
into the existing child care system for the working poor,
now administered by SDE. Stage III includes programs
administered by local SDE contractors, including family day
care networks, subsidized child care centers, and
alternative payment programs. These amendments also would:
* standardize rates, application forms, and parent fees
across all child care programs;
* establish a standardized eligibility criteria for all
programs of 75 percent of the state median income;
* establish reimbursement rates for all programs at 1.5
standard deviations above the mean rate in the local market
area;
* provide that reimbursement for care be made directly to
child care providers ( rather than be paid to recipients and
then paid to providers).
* coordinate part-day child care programs with nearby child
care services to provide full day child care.
These amendments revise local planning council membership
and responsibility to:
* involve county board of supervisors and the state
superintendent of education in determining where new child
care funds will be used locally, based on needs assessments;
* design a system to consolidate local child care waiting
lists across programs;
The amendments direct the Department of Education to
increase parent education and awareness; direct county
welfare departments and alternative payment programs to
encourage all providers who are licensed or license exempt
to secure training and education in basic child development;
and authorize the Department of Education to fund model
recreation and literacy programs that employ CalWORKs
recipients, which are run by collaborations with schools.
Funding would be renewable upon a favorable evaluation.
The amendments establish a loan guaranty program and direct
loan program for child care facilities in the State
Treasury, for sole proprietorships, partnerships,
proprietary and non-profit corporations, and local public
agencies, with priority for loans to be given to loans or
loan guarantees for the purchase, development, construction,
expansion, or improvement (as specified) of licensed child
care and development facilities serving families with
incomes below 75% of the median income.
The amendments prohibit a loan guarantee from exceeding 80%
of the principal amount of a guaranteed loan and a direct
loan from exceeding 50% of the amount for purchase,
development, construction, expansion or improvement of
eligible facilities, and prohibit the amount of outstanding
loan guarantees from exceeding four times the amount in the
fund.
The amendments require the Department of Education to
provide program priorities after consultation with specified
parties, which are to include geographic priorities (with a
30% rural set-aside), age priorities, income priorities to
benefit families transitioning from assistance to work, and
program priorities based on the state program needs. These
priorities are to govern the ranking of applications for the
loan guarantees and direct loan program to be administered
by the Department of Housing and Community Development. The
amendments revise definition of "cost" in the Child Care and
Development Services Act in order to enable subsidized child
care programs to utilize the loans.
The amendments require agencies operating direct service
programs and resource and referral programs to provide at
least four referrals, at least one of which is a provider
over which the agency has no fiscal or operational control,
and information on a family's ability to choose a license
exempt provider.
COMMUNITY COLLEGES AND CalWORKs
1. Matriculation/Counseling Services: This bill authorizes,
but does not require, community colleges to provide
counseling and matriculation services for CalWORKs
students enrolled in noncredit courses, subject to the
appropriation of funds.
2. Curriculum redesign: This bill, subject to the
appropriation of funds, directs community colleges to
develop and re-design course offerings, in collaboration
with local employers and industry groups, in order to
prepare CalWORKs participants for jobs in demand in the
labor market.
3. Noncredit course reimbursement: As prescribed in
existing state funding formulas, community colleges are
reimbursed by the state with different rates for credit
and noncredit courses. This bill authorizes community
colleges to receive additional funding for offering
noncredit course instruction for CalWORKs students when
the cost of these courses exceeds the average cost of
noncredit instruction.
JOB CREATION
Background: Currently, AFDC caseloads total approximately
800,000 statewide; based on estimates of the number of cases
that will leave aid or meet exemption criteria, California
will need to place between 350,000 and 500,000 parents into
jobs or work-related activities within the next few years.
Given accepted estimates of expected job creation rates,
this is likely to present a challenge to many counties.
This bill contains several job creation provisions:
1. EDD Council: Requires EDD to convene an advisory council
of retired and former CEOs of major corporations to
provide assistance to EDD in recruiting employers to hire
CalWORKs recipients. Also, requires EDD to consult with
community and civic leaders in efforts designed to
encourage businesses to hire welfare recipients and
requires EDD to establish a clearinghouse to assist
businesses in hiring recipients.
