BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 608 (Gordon) - CalFresh: school meals
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|Version: February 24, 2015 |Policy Vote: HUMAN S. 5 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: June 22, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 608 would require county human services agencies to
add additional information to the list of food providers to be
made available to families applying for CalFresh benefits. This
bill additionally requires counties to inform applicants that,
if the household is approved for CalFresh benefits, young
children are income eligible for the WIC Program and that all
children in the household are directly certified for free and
reduced school meals. This bill also requires the Department of
Social Services (DSS) to inform all CalFresh households annually
about the summer meal program, as specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
Likely minor state-reimbursable county administrative costs
(General Fund) to add providers to, and update, food provider
and nutrition assistance program lists.
Potential one-time automation costs (General Fund) to revise
the Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) to the extent
counties print and distribute the updated list of food service
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providers and summer meal program information to each
applicant through SAWS.
Potentially significant state-reimbursable county
administrative costs in the range of $440,000 to $585,000
(General Fund) per year to inform CalFresh households prior to
the end of each school year about the summer meal program and
provide food service provider and nutrition program
information. This estimate includes the cost of printing and
mailing of this information, and assumes DSS would delegate
the notification requirement to the counties, as client
addresses are not maintained at the state level.
Potentially significant ongoing state-reimbursable county
administrative costs (General Fund) to inform all CalFresh
applicants of income eligibility for WIC and direct
certification for free and reduced school meals. Based on
nearly 2 million CalFresh applications received annually,
providing even one additional minute of eligibility worker
time would cost nearly $1.9 million annually. This estimate
assumes many counties utilize the option of waiving the
face-to-face interview and instead provide a telephone
interview in which case the informing would have to be
provided verbally in lieu of providing the information in
written format. To the extent a document is mailed in lieu of
information provided over the phone would also incur
administrative resources and mailing costs.
Potentially significant increase in federal WIC Program
(Federal) and National School Lunch Program/School Breakfast
Program (NSLP/SBP) benefits (Federal/General Fund) to the
extent the mandated county human services agency efforts
result in increased enrollment in these programs.
Background: Existing state law requires each county welfare department to
compile a list of emergency food providers in the area served by
the local CalFresh office. Existing law requires this list to be
made available upon request and may be used to refer individuals
to emergency food assistance sites.
The federal WIC Program seeks to serve low-income, nutritionally
at risk pregnant women, breastfeeding women, infants and
children up to their fifth birthday. WIC benefits include
supplemental nutritious foods, nutrition education and
counseling at WIC clinics, and screening and referrals to other
health, welfare, and social services. WIC is not an entitlement
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program as Congress does not set aside funds to allow every
eligible individual to participate in the program. Rather, WIC
is a federal grant program for which Congress authorizes a
specific amount of funds each year for the program. The FFY 2014
grant to California of $1.2 billion included $878 million for
food and $328 million for nutrition services and administration.
As of March 2013, the WIC Program served 8.6 million
participants and provided an average benefit of $42.57 per
month. Families who are eligible for SNAP (CalFresh in
California), Medi-Cal, or TANF benefits are automatically
income-eligible for WIC benefits.
The NSLP is a federally assisted meal program operating in over
100,000 public and nonprofit private schools and residential
care institutions. It is estimated that over 552 million
nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches will be
provided to more than 31 million children in 2015-16. In 1998,
Congress expanded the NSLP to include reimbursement for snacks
served to children in after-school educational and enrichment
programs to include children through 18 years of age. The Food
and Nutrition Service (FNS) administers the program at the
federal level. At the state level, the NSLP is administered by
CDE, which operates the program through agreements with school
food authorities.
The SBP provides cash assistance to states to operate nonprofit
breakfast programs in schools and residential childcare
institutions. The FNS administers the SBP at the federal level,
CDE administers the SBP at the state level, and local school
food authorities operate the program in schools. Most of the
support USDA provides to schools in the School Breakfast Program
comes in the form of a cash reimbursement for each breakfast
served. The current basic cash reimbursement rates (through June
30, 2015) for non-severe need are: Free breakfast-$1.62,
reduced-price breakfast-$1.32, paid breakfasts-$0.28. Schools
may qualify for higher "severe need" reimbursements if 40
percent or more of their lunches are served free or at a reduced
price in the second preceding year.
