BILL NUMBER: AB 1994 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2016
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 amended, 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
one-time $500 aid supplement if the participant
successfully completes high school or a high school
equivalency examination. general educational
development test approved by the State Board of Education
and administered by a testing center approved by the State Department
of Education. 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.
(d) The person is participating in welfare-to-work activities
pursuant to Article 3.2 (commencing with Section 11320).
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. (a) 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)
(1) 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)
(2) 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.
(b) CalED participants may participate in programs provided for in
Section 52500 of the Education Code in order to obtain the
certificate described in Section 51420 of the Education Code.
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)
11344. (a) A participant who
fails to demonstrate that he or she has made adequate progress in
school, either by failing to provide the a
report card or based on the grades on the report card, shall be
assigned to another welfare-to-work activity.
(c)
(b) A participant who successfully completes high
school or a California high school equivalency examination
general e ducational development test
approved by the State Board of Education and administered by a
testing center approved by the State Department of Education
shall receive a one-time supplement in the amount of 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. dollars ($500). 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.