BILL ANALYSIS
AB 4 X4
Page 1
(Without Reference to File)
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 4 X4 (Evans)
As Amended July 24, 2009
2/3 vote. Urgency
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(July 9, 2009) |SENATE: | |(July 24, |
| | | | | |2009) |
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(vote not relevant) (vote not available)
Original Committee Reference: RLS.
SUMMARY: This is the Human Services trailer bill, which
contains necessary changes to enact modifications to the 2009
Budget Act.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead:
1)Make the following changes to Child Support:
a) Effective October 1, 2010, impose a $25
federally-established annual administrative service fee on
never-assisted families for whom child support agencies
collect $500 or more in order to meet a federal requirement
currently being paid using state General Fund (GF) dollars;
and,
b) Specify the allocation and use of revenue stabilization
funds appropriated in the 2009-10 Budget Act for local
child support agencies to maintain caseworker staffing
levels. The augmentation of $18.7 million ($6.4 million
GF) is expected to result in increased recoupment of $14.4
million in public assistance costs ($6.6 million GF
revenue) and collection of an additional $70 million in
child support payments that would be passed on to custodial
parents and their children. Additionally requires the
Department of Child Support Services to report to the
Legislature, first on January 1, 2010, on the
cost-effectiveness of this augmentation.
2)Community Care Licensing. Increase by 10% the application and
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annual fees paid by community care facilities, including child
care centers; family child care homes; foster family and group
homes (GHs); adult residential facilities; and residential
care facilities for the elderly. This action results in
revenues of $2.1 million to offset GF spending.
3)Child Welfare Services & Foster Care. Make the following
changes:
a) Ensure that children who are eligible for Kinship
Guardianship Assistance Payments (Kin-GAP) and also
consumers of regional center services receive a dual-agency
rate under specified circumstances.
b) Reduce by 10% the rates paid to GHs, foster family
agencies, and other programs for which rates are tied to
these, for care and services provided to foster children.
Results in 2009-10 savings of $26.6 million GF. Provides
"rate relief" in 2009-10 by allowing higher reimbursement
rates for existing GHs than would otherwise apply under
existing law given their staffing and service levels.
Allows the Department of Social Services (DSS) to conduct
some GH program audits that cover a period of fewer than 12
months.
c) Make changes necessary to allow for increased federal
financial participation in Adoption Assistance Program
(AAP) benefit payments. Specifies that AAP benefits shall
not be increased based on age, but may be reassessed based
on the child's needs.
d) Require, in order to implement components of new federal
law, that case plans for children in foster care ensure
educational stability and that public health nurses in the
child welfare system perform specified duties.
4)Older Californians Act Programs. Delete requirements that
Alzheimer's Day Care Resource Centers provide or conduct
training to students, services to family members, and
community outreach. Instead encourages these activities to
the extent possible within existing resources, while
continuing to require more direct services to participants.
Establishes priority for enrollment in the Linkages case
management program for low-income individuals.
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5)CalWORKs. Make the following changes:
a) Authorize use of federal Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) Emergency Contingency Fund (ECF) resources
for subsidized employment, short-term non-recurring
benefits, and basic assistance to families. Under ECF, the
federal government pays 80 percent of the costs of
specified expenditures;
b) From July 1, 2009 to July 1, 2011, exempt parents or
relative caregivers of very young children, as specified,
from welfare-to-work requirements, and allows counties to
exempt additional categories of individuals. Stops the
60-month time-clock of limitations on supportive services
and assistance for individuals exempted pursuant to these
changes. This is in response to the related funding
reduction to counties by $375 million for 2009-10. Exempts
counties during those two years from the imposition of
penalties resulting from failure to meet federal
requirements. Additionally, adds months in which a
recipient is excused from participation for good cause to
conditions that stop the time-clock; and,
c) Delay to April 1, 2012 (from April 1, 2010) the date by
which the Work Incentive Nutritional Supplement (WINS)
program shall be fully implemented. Delays to October 1,
2011 (from April 1, 2010) the date by which the Temporary
Assistance Program (TAP) must begin. TAP is intended to
provide a non-MOE funded program for CalWORKs recipients
who are exempt from work participation, which would
increase the state's caseload reduction credit and improve
its ability to comply with federal work participation
requirements.
1)Automation Issues. Make the following changes:
a) Require the Office of the Chief Information Officer and
the Department of Child Support Services to jointly produce
an annual report to be initially submitted on March 1, 2010
on the ongoing implementation of the California Child
Support Automation System, with specified components; and,
b) Allow the consortia of counties implementing the
Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) for public
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assistance programs to make changes to funding allocations
within their approved annual budgets. This flexibility
relates to a reduction of $4.5 million GF from the SAWS
maintenance and operations budget.
1)Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment
(SSI/SSP). Reduce SSI/SSP grants for married couples who are
aged, blind, or disabled to federal minimum level (to a
maximum of $1,407 per month). Reduces grants for individuals
by $5 or 0.6% (to a maximum of $845 per month). These
reductions are effective October 1, 2009 and are in addition
to those enacted in February, 2009 they result in an
additional GF savings of $115.9 million in 2009-10.
2)In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS). Make the following
changes:
a) Effective October 1, 2009, eliminate the share-of-cost
"buy-out" under which the state pays the difference between
some recipients' IHSS share-of-costs and the higher
share-of-costs those recipients would have borne under
Medi-Cal. Results in savings of $41 million GF in 2009-10;
b) Effective September 1, 2009, limit services to those
with higher levels of need, as determined by rankings and
scores created with a uniform needs-assessment tool.
Specifically, deems recipients eligible for "domestic and
related" services only if they have a functional index (FI)
rank of 4 or above (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 as the
highest level of need for assistance) for each particular
service. Deems ineligible for any services individuals
whose FI score (weighted average of individual
service-related ranks) is below 2.0. Exempts individuals
eligible for paramedical services, protective supervision,
or more than 120 hours of services per month from these
limitations. Results in savings of $53.2 million GF in
2009-10; and,
c) Require DSS to convene a stakeholder group to develop
and issue a report that evaluates implementation of quality
assurance and fraud prevention and detection efforts, and
make recommendations to further prevent errors and reduce
fraud. Requires providers to submit required verification
of their identities and enrollment forms in person.
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1)Drug Medi-Cal. Reduce by 10% the rates paid for DMC services.
Results in savings of $8.8 million GF in 2009-10.
2)Community Services Block Grant. Temporarily expand
eligibility to individuals with incomes up to 200% of the
federal poverty level. Limits this change to the period
during which specified federal stimulus funds are available.
3)Implementation and Urgency. Allow for emergency regulations
or all-county letters to ensure timely implementation of
certain provisions. Declares that this bill is to take effect
immediately as an urgency measure.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was a vehicle for the
budget trailer bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Nicole Vazquez / BUDGET / (916)
319-2099FN: 0002118