BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
BILL NO: SB 1147
S
AUTHOR: DeSaulnier
B
VERSION: March 27, 2014
HEARING DATE: April 8, 2014
1
FISCAL: Yes
1
4
CONSULTANT: Mareva Brown
7
SUBJECT
CalFresh: customer service standards: performance goals
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Social Services (DSS),
in collaboration with key stakeholders, to establish and
periodically revise statewide CalFresh customer service
standards and performance goals. It requires DSS to measure
annually the progress made toward the execution of the
standards and goals, and to make that information publicly
available. The bill requires DSS to develop a data
management tool that includes specified data, to make
public the data from this management tool and to update it
at least quarterly within 60 days following the end of each
quarter. It requires the department to use data from the
tool to measure the progress made towards the standards and
goals. The bill makes related findings and declarations.
ABSTRACT
Existing law :
Continued---
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1) Establishes under federal law the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to promote the
general welfare and to safeguard the health and
wellbeing of the nation's population by raising the
levels of nutrition among low-income households. (7
CFR 271.1)
2) Establishes in California statute the CalFresh program
to administer the provision of federal SNAP benefits
to families and individuals meeting specified
criteria. (WIC 18900 et seq.)
3) Establishes, under federal law, eligibility
requirements for receipt of SNAP benefits, including
income that is at or below 130 percent of the federal
poverty level and is determined to be a substantial
limiting factor in permitting a recipient to obtain a
more nutritious diet, as specified. (7 CFR 273.9)
4) Requires a simplified eligibility process for CalFresh
enrollment, to include, among other elements,
expedited enrollment in Medi-Cal, provisions for
tracking data on participants in both programs and
requirements for outreach to participants in CalFresh
who are eligible, but not enrolled in Medi-Cal. (WIC
18925)
5) Requires each county welfare department to carry out
the local administrative responsibilities for the
CalFresh program, subject to the supervision of the
department and to rules and regulations adopted by the
department. (WIC 18902)
6) Requires that an application and an authorization for
participation in CalFresh shall be processed within a
period of not more than 30 days from the date of
application. (WIC 18911 (a))
7) Requires DSS to collect quarterly, expedited service
data, on a county-by-county basis, of the number of
applications and the disposition of the applications,
and to publish those statistics quarterly. (WIC 18913)
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This bill :
1) Makes various findings and declarations about hunger
and food insecurity in California, the importance of
the state's CalFresh program and the state's poor
participation rate in the CalFresh program.
2) Makes various findings and declarations about efforts
in other programs and states to improve participation
through data-driven policy decisions and performance
standards.
3) States Legislative intent to establish statewide
CalFresh customer service standards and performance
goals and to periodically monitor progress toward
meeting those goals in order to improve CalFresh
participation and access.
4) Requires the DSS, in collaboration with key
stakeholders, to establish statewide customer service
standards and performance goals with regard to
CalFresh.
5) Requires DSS to revise the standards and goals to
reflect changes in CalFresh performance over time and
to measure the progress made toward the execution of
the standards and goals on an annual basis.
6) Requires DSS to make the standards and goals publicly
available for the purpose of informing the Legislature
and the public.
7) Requires DSS and key stakeholders to take into
consideration what is achievable under current funding
and, if applicable, the cost impact of improved
program efficiency and the need for additional
resource investment when developing the customer
service standards and performance goals.
8) Requires DSS, when appropriate, to use the data made
available in the data management tool, as defined, to
measure the progress made toward achieving the
established standards and goals.
9) Requires DSS, in collaboration with key stakeholders,
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to develop a data management tool that is dynamic in
that it presents data showing change, activity, or
progress over time, and the data can be extracted for
further analysis.
10) Permits DSS to expand upon existing technology for
this purpose, including, but not limited to, expansion
of the CalFresh data dashboard, if such expansion is
feasible and appropriate.
11) Requires that 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 (SAWS), or any other
appropriate information management systems.
12) Requires the data management tool to include, but not
be limited to, all of the following data:
a. Multi-program enrollment, which may
include, but is not limited to, dual eligibility
and dual participation among CalFresh and
Medi-Cal recipients.
b. CalFresh applications received through
multiple channels, including, but not limited to,
which may include in-person, online, and by phone
telephone.
c. CalFresh application and recertification
outcomes, which may include, but is not limited
to, disposition and processing times.
d. CalFresh reapplications, which may
include, but is not limited to, rate of return
within 30, 60, and 90 days.
