BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Senator McGuire, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 743
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|Author: |Eggman |
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|Version: |June 1, 2015 |Hearing | July 14, 2015 |
| | |Date: | |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Mareva Brown |
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Subject: CalWORKs: eligibility: work activities
SUMMARY
This bill exempts from consideration as income or property in
determining CalWORKs eligibility any education, training,
vocation, or rehabilitation benefits provided through the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs for active duty personnel,
veterans, dependents, or spouses, as specified. Additionally, it
exempts a participant in a self-initiated education and training
program (SIP) from the requirement that the person participate
in job search activities. The bill would also exempt hours of
participation in a SIP from the 24-month time clock, as
specified. The bill authorizes study time, as defined by the
educational institution, to be counted toward the participant's
minimum work participation hours requirements. Additionally the
bill requires that supportive services be provided to a person
participating in a SIP until an assessment has been completed,
if an assessment is found to be necessary. The bill requires
that a course schedule approved by a college counselor be deemed
sufficient verification of the need for child care. The bill
would also require the county to annually approve a list of
programs identified by the county or local educational agencies
or providers as leading to employment.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
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1) Establishes the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) program, which permits states to implement
the program under a state plan, and stablishes in state law
the CalWORKs program to provide cash assistance and other
social services for low-income families through the TANF
program. Under CalWORKs, each county provides assistance
through a combination of state, county and federal TANF
funds. (42 USC § 601 et seq.)(WIC 10530)
2) Establishes eligibility for aid under the CalWORKs
program, including income and asset requirements and
exemptions from considering certain income and assets in
determining eligibility. (WIC 11250)
3) Requires CalWORKs recipients to participate in a
welfare-to-work plan, unless exempted and as defined, in
order to remain eligible for CalWORKs benefits, (WIC
11320.3.) and defines the scope and sequence of activities
(WIC 11320.1)
4) Establishes the right of a recipient who is enrolled in
an undergraduate degree or certificate program at the time
of enrollment in the CalWORKs program to continue in this
"self-initiated program," (SIP) if the county determines
that continuing in the program is likely to lead to
self-supporting employment for that recipient, and the
welfare-to-work plan reflects that determination. (WIC
11325.23)
5) Requires that an applicant or recipient participate in
welfare-to-work activities, including specified hours in
specified activities within the first 24 months, and other
federally identified activities to maintain eligibility in
the program after 24 months, until the 48-month lifetime
limit on aid is exhausted. (WIC 11322.85)
6) Exempts individuals from the requirement to participate
in job search activities, as defined, who are participating
in Cal-Learn, or are a custodial parent under age 20 and
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completing a high school diploma, as defined. (WIC
11325.22. (a) (1))
7) Requires that at the time a recipient enters the
welfare-to-work program, the county shall conduct an
appraisal, as specified, to gather and provide information
about the recipient including educational and employment
history, housing and stability, domestic violence, physical
and behavioral health, and others. (WIC 11325.2)
8) Exempts participants in a SIP from the requirement to
participate in an assessment prior to beginning
welfare-to-work activities, unless the county determines
that the assessment is necessary to meet required
work-participation hours, (WIC 11325.22 (a)(2)(C))
9) Requires that individuals who participate in SIPs be
reimbursed for supportive services, and that reimbursement
shall be provided if no other source of funding for those
costs is available. (WIC 11325.23)
10) Requires that if an individual fails or refuses to
comply with program requirements without good cause in a
program component to which he or she is assigned or with a
compliance plan agreed to between the county and the
participant, the individual shall be subject to sanctions,
as specified (WIC 11327.4)
This bill:
1) Names this bill the CalWORKs Self-Sufficiency through
Education and GI Bill Exemption Act of 2015.
2) Exempts from consideration as income or property when
determining eligibility for the CalWORKs program any
education, training, vocation or rehabilitation benefits,
as defined, provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs for active duty personnel, veterans, or dependents
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or spouses of those who died in the line of duty or have a
service connected disability.
3) Removes a SIP from the mandated activities and time
frames in the state's the 24-month clock, and makes
corresponding changes to existing law.
4) Exempts individuals in a SIP from the requirement to be
assigned to four consecutive weeks in job club and job
search activities in order to maintain eligibility for
CalWORKs benefits.
5) Adds to the statutory requirement that a county must
determine that an assessment is necessary to develop a
welfare-to-work plan for a person in a SIP, as specified,
the requirement that if an assessment is required, it be
scheduled at a time that does not interfere with a person's
SIP, employment or child care obligations and that the
person continue to receive supportive services until the
assessment has been completed.
6) Establishes that the definition of "satisfactory
progress" that is required for ongoing participation in a
SIP is determined by the educational or vocational
institution.
