BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 433
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Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
433 (Chu) - As Amended March 26, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill temporarily maintains CalWORKs eligibility and grant
levels for a parent who experiences the loss of a child.
Specifically, this bill:
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1)Prohibits applying a sanction for a grieving parent's failure
to comply with program requirements during the month in which
a child in the CalWORKs assistance unit dies and the following
month.
2)Requires a county, upon receiving notification of the death of
a child in the assistance unit, to assist a grieving parent in
accessing other services for which the parent may be eligible
and provide information to the parent about mental health
services, including services provided by the county human
services agency, if appropriate.
3)Defines grieving parent, for purposes of this bill, as an
aided adult who is required to participate in welfare-to-work
activities and who experiences the death of a child in the
assistance unit.
4)Maintains an assistance unit's CalWORKs grant amount for the
month in which a child in the assistance unit dies and the
following month. Provides that aid continued for an
assistance unit under these circumstances shall not be deemed
an overpayment.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)On-going costs, likely less than $70,000 (GF) annually, to
provide grant aid to affected families in the month of the
child's death and the month after, that otherwise would not
have been provided.
2)Unknown, likely minor, increased grant costs for sanctions not
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applied in the month of the child's death and the month after.
Counties can currently provide a good cause exemption to avoid
imposing sanctions, so it is unlikely these sanctions occur
often under existing law.
3)Unknown automation costs to DSS to implement the changes.
4)Unknown, potentially reimbursable, but likely minor,
administrative and other costs to counties associated
providing information and extending child-only cases that
otherwise would have been halted.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, this bill is a necessary
step toward assisting a relatively small number of families
with a temporarily consistent level of resources that will
help them remain as stable as possible during a time of family
tragedy. Without a guaranteed exemption, a parent in fear of
risking aid and services for the rest of his or her family
could be required to continue in a work activity without time
to grieve, ultimately diminishing the parent's mental health
and his or her ability to continue to work in the future, as
well as the overall stability of the family.
By requiring that grieving parents receive information from
their counties about mental health services available to them,
this bill seeks to address families' mental health needs as
quickly as possible and decrease some of the long-term impacts
families may face.
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2)Background: The California Work Opportunity and
Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program provides monthly
income assistance and employment-related services aimed at
moving children out of poverty and helping families meet basic
needs. The average 2015-16 monthly cash grant for a family of
three on CalWORKs (one parent and two children) is $506.55,
and the maximum monthly grant amount for a family of three, if
the family has no other income and lives in a high-cost
county, is $704.
Unless they are exempt, single parent adults must participate
for at least 30 hours per week in welfare-to-work activities,
and two-parent families must participate for at least 35 hours
per week. If a CalWORKs recipient who is not exempt from
participation does not meet his or her welfare-to-work
requirements, the recipient is sanctioned for noncompliance,
and that recipient's portion of the family's grant is
subtracted from the amount provided to the family.
Currently, counties are required to excuse CalWORKs recipients
from participation in a welfare-to-work activity if the county
determines that a condition or other circumstance exists that
temporarily prevents or significantly impairs a recipient's
ability to be regularly employed or to participate in
welfare-to-work activities.
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Reasons a county may grant a good cause exemption include a
lack of necessary supportive services, the recipient's status
as a victim of domestic violence, and the lack of access to
child care. Because statute does not limit the reasons for an
exemption, counties could grant a good cause exemption for a
parent who has suffered the loss of a child. However, nothing
requires a county to do so.
DSS does not have data on the number of children who die each
year while on CalWORKs. However, California's child mortality
rate is 14/100,000, and studies indicate that low-income
children die at higher rates than other children. There are
approximately one million children on CalWORKs in California
who receive an average monthly grant of $128. Assuming a
mortality rate of up to twice the state rate, up to 280
children would die each year. Providing 280 families a grant
of $128 for two months would cost approximately $70,000.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081