13) Requires that information from the data management
tool be made publicly available on an ongoing basis
and updated at least on a quarterly basis within 60
days following the end of each quarter.
14) Requires DSS, in collaboration with key stakeholders,
to identify necessary revisions to the data management
tool as necessary to fulfill the established statewide
customer service standards and performance goals.
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FISCAL IMPACT
This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal committee.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Purpose of the bill
The author states that the Legislature, administration and
counties have taken important steps to improve CalFresh
access and participation. Recent changes have focused on
enhancing the client experience and more efficiently
meeting the growing need for nutrition assistance. Some
CalFresh improvements have resulted in statewide change,
while others have been adopted by select counties.
However, according to the author, such inconsistencies
contribute to a fragmented system in which access to
CalFresh and the quality of customer service vary by
geographic location. Enrolling and participating in
CalFresh should be a straightforward, consistent experience
for individuals and families throughout the state, the
author states. This bill establishes statewide performance
goals and customer service standards to provide a more
effective, efficient and consistent experience statewide.
It also requires the state to establish a statewide
measurement tool in order to evaluate the effects of policy
changes and guide improvements in the future.
CalFresh
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Supplemental
Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) funds 100 percent of
food benefits to eligible individuals living in this
country. The program is administered in California as
CalFresh, and administrative funding is allocated through a
combination of federal, state and county funds. Specific
eligibility requirements for SNAP programs across the
country are set by the USDA, including gross- and
net-income asset tests for most recipients, work
requirements and specific documentation requirements. The
maximum gross income allowed to be eligible is 130 percent
of the federal poverty level, which the federal government
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has set in 2014 as $23,850 for a family of four.<1> (The
SNAP maximum therefore would be $31,005 for a family of
four or a gross family income of $2,583.75 per month).
The average monthly benefit for a CalFresh recipient is
$153.13 per month, or $5.10 per day. (The maximum monthly
CalFresh benefit for a household of four is $632 or $5.27
per person, per day). In California, 58 percent of CalFresh
recipients are children. Benefits for all families were
decreased in November 2013 due to the expiration of a
temporary federal increase in benefits during the Great
Recession through the American Reinvestment and Recovery
Act. The overall CalFresh caseload had grown steadily since
2001, including an increase of more than 1 million people
between 2010 and 2013, at the peak of the Great Recession.
Participation rate
For years, California has been ranked last in the country
in SNAP participation rates, prompting concerns from the
USDA, stories in the state's newspapers and many
legislative hearings, including two in 2014.
In 2011, the most recent data available, just 57 percent of
eligible individuals were enrolled in the program, compared
to a national average of 79 percent. Additionally,
California is tied with Hawaii for the lowest SNAP
participation rate in the nation for working poor families
who are eligible to receive benefits: Just 44 percent of
California's eligible working poor families received
CalFresh benefits. The national average was 67 percent.
DSS notes that the low CalFresh participation rate
significantly impacts California's economy, and
particularly in impoverished areas of the state, as every
$5 of federal SNAP benefits are calculated to generate $9
of local economic activity.
In 2012, the average CalFresh recipient was 38 years old
and the average age of a child receiving CalFresh benefits
was 7.5 years. One in five households reported earned
income and 7.6 percent had been receiving CalFresh benefits
for five or more years.
Churn
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<1> http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/14poverty.cfm
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When an individual or family who is receiving CalFresh
benefits is dropped from the program for reasons other than
a loss of fiscal eligibility, and then re-applies to the
program and is reinstated within 90 days, it is called
churn. Typically, this involves a beneficiary who does not
return required paperwork completely or on time in order to
remain on the program. The process of discontinuing a
family from benefits and then re-instating them is
time-consuming for both the low-income participant and the
counties and costly for the counties. Because of this,
recent conversations in California have focused on the
state's churn rate, which was 38 percent in the final
quarter of 2012, and on individual county rates, which vary
somewhat.
Efforts to improve participation and retention
CalFresh Modernization
In conjunction with a number of recent legislative changes,
the state launched a 'CalFresh Refresh" initiative to
streamline the application and certification processes.
