BILL NUMBER: SB 1147	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator DeSaulnier

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2014

   An act to add Section 18920 to the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to CalFresh.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1147, as introduced, DeSaulnier. CalFresh: customer service
standards: performance goals.
    Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh,
formerly the Food Stamp Program, under which supplemental nutrition
assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government
are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing law
requires the State Department of Social Services to establish and
maintain a plan, known as the County Administrative Cost Control
Plan, whereby costs for county administration of CalFresh are
effectively controlled within the amounts annually appropriated for
that administration, and whereby standards and performance criteria
are established and are required to be adhered to by counties.
   This bill would require the department, in collaboration with key
stakeholders, to establish statewide customer service standards and
performance goals with regard to CalFresh, revise and measure the
progress made toward the execution of the standards and goals on an
annual basis, and make the standards and goals publicly available for
the purpose of informing the Legislature and public. The bill would
also require the department to develop a dynamic data management tool
that includes specified data, including, but not limited to, data
regarding CalFresh applications received through multiple channels.
This bill would require data from the data management tool to be made
publicly available on an ongoing basis and updated at least on a
quarterly basis within 30 days following the end of each quarter, and
authorizes the department to use the data from the tool to measure
the progress made towards the standards and goals established
pursuant to these provisions. The bill would make related findings
and declarations.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Hunger and food insecurity continue to be a struggle faced by
too many Californians. In 2011 and 2012, at least four million
low-income adults in California experienced food insecurity.
   (b) Reduced hunger and improved access to nutritious foods are
fundamental goals of CalFresh, the state's Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) through which low-income Californians
receive federally funded nutrition benefits.
   (c) Low CalFresh participation results in less nutrition
assistance for eligible individuals, less economic activity, and less
sales tax revenue for the state and local governments.
   (d) California continues to struggle with low CalFresh
participation. In the 2009-10 fiscal year, just over half of eligible
CalFresh households participated in the program.
   (e) The state and counties have made significant fiscal and policy
investments in CalFresh and in the food security, health, and
well-being of participants.
   (f) A number of other states have taken action to improve their
SNAP performance and customer service by making data-driven policy
decisions and setting statewide service expectations.
   (g) Other California public benefit programs and entities,
including Medi-Cal and the California Health Benefit Exchange, have
increased data transparency and established standards and goals.
   (h) It is the intent of the Legislature, in an effort to improve
CalFresh participation and access, to establish statewide CalFresh
customer service standards and performance goals and to periodically
monitor progress toward meeting those goals.
  SEC. 2.  Section 18920 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   18920.  (a) The department, in collaboration with key
stakeholders, shall establish statewide customer service standards
and performance goals with regard to CalFresh. The department shall
revise and measure the progress made toward the execution of the
standards and goals on an annual basis and shall make the standards
and goals publicly available for the purpose of informing the
Legislature and public. The department may use the data made
available in the dynamic data management tool developed pursuant to
subdivision (b) to measure the progress made toward achieving the
established standards and goals.
   (b) (1) The department shall, in collaboration with key
stakeholders, develop a dynamic data management tool. If feasible and
appropriate, the department may expand upon existing technology for
this purpose. The data management tool shall include data presented
on a statewide and county-by-county basis to be derived by the
department from the Medi-Cal Eligibility Data System (MEDS), the
Statewide Automated Welfare System, or any other appropriate
information management systems. The data management tool shall
include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
   (A) Data regarding multiprogram enrollment, which may include, but
is not limited to, dual eligibility and dual participation among
CalFresh and Medi-Cal recipients.
   (B) Data regarding CalFresh applications received through multiple
channels, including, but not limited to, in-person, online, and by
phone.
   (C) Data regarding CalFresh application and recertification
outcomes, which may include, but is not limited to, disposition and
processing times.
   (D) Data regarding CalFresh reapplication, which may include, but
is not limited to, rate of return within 30, 60, and 90 days.
   (2) Data from the data management tool shall be made publicly
available on an ongoing basis and updated at least on a quarterly
basis within 30 days following the end of each quarter, for the
purpose of informing the Legislature and the public about CalFresh
enrollment, benefit retention, customer service, and performance.
   (3) The department shall, in collaboration with key stakeholders,
identify necessary revisions to the data management tool as necessary
to fulfill the standards and goals established pursuant to
subdivision (a).