BILL NUMBER: AB 1994 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Lopez
FEBRUARY 16, 2016
An act to add Article 3.7 (commencing with Section 11340) to
Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to CalWORKs.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1994, as introduced, Lopez. CalED Program.
Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and
other social services to needy families through the California Work
Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using
federal, state, and county funds. Under existing law, a recipient of
CalWORKs is required to participate in welfare-to-work activities for
a specified number of hours each week as a condition of eligibility
for aid. Existing law authorizes certain welfare-to-work participants
to engage in adult basic education in satisfaction of these work
requirements.
Existing law establishes the Cal-Learn Program, under which a
recipient of CalWORKs aid who is under 19 years of age and who does
not have a high school diploma or its equivalent is required to
participate in the program as a student attending school on a
full-time basis. Existing law provides for a supplement to, or a
reduction in, a Cal-Learn participant's aid grant based on his or her
performance in school.
This bill would create the CalED Program for the purpose of
assisting CalWORKs recipients who are at least 19 years of age to
obtain high school diplomas or equivalency certificates. The bill
would provide a $100 aid supplement if a CalED participant maintains
satisfactory progress in school, as defined, and a $500 aid
supplement if the participant successfully completes high school or a
high school equivalency examination. The bill would provide that
participation in the program is optional and would authorize
recipients of CalWORKs to opt out in writing. The bill would require
the department to develop a comprehensive form that explains the
benefits of the program and would require the county, at the time it
conducts a welfare-to-work appraisal, to provide the form to the
recipient. The bill would also require counties to arrange for the
provision of education and supportive services that an individual
needs to successfully participate in the CalED Program. By imposing
these duties on counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated
local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 3.7 (commencing with Section 11340) is added to
Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
Article 3.7. CalED Program
11340. (a) This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the
CalED Program.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares that the connection between
education and long-term welfare dependency has been well documented
by social science research. Average time on aid for parents without a
high school diploma or its equivalent is significantly longer than
for parents who have completed high school or an equivalent program.
(c) The Legislature finds that CalWORKs recipients have unique
education, vocational, training, health, and other social service
needs that are not specifically provided for as part of the
welfare-to-work activities. Research shows that successful programs
that help CalWORKs recipients achieve self-sufficiency increase the
earning capacity of those individuals.
11341. A recipient of aid under this chapter is eligible to
participate in the CalED Program if all of the following requirements
are met:
(a) The person is at least 19 years of age.
(b) The person does not have a high school diploma or its
equivalent.
(c) The person is attending school on a full-time basis, as
normally defined by the school in which the participant enrolls.
11342. (a) Participation in the CalED Program is optional. If a
person declines to participate, he or she shall opt out in writing.
(b) At the time the county conducts an appraisal pursuant to
Section 11325.2, the county shall inform each person who does not
have a high school diploma or its equivalent that he or she may
participate in the CalED Program or may opt out in writing, and shall
give the person the form described in subdivision (c).
(c) The State Department of Social Services shall develop a
comprehensive form that explains the benefits of the program,
including the bonuses that are available pursuant to Section 11344,
in order to empower the person to make an informed decision.
11343. Counties shall arrange for the provision of education and
supportive services that a person needs to successfully participate
in the CalED Program. The county shall identify the need of each
person for, and the method of providing, the following services:
(a) Supportive services, including child care and transportation,
as specified in Section 11323.2. Supportive services shall be limited
to those that are necessary to enable the person to attend school
regularly.
(b) Any other services necessary for the person to successfully
participate in the CalED Program, which may include, but not be
limited to, mental health services and substance abuse treatment.
11344. (a) A participant in the CalED Program who maintains
satisfactory progress in school shall, not more than four times in a
calendar year, receive a one hundred dollar ($100) supplement to the
amount of aid paid pursuant to Section 11450. The supplement shall be
paid to the assistance unit of which the participant is a member in
the month following submission of the report card, if received by the
county no later than the 11th calendar day of the month, or in the
second month following submission of the report card, if received by
the county after the 11th calendar day of the month.
(b) A participant who fails to demonstrate that he or she has made
adequate progress in school, either by failing to provide the report
card or based on the grades on the report card, shall be assigned to
another welfare-to-work activity.
(c) A participant who successfully completes high school or a
California high school equivalency examination shall receive a five
hundred dollar ($500) supplement. An assistance unit shall not
receive a one hundred dollar ($100) supplement when a five hundred
dollar ($500) supplement for the same report card or progress report
is paid. The five hundred dollar ($500) supplement shall be paid to
the participant in the month following submission of the record of
completion, if received by the county no later than the 11th calendar
day of the month, or in the second month following submission of the
record of completion, if received by the county after the 11th
calendar day of the month.
(d) (1) For purposes of this section, in schools that provide
periodic report cards with letter grades, "satisfactory progress"
means maintaining a grade point average of at least 2.0 on a scale
where A equals 4.0 points and F equals 0 points, and adequate
progress means maintaining a grade point average of at least 1.0 on
the same scale.
(2) For the purposes of this section, in schools or other
educational programs that do not provide letter grades indicating
student performance, satisfactory progress or inadequate progress
shall be determined by the school's regular assessment of periodic
progress.
SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.