Among those changes was a shift from quarterly to
semi-annual reporting requirements, moving from required
face-to-face interviews to a telephone interview option
when appropriate, and requiring counties to screen all
applicants for expedited service. Another key change was
removal of a fingerprint submission requirement in order to
receive benefits.
In 2013, DSS asked counties to develop new initiatives to
increase participation in the program and to submit plans
to the state detailing those efforts. Most counties focused
on outreach to seniors and other vulnerable populations;
in-reach to households receiving Medi-Cal; and strategies
to reduce churning of cases. DSS notes that addressing the
low participation rate has been a priority of the
department and Governor in recent years.
DSS Data Dashboard
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In February 2014, DSS released a data dashboard<2>
containing information about enrollment growth (persons and
households), percent of CalFresh participants who also are
receiving Medi-Cal benefits and vice versa, timeliness of
approval, churn rates for 30- and 90-day reapplications,
and other information. Additionally, the dashboard provides
information about active error rates, timeliness for
expedited cases and regular processing and demographic data
for each county including the number of elderly
participants, children under age 18, unemployment rate, and
other information.
The dashboard provides statewide information and
information for each of the 58 counties and is updated
quarterly. DSS said that the department will monitor county
performance in key areas and provide technical assistance,
as needed, to improve in-reach and reduce churn.
County innovations
In 2012, in response to ongoing concerns about California's
poor participation rate, DSS asked each county to provide a
three-year plan to increase participation. As for March
2013, 51 counties had submitted plans detailing their
unique populations and barriers, as well as strategies to
remove those barriers. The majority of plans identified
common targets to improve participation, including
targeting low-income seniors, identifying individuals who
participate in the Medi-Cal program but do not receive
CalFresh benefits, focusing on reducing churn and targeting
outreach to the working poor.
Federal performance standards
The USDA requires various SNAP standards be met and
reported by states. These include an annual overall
performance measure calculated for each state by the
federal government by multiplying the state's error rate by
the state's total value of national allotments. Additional
federal standards include a 30-day application processing
timeline, a seven-day expedited service timeline and an
overall participation rate. The DSS data dashboard includes
these federal performance standards.
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<2> http://www.cdsscounties.ca.gov/foodstamps/
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Related legislation :
SB 1002 (de León) 2014, seeks to reduce churn by aligning
the Medi-Cal redetermination process with the CalFresh
recertification process.
AB 6 (Fuentes) Chapter 501, Statues of 2011, eliminated the
fingerprinting requirement for CalFresh eligibility,
changed reporting requirements from quarterly to
semi-annually and established the state's "Heat and Eat"
program, which simplified the verification process for
utility costs.
AB 1400, Committee on Human Services. (Chapter 227,
Statutes of 2011) established the food stamp program's name
in California to be CalFresh and made other streamlining
changes.
AB 537 Arambula, (Chapter 435, Statutes of 2010) permitted
farmer's markets to establish a CalFresh EBT authorization
system in order to sell fresh produce to beneficiaries.
Comments:
This bill would require DSS and its stakeholders to
establish statewide customer service standards for CalFresh
in order to provide more consistency throughout the state.
The bill does not define what a customer service standard
is, nor does it define how it differs from a performance
goal, which also is required. The California Welfare
Directors Association, in a letter to this committee, also
urges clarity around the definition of performance
standards.
Should this bill move forward, prior to being heard in the
next committee, staff recommends clarifying both the
definitions of "customer service standard," and
"performance goal," in order for the department and
stakeholders to have clear direction as to how to proceed.
POSITIONS
Support: AFSCME
Asian Law Alliance
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California Association of Food Banks
California Catholic Conference of Bishops
California Center for Public health Advocacy
California Food Policy Advocates
California Hunger Action Coalition
Calvary Street/Isaiah 58 Ministries
Coalition of California Welfare Rights
Organizations
Community Food and Justice Coalition
County Welfare Directors Association
Donaldina Cameron House
Donate Don't Dump
Feeding America
Hunger Action Los Angeles
Hunger Advocacy Network
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank
Project Open Hand
San Diego Hunger Coalition
SF-Marin Food Bank
Sunrise Community Pantry
The Vietnamese Elderly Mutual Assistance
Association
Women Organizing Resources, Knowledge &
Services
7 Individuals
Oppose: None received.
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