2. Job Creation Investment Fund: The bill creates in the
State Treasury a "Job Creation Investment Fund"
administered by the Trade and Commerce Agency, to fund
local job creation activities for employment of CalWORKs
recipients. Funds would be allocated to counties
submitting strategic job creation plans based on the
number of adult recipients on aid and job growth in the
county, with each county receiving a minimum of $50,000.
After initial disbursement of 25% of the county's
allocation, additional disbursement would occur as
specific requirements are met. Plans would be required
to include consideration of local labor market needs.
3. Regional Collaboration Pilots: The bill authorizes five
Regional Collaborative pilot projects, under which state
agencies, county welfare departments, community colleges,
local school districts, other agencies providing job
training, and private sector business and labor
representatives would develop more effective delivery
systems for job training services and set performance
goals. Up to $5 million in existing state or federal
funds could be redirected for this purpose.
ELECTRONIC BENEFIT TRANSFERS (EBT)
Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) is the transfer of cash
aid for food stamps electronically to a recipient's bank
account; the recipient can access the fund through a
magnetic card (similar to an ATM card). These amendments
create an Electronic Benefits Transfer Advisory Committee to
advise SDSS on requests for proposals for the implementation
of an EBT system for distribution of food stamps and, at
county option, other benefits. These amendments would
require the state to certify, as eligible to contract with
counties, one or more EBT processors by July 1, 1998.
Though a deadline for implementation of EBT on a statewide
system is not imposed, each processor must be capable of
implementing 9 months after contracting with a county.
Recipients could be charged a fee for making more than 4
cash withdrawals in a month.
CALIFORNIA ASSET AND SAVINGS ACT
These amendments authorize individuals, if federal funds
become available, to set up Individual Development Accounts
(IDAs) using their own earnings or other funds available
from non-state sources. The IDAs could be used only for:
payments for tuition for education; purchasing a residence;
capitalizing a business; or for "qualified" job training
expenses.
TRANSPORTATION
These amendments require coordination between county welfare
departments and local transit providers to ensure funds are
used efficiently for the benefit of the welfare recipients.
Where public transit services are unavailable, the
amendments establish a priority for enhancement of
transportation services for welfare-to-work purposes,
including transportation alternatives such as vouchers, van
pools, etc.
EMPLOYMENT TRAINING PANEL
This bill directs the Employment Training Panel to allocate
$20 million annually (from the Employment Training Fund) to
support training programs for workers who are current or
recent recipients under the CalWORKs Program (AFDC). The
amendments specify that funds may also be used, under
prescribed circumstances, to provide services to other
former recipients under CalWORKs who are currently employed.
JOB TRAINING PARTNERSHIP ACT (JTPA)
Current law authorizes the Employment Development Department
(EDD) to administer the JTPA program, a federally funded job
training program for the economically disadvantaged.
Approximately 43% of the funds annually available to JTPA
are used to serve welfare recipients. The proposed
amendments express Legislative intent that: CalWORKs
recipients shall continue to be served with JTPA funds; and
the Governor request a waiver from U.S. Department of Labor
restrictions that prevent provision of certain job training
services (including stand-alone job search and work
experience) during the year after placement in a job.
CalWORKs (AFDC) ELIGIBILITY ISSUES
Monthly Income Reporting: Under current law, recipients
make monthly reports of earnings and other information to
county welfare departments. The proposed amendments would
establish pilot projects to test the cost-effectiveness of
eliminating the monthly reporting of income, unless the
amount increases or decreases more than $75 or there is a
change in household composition. The purpose of the pilot
is to reduce unnecessary paperwork by county employees,
whose time is intended to be redirected to assisting
recipients to become employed.
Truancy: Under current law, recipients must enroll
schoolage children in school. This bill requires that all
students on aid for whom school is compulsory must attend
school; applicants and recipients would be required to
provide documentation of attendance. Counties would
determine when the documentation is to be required, define
"regularly attending", and define good cause for not
attending. The penalty for not meeting attendance
requirements would be loss of aid for all adults in the
assistance unit, if the child is less than age 16, and loss
of the child's portion of aid, if the child is over age 16.
Immunizations: This bill would impose an additional
condition of eligibility by requiring new applicants for
CalWORKs to show proof of immunization for all preschool
children within 30 days of determination of eligibility for
Medi-Cal benefits. For applicants already eligible for
Medi-Cal, proof would have to be provided within 45 days.
