BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 433 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 433 (Chu) - As Amended March 26, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Human Services |Vote:|7 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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: AB 433 Page 2 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 AB 433 Page 3 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. AB 433 Page 4 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. AB 433 Page 5 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