7) Establishes that a list of programs that are determined
to lead to employment within the SIP program must be
approved by the county annually, instead of agreed upon by
the county and local education agency or provider.
8) Adds study time to classroom, laboratory and internship
activities that are required to be counted toward
participation requirements for the SIP program.
9) Establishes that a schedule approved by a college
counselor is sufficient verification of necessary child
care hours to determine eligibility for child care
services, and deletes the requirement that reimbursement
for child care shall be provide if no other source of
funding for those costs is available.
10) Removes the potential for sanctioning an individual in a
SIP for failing or refusing to comply with program
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requirements.
11) Mandates that an individual in a SIP that is reflected
in a welfare-to-work plan shall not be subject to sanctions
on the basis of failure to sign a new welfare-to-work plan
if the individual is making satisfactory progress in that
program, as defined.
12) Requires that no appropriation, as defined, be made in
implementing this act.
FISCAL IMPACT
According to an Assembly Appropriations Committee analysis, this
bill would result in ongoing costs in the range of $60,786 to
$300,900 (Federal funds/GF) for CalWORKs caseload increases and
increased grant amounts for those already receiving aid, due to
the expanded exemption of veterans' benefits. A portion of new
recipients will likely qualify for additional services as well,
such as child care, which will increase these costs further.
Additionally, the Assembly Appropriations Committee analysis
identified minor administrative costs to the Department of
Social Services (DSS) resulting from other provisions in the
bill.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Purpose of the bill:
This bill makes several changes in the CalWORKs program to make
it easier for a beneficiary to go to college and obtain a degree
or certificate. It removes the requirement that beneficiaries
who are working toward a degree or certificate additionally
participate in the welfare-to-work job search program. It
requires that a SIP should include study time, and prohibits a
county eligibility worker from disregarding student expenses
when a CalWORKs beneficiary is receiving military educational
benefits, as defined.
The author writes that schoolwork should be considered a
priority and component of the Welfare-to-Work Program. This bill
would eliminate the requirement that CalWORKs recipients who
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participate in an employment training or education program also
participate in the job search component of CalWORKs
welfare-to-work program before their certificate or degree is
completed. According to the author, studies have shown higher
education is the best pathway out of poverty and into a stable,
well-paying job. AB 743 provides a clearer path for students
living in poverty to attend and more importantly, complete their
degree or certificate, the author states.
Poverty and Education
California has the highest poverty rate in the nation - just
under one-quarter of residents are living at or below the
federal poverty level (FPL), earning no more than $20,090 per
year for a family of three. According to a 2009 paper by the
National Bureau of Economic Research there is a strong link
between middle-class income and the receipt of a college degree:
"While thirty years ago a high school degree was sufficient for
financial security, it is now a college degree that is the key
to a middle-class lifestyle."<1>
A 2014 report by the Pew Research center, underscored the
ongoing significance of a college education: "On virtually every
measure of economic well-being and career attainment-from
personal earnings to job satisfaction to the share employed full
time-young college graduates are outperforming their peers with
less education. And when today's young adults are compared with
previous generations, the disparity in economic outcomes between
college graduates and those with a high school diploma or less
formal schooling has never been greater in the modern era."<2>
The report included the chart, below.
CalWORKs
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<1> Deming, David, et al.,"Into College, Out of Poverty?
Policies to Increase the Postsecondary Attainment of the Poor,"
National Bureau of Economic Research, September 2009
<2> Pew Research Center, "The Rising Cost of Not Going to
College," November 2014
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One of California's most essential anti-poverty strategies is
the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids
program (CalWORKs), which provided cash assistance to
approximately 540,000 families in 2014, including more than 1
million children. Federal funding for CalWORKs comes from the
TANF block grant. Currently, the maximum grant for a family of
three in a high-cost California county is $704 per month, or
$8,448 per year -- approximately 42 percent of the federal
poverty level (FPL). In 1989, a grant to a similar family was
worth about 81 percent of FPL, and 55 percent in 1997. Part of
the reason for this decline has been a series of changes over
the past five years including significant grant cuts, the
elimination of a Cost of Living Adjustment, and a major
restructuring of the welfare-to-work activities, requirements
and time limits. Adults in the program have gone from a 60-month
lifetime limit on CalWORKs aid to a 48-month limit, with strict
requirements on work participation to remain in the program
after 24 months.
Self initiated programs
A CalWORKs participant who is entering the program and already
is participating in an undergraduate degree or certificate
program may enter into a SIP. SIP participants must be enrolled
in a program and the county must determine that continuing in
the program is likely to lead to self-supporting employment.
Various counties may apply the SIP differently. In order to be
enrolled as a SIP, a CalWORKs beneficiary may not already have a
bachelor's degree, certificate or vocational license. SIPs must
comply with weekly educational activities, and they are eligible
for child care and other supportive services, providing they
make satisfactory progress in their program.