For current recipients, proof of immunization would have to
be provided within 45 days of their next eligibility
redetermination. The county can allow a 30-day extension
for good cause. The penalty for not providing documentation
is loss of aid to all parents or caretaker relatives in the
assistance unit. The county would be required to provide
notice of the required immunizations and information on
services available through Medi-Cal.
Lump Sum Diversion: Current law does not permit counties to
offer a lump sum cash payment to families facing a financial
crises in order to prevent the need for the family to become
recipients of AFDC. This bill authorizes counties to
provide certain applicants with aid as a lump sum payment
(cash or noncash) in order to assist a family through a
short term financial crisis and avoid reliance on the
regular cash assistance program. If the family returns to
aid within the amount of time corresponding to the lump sum
payment amount, the recipient could choose to pay back the
funds through reduced grants (the rate of recoupment to be
determined by the county) or to have the equivalent months
applied against the family's 5-year time limit.
Resources and Automobiles: Current law limits the value of
the resources a recipient of AFDC, Food Stamps or other
programs can have and still meet eligibility criteria; the
limits vary by program. For example, the current limits for
automobiles are $1,500 for applicants for AFDC, $4,500 for
recipients of AFDC and $4,650 for recipients of Food Stamps.
This bill would simplify eligibility determinations somewhat
by allowing recipients and applicants for aid to use Food
Stamp program criteria for determining countable assets and
valuing personal property, including automobiles.
Unemployed Parent (2-Parent Families): Current state law
limits the eligibility of two-parent families applying for
aid to that required by previous federal law. This bill
expands eligibility somewhat by allowing applicant parents
to be eligible if they have not been employed more than 100
hours in the previous 4 weeks and also meet other
eligibility criteria contained in the federal law in effect
prior to the passage of the federal welfare bill.
Transfer of Assets: This bill contains a new requirement
that if a recipient transfers any income, asset or resource
at less than fair market value, the household could be
ineligible for aid for a period of time. The period of time
would be based on the difference between the market value
and the actual amount received.
Medi-Cal Categorical Eligibility: Under current law, AFDC
recipients are categorically eligible for Medi-Cal. This
bill provides that, pursuant to federal law, recipients of
CalWORKs shall be extended eligibility for Medi-Cal.
Fleeing felons: This bill adds a new prohibition of
eligibility for persons fleeing to avoid prosecution for a
felony crime or who are violating a condition of parole in
any state.
TIME LIMITS
Current law: Under current law, recipients who have been on
aid for 22 out of 24 months and who have had an opportunity
to complete GAIN, must work 100 hours per month in a
community service job; failure to comply results in a grant
cut. However, as this provision has been in effect for a
limited period of time and, as only approximately 20% of
recipients have had an opportunity to participate in GAIN,
the time limit has applied to few individuals.
Proposed time limits:
1) Prior-to-60-month time limit:
* For new applicant parents or caretaker relatives, the
time limit would be 18 months after the county
implements CalWORKs, unless the county certifies there
is no job available for the recipient and the recipient
participates in community service. Also, the county
can extend the limit by 6 months if it determines it is
likely to lead to employment or that employment is not
available locally.
* For current recipient parents or caretaker relatives,
the time limit is 24 months after the county implements
CalWORKs unless the county certifies there is no job
available for the recipient and the recipient
participates in community service.
* If a county determines there is no job currently
available for a recipient meeting a time limit, the
county must offer the recipient a community service
job. A county must determine that a job is not
available if a recipient or applicant has taken "all
steps to apply for appropriate positions" and has not
refused a job offer without good cause. In addition,
if a recipient is employed, but for less than the
required minimum hours per week, and the county
determines there is no job available to increase the
hours, he or she would remain eligible for aid and
participate in community service for the remaining
hours.
* If a recipient has reached these time limits and
leaves aid for at least one month, and returns, the
county shall determine if he or she shall receive
welfare to work training services or be placed
community service employment.
2) 60-month time limit:
* Parents and caretaker relatives are not eligible for aid
after receiving aid for a cumulative 60-months. Families
reaching the 60-month cumulative limit may receive a safety
net benefit (see description below). At county option,
additional welfare-to-work services may be provided, in
which case the recipient would be required to participate in
community service.
EXEMPTIONS FROM TIME LIMITS
Exemptions from the 18 and 24 month time limits include
months in which:
* the recipient is exempt from certain work requirements,
e.g., due to advanced age, disability or caretaking
responsibilities or months when participating in Cal-Learn
or another teen parent program;
* the child support received exceeds the cash aid paid to
the family.