Existing federal law provides that any child who is eligible for
federal SNAP benefits (CalFresh benefits in California) is
automatically certified to receive free school meals without an
additional application (7 U.S.C. § 2020(u)(2)(A)).
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Proposed Law: This bill:
Requires additional providers to be added to the list of food
assistance providers currently compiled by county human
services agencies.
Requires the list to be updated based on information a county
human services agency receives from various entities including
the WIC Program, CDE, cities, school districts, and summer
lunch providers, and requires the list to be made available to
all households applying for CalFresh benefits, rather than
only upon request.
Requires a county human services agency to inform households
applying for CalFresh that, if the household is certified for
CalFresh, children under five years of age in the household
are income-eligible for the WIC Program, and all children in
the household are directly certified for the National School
Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program without further
application, as specified.
Requires DSS to inform all CalFresh households annually, prior
to the end of the school year, about the summer meal program
using information the department receives from the CDE and a
method deemed appropriate by the department.
Requires DSS to implement the change through all-county
letters or similar instructions beginning no later than March
1, 2016, until regulations are adopted and to adopt
regulations implementing this act on or before October 1,
2017.
Related
Legislation: AB 2115 (Bradford) 2014 was similar but broader in
scope than this measure. This bill was held on the Suspense File
of this Committee.
Staff
Comments: By increasing the duties of county human services agencies,
this bill imposes a state-mandated local program, the costs of
which could require a General Fund subvention of funds should
county agencies submit claims and the Commission on State
Mandates (CSM) determines the provisions of this measure
constitute a reimbursable state mandate.
While many county human services agencies may already be
informing applicants and providing the information specified in
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this bill, by mandating the activities specifically in statute,
county human service agencies could potentially file claims for
reimbursement for these administrative costs.
Based on the data from the CalFresh Monthly Caseload Movement
Report (DFA 296), nearly two million CalFresh applications are
received annually. Providing even one additional minute of
eligibility worker time, based on an estimated eligibility
worker cost of $57.57 per hour, would cost over $1.9 million
annually. This estimate assumes many counties utilize the option
of waiving the face-to-face interview and instead provide a
telephone interview in which case the informing would have to be
provided verbally in lieu of via a written document. Because it
is unknown at this time how the CSM would interpret the
requirement "to inform" households of this eligibility, the
amount of time incurred by eligibility workers that will be
eligible for reimbursement cannot be known with certainty. To
the extent a document is mailed in lieu of information provided
over the phone would also incur administrative resources and
mailing costs.
The costs to counties to update and add providers to food
assistance provider lists, while potentially state-reimbursable,
are estimated to be minor.
This bill requires the DSS to inform all CalFresh households
annually, prior to the end of the school year, about the summer
meal program using a method deemed appropriate by the
department. The DSS has indicated the department itself would
not send information to CalFresh households, as addresses of
clients are not kept at the state level. It is anticipated this
information would be sent by the counties. The estimated
printing and mailing costs to send out one mailer to each of
719,000 CalFresh households with school-aged children is
approximately $440,000 per year. As the bill requires this
information to be sent to all CalFresh households, however,
costs could be as high as $585,000 per year.
The DSS has also indicated that while the bill directs counties
to update the directory of emergency food service providers and
provide it to each applicant, the printing and distribution to
each client will likely be done through SAWS, which could
require programming changes. At this time, the extent of the
automation changes is unknown and it is not known whether the
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additional costs can be absorbed within the existing maintenance
and operations budget or if new funding would be required.
To the extent the mandated county efforts result in increased
enrollment in these food assistance programs, could result in a
significant increase in federal WIC Program (Federal) and NSLSB
Program (Federal/State) benefits which would assist families
access these critical programs aimed at reducing the incidence
of food insecurity among low-income Californians.
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