Under current law, a CalWORKs recipient can remain in an
educational program - in lieu of work activity - for the first
24 months of benefits due to the flexibility of the 24-month
time clock. A SIP may continue in the educational program for a
year after the end of the 24-month clock due to a one-year
federal allowance for educational activities. If a SIP has not
completed the school program in those three years, the
individual then must meet federal work-participation
requirements to remain eligible for CalWORKs benefits. According
to CDSS, there are about 6,000 SIPs in the CalWORKs caseload.
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GI Bill
The original GI Bill was enacted by Congress to help pave an
easy transition for World War II veterans returning home.
Although the bill provided a variety of benefits, including
down-payments on homes, one of its best-known benefits was to
provide tuition payments for servicemen. In 2008, a "Post-9/11
GI Bill" was enacted to provide enhanced educational benefits,
money for books and a living allowance to veterans with active
duty service on or after September 11, 2001. The bill allows
veterans to transfer any unused educational benefits to their
spouses or children, within specified allowances.
According to September 2014 estimates from the US Department of
Veterans Affairs, more than 1.8 million veterans lived in
California, or about one in eight of the 22 million veterans in
the United States. Another 156,000 active duty military
personnel lived in California as of 2012. Existing law currently
exempts G.I. Bill education benefits from calculation in
CalWORKs eligibility, but the statute is silent as to whether
housing stipends available for post-911 GI Bill recipients or
education benefits received by survivors are exempt from
consideration under the CalWORKs program.
COMMENTS
This bill makes substantial changes to the structure of the
CalWORKs program for individuals who are engaged in study
leading to a degree or certification through a SIP. Research
links attainment of a college degree with higher income, and
advocates have argued that enabling CalWORKs recipients who want
to earn a degree is one of the surest paths out of poverty.
Advocates and the author say this bill is in response to
concerns statewide that there are barriers within the CalWORKs
program that prevent participants from pursuing educational
activities.
Should this bill be passed from this committee, staff recommends
the author address all of the following concerns prior to being
heard in the next committee:
1. 24-month clock: Removal of the SIP from the 24-month
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time clock (section 4) would eliminate the opportunity to
participate in associated welfare-to-work services, such as
Family Stabilization. If the intent is not for SIPs to lose
all 24-month clock services, the author needs to make that
clarification.
2. Determining progress: This bill removes the county's
authority to determine if a SIP is making satisfactory
educational progress and vests that authority instead with
the SIPs educational or vocational institution. Similarly,
the bill authorizes the educational institution to
determine if a program of study is leading to employment,
rather than requiring that it be determined jointly with
the county. (Sections 4 and 5). There are concerns that
some institutions may have less rigorous standards in
making these determinations. The author needs to clarify
who makes the decision or how it is made.
3. Defining a SIP: This bill appears to remove the criteria
for becoming a SIP, which had been to be enrolled in an
educational program prior to obtaining CalWORKs
authorization. (Section 5) Under the bill, a SIP may be
anyone who is enrolled in any undergraduate degree or
certificate program that leads to employment. The author
should clarify if there is a distinction between
individuals in CalWORKs who are pursuing education through
a welfare-to-work plan from individuals pursuing education
through a SIP. The author also should clarify how the
county makes such a distinction.
4. Child care verification: This bill enables a SIP to
provide a schedule approved by a college counselor in order
to establish eligibility for child care. (Section 5) This
attempt to solve the problem of participants whose official
schedules are released so close to the beginning of school
that they are unable to set up child care before classes
start. The Department of Social Services has indicated an
interest in continued discussion of this problem and
resolution. Should the bill move forward, the author may
wish to attempt to resolve this issue via a work group in
order to more precisely identify the resolution.
Additionally, in order to clarify language around who may
receive the benefit exemptions, staff recommends making the
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following amendment to Section 2 of the bill as follows:
11250.8. (b) Education, training, vocation, or rehabilitation
benefits, and related allowances provided through the United
States Department of Veterans Affairs for active duty personnel,
personnel or veterans, and dependents, dependents or spouses of
those who either died in the line of duty or have a
service-connected disability, shall be totally exempt from
consideration as income or property for purposes of determining
eligibility or available income or property for purposes of this
chapter.
PRIOR VOTES
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|Assembly Floor: |53 - |
| |25 |
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|Assembly Appropriations Committee: |12 - |
| |5 |
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|Assembly Human Services Committee: |5 - |
| |2 |
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POSITIONS
Support:
Western Center on Law and Poverty (Sponsor)
California Partnership
California School Employees Association
Courage Campaign
National Association of Social Workers
Oppose:
None received.
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