Exemptions from the 60-month time limit include cases where
the parents or caretaker relatives:
* are 60 years of age or older;
* are receiving disability benefits and the disability
significantly impairs ability to work;
* are a non-parent caretaker relative who has primary
responsibility for providing care for a child who is either
a dependent or ward of the court or at risk of placement in
foster care and the county determines that the caretaking
responsibilities impair the recipient's ability to be
regularly employed;
* are caring for a disabled or ill family member and the
caretaking prevents regular employment;
* are incapable of maintaining employment, as determined by
the county based on assessment and a history of full
participation and cooperation with work requirements.
COMMUNITY SERVICE EMPLOYMENT
The proposed amendments would require counties to provide
community service employment to individuals who reach an 18
month or 24 month time limit and for whom the county
determines there is no job actually available. The community
service would be performed in the public or private
nonprofit sector. Community service positions would be
required to provide participants with job skills and not
displace current workers as provided in the anti-
displacement provisions.
SAFETY NET
The proposed amendments provide for a grant for the children
of a recipient who has been on aid for longer than 60
months. The "safety net" grant could not exceed the grant
amount for the children in the household. (It is unclear
what the safety net grant for children would be if a parent
reaches an 18-month or 24-month time limit, the county
determines there is a job actually available for the
individual, but the recipient is not employed.)
CalWORKs
Maintenance of Effort: The new federal law requires states
to meet specified "maintenance of effort" or expenditures
levels of state funds for CalWORKs eligible households. The
proposed amendments require the State Department of Social
Services to establish for California the state and county
components of the maintenance of effort.
County Plans: Current law requires counties to prepare, and
submit to the state for approval, plans for a variety of
programs, such as the GAIN program. The proposed amendments
delete a number of plan requirements in current law and,
instead, require each county to develop a general "CalWORKs"
plan, in collaboration with appropriate public and private
agencies, to describe how the county will deliver a full
range of welfare-to-work services to aid recipients. The
plan, to be submitted to the Department of Social Services
(DSS) would address employment services and necessary
supportive services, including child care, transportation,
and mental health and substance abuse treatment. These
amendments require that DSS must only certify whether the
county plan is in compliance with state and federal law.
County Allocations: These amendments consolidate GAIN and
CalWORKs-related county administration into a single "block
grant" allocation. The amendments establish a county
maintenance-of-effort level in welfare-to-work programs and
eligibility administration (including food stamps) equal to
the 1996-97 actual spending level. The amendments would
correct historical funding inequities among counties in GAIN
funding by establishing an equity funding formula.
Performance Outcome Monitoring: The proposed amendments
require counties to participate in program monitoring by
collecting and reporting data in order to meet federal
reporting requirements and measure statewide and locally-
identified outcomes. The amendments also require DSS to
establish a Research and Monitoring Advisory Committee.
County Pilot Projects: This bill authorizes the Director to
approve 3-year county pilot projects to test alternative
ways of delivering CalWORKs services; pilots requiring
additional funding would be subject to Legislative approval.
No limit is imposed on the number of county pilots.
However, counties could not waive certain provisions of
CalWORKs including: eligibility and grant levels (unless
expanded), dispute resolution, sanctions, penalties,
confidentiality, child support, contracting, collective
bargaining, civil service procedures, fair labor standards
and provisions to prevent the displacement of current
workers. Also, pilots cannot offer only job search and work
experience and must provide some supportive services such as
child care, transportation, mental health and substance
abuse treatment.
In addition, the amendments authorize, but do not require,
certain pilot projects to be implemented:
1. Truancy (San Diego and SARB models): One model could be
the provision of case management services to CalWORKs
recipients only; failure to attend school would be
sanctioned with loss of the portion of the grant for one
person (approximately 39% reduction for a 2-person
household, and a 19% reduction for a 3-person household).
Another model could be to operate a program to enforce
truancy laws for all students (not just CalWORKs
recipients), funding truancy coordinators to assist local
School Attendance Review Boards (SARBs) to resolve
truancy problems (and to seek prosecution through the
district attorney, where necessary).
2. Microenterprise Training: The proposed amendments
authorize up to 6 pilot projects to test the cost
effectiveness of providing training to qualified CalWORKs
participants in becoming economically self sufficient
through self-employment.
