BILL ANALYSIS
AB 510
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 510 (Evans) - As Amended: April 2, 2009
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:4 - 2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill, as of January 1, 2009, allows participants in the
CalWORKs program to be excused from participation in welfare to
work activities, if the necessary supportive services are
unavailable due to insufficient funding in the CalWORKs program.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Over the last few years, regular cuts have been taken in the
CalWORKs single allocation funding that is provided to
counties to provide services and administer the program. To
date, those cuts have resulted in an overall reduction of $336
million. At the same time, the CalWORKs caseload continues to
increase due to the dramatic downturn in the economy.
2)While this legislation will ultimately cause adults to remain
on the CalWORKs caseload longer, the initial impact of
providing a good cause exemption for a lack of services could
be a significant release of cost pressure for counties that do
not have the personnel to provide services to participants.
For every 1,000 cases that receive a good cause exemption,
rather than participating in the welfare to work program, it
allows counties to save close to $2 million in employment
services and child care costs per month.
3)For every 1,000 cases where an adult stays on the caseload one
month longer than they would have otherwise, due to a good
cause exemption, it will cost the state $139,000 in increased
CalWORKs grant costs at the end of those families five-year
time limit.
AB 510
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COMMENTS
1)Rationale . In a January 2009 letter, the California State
Association of Counties and County Welfare Director's
Association (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 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.
2)Welfare Reform . The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) fundamentally altered
the nation's welfare programs. States were required to
develop new programs that encouraged families to move toward
self sufficiency through education, training, and work
experience. In addition, the federal law implemented a
60-month time limit for families receiving aid. In California
the 60-month time limit only applies to adults who are removed
from the caseload. The children remain in the safety-net
program. California's response to welfare reform was the
creation of the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility
to Kids (CalWORKs) program in 1998.
CalWORKs provides cash grants and welfare-to-work services to
families whose incomes are not adequate to meet their basic
needs. A family is eligible for the one-parent component of
the program if it includes a child who is financially needy
due to the death, incapacity, or continued absence of one or
both parents. A family is eligible for the two-parent
component if it includes a child who is financially needy due
to the unemployment of one or both parents. In 2009-2010, it
is estimated that 1 million people per month, including
children, will be served by the CalWORKs program.
AB 510
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3)CalWORKs Participation Requirements . Adults in the CalWORKs
caseload must meet an hourly participation requirement each
week. For single parents the weekly participation requirement
is 32 hours. For two-parent families the requirement is 35
hours per week. The participation hours can be met through
unsubsidized employment, subsidized employment, certain types
of training and education related to work, and job search (for
a limited time period).
4)CalWORKs Single Allocation . Under current law, the state
provides a single allocation to county welfare departments
with funding to cover CalWORKs employment services costs,
child care costs, and the cost for the counties to administer
the program. Essentially, the single allocation includes all
funding except for the CalWORKs cash grants for the families.
Within that single allocation, counties have the discretion to
spend their money as they deem necessary to best meet the
needs of their CalWORKs participants. In other words,
counties are not required to spend a set amount of money for
services, child care and administration. The governor's
2009-10 budget includes over $2 billion in funding for the
single allocation.
5)Historic Funding of the CalWORKs Program . Generally, the
entire annual cost to run CalWORKs is approximately $5
billion, including the grant costs for families. 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 the sponsors, 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081