BILL NUMBER: AB 814 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bradford
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
An act to amend Section 11253.5 of of, and
to add Section 11325.45 to, the Welfare and Institution Code,
relating to CalWORKs.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 814, as amended, Bradford. CalWORKs: eligibility: truancy.
Existing federal law provides for allocation of federal funds
through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
block grant program to eligible states, with California's version of
this program being known as the California Work Opportunity and
Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. Under the CalWORKs
program, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to
qualified low-income families and individuals who meet specified
eligibility criteria, including participating in specified
welfare-to-work activities. Existing law exempts from these
welfare-to-work requirements a child who is under 16 years of age or
attending an elementary, secondary, vocational, or technical school
on a full-time basis.
Existing law conditions the receipt of CalWORKs aid upon the
school attendance of all children in an assistance unit who are
subject to compulsory education, as specified. Existing law further
requires that this attendance requirements
requirement be included in the recipient's welfare-to-work
plan. Under existing law, if the county determines that an eligible
child under 16 years of age is not regularly attending school as
required, the county is prohibited from considering the needs of all
adults in an assistance unit in computing the grant of a family,
unless the county determines that good cause exists. Existing law
prohibits the needs of a child 16 years of age or older from being
considered in computing the grant to the family if the county
determines that he or she has not been regularly attending school or
participating in a welfare-to-work plan, unless the county determines
that good cause exists.
This bill would revise these requirements by, among other things,
deleting the requirement that the aid grant of a family be reduced if
the county determines that an eligible child under 16 years of age
is not regularly attending school. The bill would require that ,
if the county determines that a child who is 16 years of age
or older is not regularly attending school or participating in a
welfare-to-work plan, the county document that the child has been
offered a meaningful opportunity to be engaged in the creation of his
or her welfare-to-work plan, including an age-appropriate
assessment, before the county reduces the aid amount to the family.
This bill would also authorize a county to establish a program
that provides an incentive for teenagers and young adults who receive
CalWORKs benefits, or who are members of an assistance
unit that receives CalWORKs benefits, to earn a high school diploma
or its equivalent. By imposing these additional duties on
counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 11253.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
11253.5. (a) All children 16 years of age or older in
an assistance unit for whom school attendance is compulsory, except
individuals who are eligible for the Cal-Learn Program under Article
3.5 (commencing with Section 11331), for any period during which that
article is operative, and children subject to a county school
attendance project under Article 2 (commencing with Section 18236) of
Chapter 3.3 of Part 6, shall be required to attend school.
(b) Applicants for and recipients of aid under this chapter shall
be informed of the attendance requirement and the
requirements of Article 5 (commencing with Section 48260) of Chapter
2 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code.
contained in subdivision (a).
(c) The county shall consider the requirements of Article 5
(commencing with Section 48260) of Chapter 2 of Part 27 of Division 4
of Title 2 of the Education Code when developing a recipient's
welfare-to-work plan under Section 11325.21, evaluating needed
exemptions from program requirements, and determining which
supportive services are necessary for compliance with a signed
welfare-to-work plan.
(d)
( c) A recipient shall cooperate in
providing the county with documentation routinely available from the
school or school district of regular attendance of all children
16 years of age or older in the assistance unit
who are required to attend school pursuant to subdivision (a)
when the county determines it that
documentation is necessary to establish the
welfare-to-work requirements of a minor. determine
eligibility for the CalWORKs program.
(e)
( d) If it is determined by the county that
any child in the assistance unit who is age 16 years or
older required to attend school pursuant to
subdivision (a) is not regularly attending school as required,
or participating pursuant to a welfare-to-work plan, the needs of the
child shall not be considered in computing the grant of the family
under Section 11450 unless it has been determined by the county that
good cause exists. Before reducing the amount of aid to the family,
the county shall document that the child has been offered a
meaningful opportunity to be engaged in the creation of his or her
welfare-to-work plan, including an age-appropriate assessment.
Children not regularly attending school because they have graduated
or because they have dropped out shall be encouraged to
return to school or to pursue a
welfare-to-work plan that includes enrolling in a program
designed to assist individuals earn a high school diploma or its
equivalent, a certificate or apprenticeship program, or an
institution of higher education.
(e) Counties may establish a program, apart from the Cal-Learn
Program established pursuant to Article 3.5 (commencing with Section
11331), that provides an incentive to teenagers and young adults who
receive benefits, or who are members of an assistance unit that
receives benefits, under this chapter to earn a high school diploma
or its equivalent.
(f) Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of
Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the
department may implement, without taking regulatory action, this
section by means of an all county letter or similar instruction,
valid until January 1, 2015. The department shall, on or before
January 1, 2015, adopt regulations in accordance with the
requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
SEC. 2. Section 11325.45 is added to the
Welfare and Institutions Code , to read:
11325.45. When developing a recipient's welfare-to-work plan
under Section 11325.21, evaluating a recipient's need for exemptions
from welfare-to-work program requirements, and determining which
supportive services, if any, a recipient may need in order to comply
with a signed welfare-to-work plan, the county shall consider the
recipient's obligation to compel a child or the children in the
assistance unit to attend school pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing
with Section 48200) of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Education Code and the related fiscal and penal consequences of
failure to comply with that obligation.
SEC. 2. SEC. 3. If the Commission on
State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by
the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for
those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section
17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.