3. Child Support Assurance: The proposed amendments
authorize the director to approve child support assurance
pilots in up to three counties. One pilot must conform
to the model specified in these amendments. These
amendments limit eligibility to CalWORKs-eligible
participants. Child support assurance is a welfare
avoidance program under which recipients who have both
earnings and a child support order choose to receive a
monthly "assured" payment from the county, rather than
regular cash aid. When combined with the parent's
earnings, the child support assurance payment is intended
to allow the family to avoid reliance on the regular cash
assistance program.
4. Jobs Plus: The proposed amendments would authorize SDSS
to approve a waiver of changes in earned income
calculations for participants in an ongoing federal
demonstration program operating in Los Angeles County,
called Jobs-Plus.
GRANT DISREGARDS
This bill makes significant changes to the AFDC grant:
1. Continued Suspension of COLA and 4.9% Grant Reduction
Sunset: Current law provides that a 4.9% grant cut
enacted in 1995 shall sunset on October 31, 1997.
Current law also provides that the suspension of the
statutory cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for the AFDC
program shall sunset on November 1, 1997. The proposed
amendments suspend for one more year, through October 31,
1998, both the elimination of the grant reduction and the
cost-of-living adjustment.
2. Child Support Disregard: Under previous federal law, up
to the first $50 of child support received in a month on
behalf of children on AFDC was "disregarded" and paid to
the household without a commensurate grant reduction.
This bill continues the disregard at $50.
3. Earned/Unearned Income Disregards: Current state law
contains a complex calculation for determining the amount
of income a parent or caretaker relative on aid who has
earnings can "disregard", such that the earnings are not
counted against the grant payment. The disregard is
intended to provide an incentive for recipients to obtain
employment by allowing the retention of a portion of
earnings. The current formula allows a recipient to
disregard a $90 work expense allowance, the first $30 of
earnings, and then disregard 33% of earnings over that
$120. In addition, earnings up to the difference between
a "standard-of-need" and the maximum aid payment allowed,
are disregarded 100%.
Under these amendments, families would be able to
disregard the first $225 of income and half of the
remaining earnings before grants would be reduced. (For
applicants, the $90 work expense disregard and the need
standard gap would be continued; the $30 and 1/3 income
disregard would not apply, as in current law.) In
addition, an existing $30 per quarter disregard of
nonrecurring gifts would be eliminated. A typical family
of 3 with a parent working part time at minimum wage
would have $87 per month less income under these
amendments; if the parent works full time, the loss would
be approximately $6 per month. In addition, these
amendments count certain types of disability income such
as SSI and state disability benefits, toward the $225.
4. Overpayment Recoveries: The proposed amendments simplify
overpayment recoveries and remove existing enhanced
penalties on working families, by calculating collections
as a straight percentage of the maximum aid payment to
the household. The percentages would be a 5% per month
reduction when the overpayment is due to county error or
10% when the overpayment is caused by client error.
5. Self-employment income: Current law permits AFDC
recipients to become self employed and to participate in
self-employment training under the GAIN program; but due
to numerous restrictions in current law, this employment
option is not often used. These amendments would revise
the method by which counties calculate self-employment
net income: recipients could choose to disregard 40% of
gross self-employment earnings or actual verified
expenses, to the extent allowed under existing Food Stamp
rules.
6. Vouchers if sanctioned--These amendments require that, if
a parent or caretaker relative has been subject to a
sanction for over 3 months, the county must issue
vouchers or vendor payments for at least rent and
utilities, until the parent is no longer sanctioned.
WELFARE-TO-WORK SERVICES
Background: The current GAIN program requires recipients to
participate in one or more of a range of activities intended
to lead to employment. The proposed amendments make
significant changes to the GAIN program and rename the
program "welfare-to-work" services. The most significant
change is that almost all adult recipients would be required
to participate in welfare-to-work services continuously
while on aid. Also, the amendments would require that
recipients meet more stringent time lines for completing
education and training than under the existing GAIN program
and also would require that recipients participate more
hours each week.
Sequence of Work Activities--The proposed amendments
delineate the sequence of work activities required of adult
aid recipients to include:
1. Job Search: Job search would be for 4 weeks and may be
extended for an unspecified length of time if the county
determines it would lead to employment. In addition, if
the training or work activity specified in a
participant's employment plan is not immediately
available, he or she shall receive job search services.
