BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 510
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          Date of Hearing:   April 14, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
                                Jim Beall, Jr., Chair
                     AB 510 (Evans) - As Amended:  April 2, 2009
           
          SUBJECT  :  CalWORKs: Good cause exception.

           SUMMARY  :  Does not count a month of CalWORKs aid against a  
          recipient's 60-month time limit when there is a lack of county  
          supportive services due to insufficient funding for CalWORKs in  
          the annual Budget Act.  Recipients who, on or after January 1,  
          2009, are granted a "good cause" exception from work  
          participation rules from his or her county welfare office are  
          eligible under this provision.

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Lists five specific conditions when county welfare workers  
            have the authority to stop a CalWORKs participant's five-year  
            time clock.

          2)Requires that a single-parent CalWORKs recipient work a  
            minimum of 32 hours per week, and that a recipient in a  
            two-parent household work at least 35 hours per week in order  
            to maintain their cash grant and supportive services.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown

           COMMENTS  :  CalWORKs is a program based on a partnership concept  
          between government and the participant.  Generally, the  
          government promises to provide a monthly cash grant and offer  
          supportive services (see list below) to the participant.   
          Together, the cash and services are intended to defray living  
          expenses and help the participant overcome profound barriers,  
          such as substance abuse or domestic violence, or give them the  
          basic tools, such as a bus pass or proper work clothing, that  
          make obtaining and maintaining a job possible.  

          The promise of a participant to the government is to obtain a  
          job, and work a specified number of hours per week.  The  
          participant is afforded a maximum of five years of cash grants,  
          and a limited number of months of supportive services to assist  
          them on their road to self-sufficiency.  According to the County  
          Welfare Directors' Association (CWDA), the sponsor of this bill,  








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          CalWORKs participants may receive the following supportive  
          services from their local county welfare office:
           
             1)   Counseling and Treatment - Domestic violence counseling,  
               Mental health counseling, Substance abuse counseling.

             2)   Child Care - regular and special-needs child care such  
               as infant care or off-hour care (for example, if the parent  
               works a night shift).

             3)   Transportation - mileage for use of a personal car  
               (which must account for the cost of wear and tear on the  
               car and necessary repairs), as well as public  
               transportation use (bus or train pass, etc).

             4)   Work, education, and training-related expenses (i.e.  
               Ancillary Services) - Learning-disability services,  
               job-related tools, uniforms, books or school supplies.

           CalWORKs funding  :  Generally, the entire annual cost to run  
          CalWORKs is approximately $5 billion.  While counties administer  
          the cash aid and arrange for the supportive services for a  
          participant, the state and federal government provide almost all  
          of the funding.  In particular, the state funding for supportive  
          services is determined annually through the Budget Act.  Over  
          the past several years, the state has reduced the funding for  
          these services.  According to CWDA, the current CalWORKs deficit  
          is estimated at $250 million.  In the 2008-09 Budget Act,  
          another reduction of $86.4 million was added totaling $336  
          million.  As a result, CWDA states that counties are no longer  
          able to hold up the government's promise to provide the  
          supportive services that are necessary for all CalWORKs adult  
          recipients to participate in welfare-to-work activities.  

           Good Cause exception to work requirements  :  In a January 2009  
          letter, the California State Association of Counties and CWDA  
          advised California Department of Social Services Director John  
          Wagner that counties will, on a case-by-case basis, be granting  
          voluntary "good cause" for non-participation to recipients for  
          whom the necessary supportive services cannot be provided.  This  
          authority is allowable under current law.  However, legislation  
          is needed to suspend the 60-month lifetime clock for CalWORKs  
          recipients, who would be participating in welfare-to-work  
          activities if the necessary services were available.









                                                                  AB 510
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          AB 510 would stop the 60-month time clock for any person granted  
          "good cause" for non-participation if the county cannot provide  
          necessary supportive services due to the impact of the budget  
          cuts on the program.

           Possible opposition  :  CWDA states that they anticipate the  
          Administration to have policy concerns about stopping the time  
          clock for these CalWORKs recipients.  In response, CWDA notes  
          that the CalWORKs program was originally developed and  
          structured in a time when the federal block grant was sufficient  
          to fund all needs in the program, with a significant amount left  
          over in the early years of the program.  In the 10 years since  
          then, federal block grant and required state Maintenance of  
          Effort funds have been moved out of CalWORKs and the effects of  
          direct cuts and a slow erosion of funding have impacted the  
          program to such a degree that counties can no longer provide all  
          of the services that recipients need in order to participate in  
          work or work-related activities. 

          CWDA contends that the stark reality of reducing the available  
          funding in the welfare-to-work program is fewer services  
          resulting in fewer recipients being able to participate.  The  
          Legislature and prior Administrations did not have to  
          contemplate this situation, but if they had, CWDA believes the  
          proposed policy - which is to not penalize individual recipients  
          who need services in order to participate in work activities  
          when those services cannot be provided due to budget cuts - is  
          consistent with broader CalWORKs policies.
           
          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 

           County Welfare Directors Association (Sponsor)
          American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
          California Catholic Conference of Bishops
          California Communities United Institute
          California State Association of Counties (CSAC)
          Service Employees International Union
          Western Center on Law & Poverty

           Opposition 
           
          None on file.
           








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          Analysis Prepared by  :    Frances Chacon / HUM. S. / (916)  
          319-2089