2. Assessment: After job search, if employment is not
found, the recipient would be required to participate in
an assessment of skills and abilities, as specified, and
sign a "plan" developed with the county that specifies
the work-related activities to which the recipient shall
be assigned and the supportive services which will be
provided, including child care, transportation, ancillary
services, personal counseling, etc.
3. Work activities: Under these amendments, allowable work
activities included; but are not limited to:
unsubsidized and subsidized private sector work,
subsidized public sector work, paid and unpaid work
experience (unpaid generally is limited to 12 months),
on-the-job training, grant-based on-the-job training;
supported work or transitional employment, work study,
self employment, community service, job search and
readiness, vocational education and training (including
adult education and community colleges), education
directly related to employment, high school for those
without a diploma or GED and treatment services related
to mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence.
However, education, even toward a high school diploma,
must be "needed to become employed." In addition, a
county must limit assignment to the above activities to
the number or percent of recipients allowed by federal
law.
4. Community Service employment: When a recipient reaches a
time limit and has not found a job he or she may be
eligible to participate in a community service job until
reaching a cumulative 60 months on aid.
MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT
1. The proposed amendments require that, in most cases,
recipients in need of mental health or substance abuse
treatment obtain treatment as part of their required work
activity. Welfare-to-work case managers would refer
recipients to the county mental health department or
county alcohol and drug program for diagnosis, treatment
and case management. The recipient's work contract,
which specifies required work activities, could include
treatment requirements as part of work activities.
Recipients who fail to participate in work and treatment
activities without good cause would be sanctioned by
removing the adult from the household when calculating
the grant (a reduction of approximately 19% for a three-
person household.)
2. Funding: The amendments state legislative intent to fund
mental health treatment services and authorize, but do
not require, that funds be appropriated for mental health
and substance abuse treatment for CalWORKs participants.
Counties could move the funds as needed between the two
services and roll over funds to the next fiscal year.
CAL LEARN EXTENSION
Existing law requires that teen parents must attend school
through age 18 to earn a high school diploma or GED; bonus
payments and grant reductions are applied depending on
whether the teen makes adequate progress in school. The
proposed amendments extend Cal-Learn to teen parents aged
19, if they lack a high school diploma or GED.
HOURS OF WORK ACTIVITIES REQUIRED
Single parents: The proposed amendments would require that
all single parent recipients participate in a work activity
at least:
* 20 hours per week beginning January, 1998;
* 26 hours per week beginning July 1, 1998;
* 32 hours per week beginning July 1, 1999;
For their entire time on aid, a parent must be participating
at least at the federal "hours per week" minimums; a county
also could require a parent to work up to 32 hours per week.
Two-parent families: The proposed amendments would require
that one parent in a two-parent family must participant in a
work activity at least 35 hours per week.
EXEMPTIONS FROM WORK REQUIREMENTS
The proposed amendments would exempt parents or caretaker
relatives from work requirements for months in which the
parent or caretaker relative is:
* Disabled, with medical verification and is seeking
appropriate medical treatment;
* Of advanced age;
* A non-parent caretaker relative who has primary
responsibility for providing care for a child who is a
dependent or ward of the court, at risk of placement in
foster care, and the county determines that caretaking
responsibilities are beyond those considered normal day to
day parenting responsibilities such that they impair the
caretaker relative's ability to be regularly employed;
* An individual who cares for an ill or disabled family
member, and whose caretaking responsibilities prevent
employment;
* A single parent or other relative with primary
responsibility for personally providing care to a child six
months of age or under, unless the county determines on a
case-by-case basis that this period may be reduced to the
first twelve weeks after the birth or adoption of the child,
or increased to 12 months after the birth. Recipients
receiving the exemption for the first child are exempt for
twelve weeks on the birth or adoption of subsequent
children, unless counties choose to extend the exemption for
subsequent children to six months. Counties may take the
availability of child care, local labor market conditions,
and other factors into account when making the determination
of the period of time these parents are exempted;
* A pregnant woman with medical verification that the
pregnancy prevents work activities or county determines
training not appropriate;
* A victim of domestic violence, if participation places
family at-risk;
* A second parent in a two-parent family, when one parent is
participating;
* A parent or caretaker relative who lacks necessary
supportive services;
* A parent or caretaker relative who lacks child care for a
child age 10 or younger.
The exemption would terminate when the condition changes and
would be reviewed at least every 6 months.
GOOD CAUSE
Current law specifies circumstances that constitute good
cause for non-participation in work activities and for not
accepting a job offer. These amendments narrow the good
cause allowed to include positions or placements in which:
* there is discrimination on the basis of race, age, sex,
etc., or the offer exceeds the daily or weekly hours
customary to the occupation;
* more than a two hour commute required in addition to time
necessary to accompany children to daycare or school, or
requires more than a two mile walk;
* the working conditions violate health and safety
standards, or do not provide workers compensation insurance;
* acceptance of the job offer would interrupt an educational
program or work activity that would other wise lead to
employment with sufficient income to be self supporting;
* acceptance of the offer or placement would violate the
terms of a recipient's union membership.
DEEMING
These amendments revise current law to eliminate references
to federal law related to deeming which have been repealed,
retain the state law currently in effect, and apply new
federal affidavits of support which are legally enforceable
against the sponsor to legal immigrants applying for public
aid.
CONCILIATION AND SANCTIONS
Under current GAIN law, recipients who do not comply with
work requirements are sanctioned with grant reductions. To
reduce the state cost of fair hearings, a county level
dispute resolution ("conciliation") process is defined in
current law. The proposed amendments simplify the dispute
resolution process to shorten the time between the
noncompliance and the grant cut. Current law allows
participants to end a sanction by complying with a previous
employment plan or working out an amended contract with the
county. These amendments terminate a sanction only through
compliance with an original activity.
PREVENTION OF DISPLACEMENT
Current GAIN law contains anti-displacement language to
prevent recipients in work activities from displacing those
already in the workforce. Existing law also requires that
hours of work be calculated based on at least the minimum
wage in a job training or workfare experience. The proposed
amendments revise anti-displacement provisions and require
that they be applied to community service employment and as
well as other work activities. There would be no specific
minimum wage requirement; instead the Community Services
hours requirement would be tied to any federal requirements.
These amendments make other revisions to anti-displacement
provisions.
Current law requires that AFDC "discretionary" functions be
carried out by county civil service employees. These
amendments contain language preventing the contracting out
of functions now performed by civil servants.
FAMILY VIOLENCE OPTION
The new federal welfare law permits states to adopt a waiver
provision to exempt victims of domestic violence from time
limits, work requirements, and other provisions of the
federal bill. This bill adopts this waiver for California,
to allow counties to exclude victims of domestic violence
from program requirements if participation puts them at risk
of further abuse. It requires SDSS to convene a task force
of district attorneys, county welfare directors, and
domestic violence prevention experts, among others, to
develop protocols on identifying victims, handling cases,
training staff, and determining appropriate work
requirements for victims. The Department would be required
to issue regulations describing the protocol by January 1,
1999. Until the protocols are completed, counties will be
allowed to waive requirements on a case-by case basis.
County staff will be trained in violence prevention. The
amendments also specify the state will implement the federal
waiver only if federal law clarifies that domestic violence
victims are excluded from federal work requirements and are
not counted in the 20 percent of the welfare caseload that
is exempt from federal time limits.
CHILD SUPPORT
1. Cooperation: Current law requires that applicants for
aid assign to the county their right to collect child
support for any period that the applicant receives
assistance and requires recipients to cooperate with the
county welfare department and the district attorney in
establishing the paternity of children and collecting
child support. These amendments clarify the information
an applicant must provide and specify allowable reasons
for claiming good cause. The amendments specify a 25%
grant reduction as a penalty for noncompliance with
certain child support cooperation requirements. The
amendments also require district attorney staff to be
available either in person or by telephone to conduct
interviews with applicants to gather information
necessary to establish a child support order or
paternity. Under the amendments, the district attorney
will make the determination whether the applicant is
cooperating in establishing paternity and the welfare
department will determine whether there is good cause for
failing to cooperate.
2. Statewide Child Support Registry: Current law requires
the SDSS to implement a statewide registry of child
support orders; in addition, the new federal law requires
states to implement such a registry. The proposed
amendments continue the current law requirement and
require SDSS to implement the registry by October 1,
1998.
3. Centralized Collection/Disbursement: As required by the
new federal law, these amendments would establish a
centralized collection and disbursement unit for
collections by October 1, 1998. The amendments create an
advisory committee to report recommendations for
implementation to the Legislature by December 31, 1997.
WELFARE FRAUD
Current law contains a number of penalties for the
commission of fraud in social services programs. The new
federal law required that states adopt certain new
requirements for specified types of offenses. The proposed
amendments establish a "one strike" lifetime ban on aid for
a person found in a court or administrative hearing,
including on the basis of a nolo contendere plea, to have
made fraudulent statements to receive aid from more than one
county or state; to have submitted documents for nonexistent
children; or to have received more than $10,000 in aid for
which he or she was not eligible. In addition, these
amendments increase penalties for other types of fraud and
require that sanctions be imposed until reviewed and unless
reversed by a court.
SELF-INITIATED EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Under current law, recipients--at their own initiative--may
attend adult education and other public or private
educational programs while on aid. Recipients in a "self
initiated program" can be deferred from participation in
GAIN by providing specified evidence the SIP will lead to
employment. The proposed amendments permit recipients to
continue in SIPs until reaching their 24 month time limit if
making satisfactory progress; if the SIP is on a list of
programs the county and local education providers have
agreed will lead to employment, and if the recipient's
welfare-to-work plan reflects a SIP. If the SIP is not
determined to lead to employment, the recipient must quit
the education program at the next quarter or semester break
to attend regular welfare to work services. Participation
in a SIP shall be reflected in an employment plan. SIPs
would have higher "hours per week" requirements than other
activities: if the number of classroom, lab or internship
hours does not meet 32 hours per week, the county must
require participation in other activities up to 32 hours.
The amendments also require that any degree or certificate
program offered by private post-secondary providers must be
approved or exempted by the appropriate state regulatory
agency.
EMPLOYMENT RETENTION SERVICES
Current law permits county welfare departments to provide
post-employment case management services only to recipients
who are exempt from GAIN because they are already employed.
The proposed amendments expand county flexibility to offer
these services, by allowing counties to provide case
management and other services to any recipient in the first
12 months after leaving aid for employment, if the services
are not available.
PROBATION DEPARTMENT
Prior to 1996, counties used federal Emergency Assistance
funds from Title IV-A to support the out-of-home placement
of minors and juvenile probation facilities. The federal
Department of Health and Human Services ended this practice
in January 1, 1996. However, these county costs were
included in the calculation of California's TANF block grant
level. The federal TANF block grant allows expenditures in
any manner for which the state was authorized to use AFDC
funds on September 30, 1995. The proposed amendments
establish a Comprehensive Youth Services Act to support
children who are habitual truants, run-aways, at-risk of
adjudication by the juvenile court or under probation
supervision. The amendments authorize county probation
departments to provide a broad set of services to help such
at-risk youth or youthful offenders. The amendments further
require collaboration with other local agencies and specify
an allocation by county for funds appropriated through the
budget.
GENERAL ASSISTANCE
The proposed amendments preclude from General Assistance
CalWORKs recipients who have exceeded their five year time
limit on CalWORKs until all of their children are 18 years
of age or older, regardless of whether the children are
currently living in the home. Those who have been made
ineligible from CalWORKs or whose needs are not otherwise
taken into account in determining the amount of CalWORKs
assistance to the family due to the imposition of a sanction
or penalty are also precluded from receiving General
Assistance.
INDIAN TRIBES
The new federal law permits American Indian tribes to
receive a direct allocation to operate their own TANF plan,
as long as their program meets TANF requirements. These
amendments address these requirements.
DRUG MEDI-CAL
The proposed amendments require that funds expended by
counties for drug and alcohol treatment services do not
impact the overall statewide cap on Drug Medi-Cal
reimbursements.
EVALUATION OF CalWORKs IMPLEMENTATION
Under current law, there is no ongoing statewide evaluation
of the overall AFDC program. The proposed amendments
require DSS to ensure that a comprehensive, statewide
evaluation is undertaken to evaluate the success of welfare-
to-work efforts, the impact on other public programs, and
the well-being of children.
OTHER
The amendments specify that this bill will not become
operative until the Budget Act of 1997 is chaptered.
The amendments also provide that some provisions shall not
become operative until 1/1/98.
By: Senate Health & Human Svcs. Com/S. McCarthy/E. Dektar
Date: August 4, 1997
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