BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2346
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Date of Hearing: March 29, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Susan Bonilla, Chair
AB 2346
(Baker) - As Introduced February 18, 2016
SUBJECT: Public social services: hearings
SUMMARY: Requires specified position statements related to
state hearings to be made available electronically no less than
two days prior to the date of a hearing.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires a public or private agency to make its position
statement available through electronic means.
2)Requires the State Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)
to make its position statement available to the applicant or
recipient and the Department of Social Services through
electronic means not less than two business days before the
scheduled hearing.
3)Makes technical changes.
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EXISTING LAW:
1) Requires DSS and DHCS to hold a fair hearings in the event
that an applicant for or recipient of public social services
is dissatisfied with any action of a county department, as
specified. (WIC 10950 et seq.)
2)Requires an applicant for or recipient of public social
services to file his or her request for a hearing within 90
days after the order or action complained of. (WIC 10951)
3)Requires the department to set the hearing within 30 working
days after the request is filed, and to notify all parties at
least 10 days prior to the hearing of the time and place of
the hearing. (WIC 10952)
4)Limits the issues as a state hearing to those that are
reasonably related to the request for hearing or other issues
that have been identified by either party and mutually agreed
upon, as specified. ( WIC 10958.1)
5)Requires a public or private agency to make a mandated
position statement available not less than two working days
prior to the date of a hearing, and further requires that the
private or public agency make a copy of the agency's position
statement available to the applicant or recipient at the
county welfare department. (WIC 10952.5)
6)Mandates that, in the event a public or private agency does
not make the position statement available not less than two
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working days prior to the hearing or the agency decides to
modify the position statement, the hearing shall be postponed
upon the request of the applicant or recipient. (WIC 10952.5)
7)Provides that a hearing award, if the decision is in favor of
the applicant or recipient, shall be determined within 30 days
of the date of the hearing decision, and requires the county
and the claimant to be notified of the determination regarding
the county's compliance with the decision. (WIC 10961)
8)Requires each county to establish and maintain a case record
for each public social services case for a period of three
years from the date on which public social services were last
provided, as specified. (WIC 10851)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
State public hearings: State laws and regulations spell out the
basic benefits and services provided to low-income individuals
and families that fit within the public social services programs
for which a state hearing can be requested. These programs
include, among others, CalWORKs, the State-administered programs
for recipients of SSI/SSP, CalFresh, Medi-Cal, California
Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI), Kinship Guardian
Assistance Program (Kin-GAP), Aid to Families with Dependent
Children (AFDC)-Foster Care, and California Food Assistance
Program (CFAP).
Under current law, an applicant or recipient of public social
services can request a state hearing to contest an action taken
by the county that the applicant or recipient believes is unjust
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or inappropriate, such as a recipient's denial of benefits, aid,
or services, or denial of an applicant's program eligibility.
Current law and regulations set forth timeframes for requesting
a state hearing and adjudication of the complaint, in addition
to county requirements to send notices pertaining to the
hearing.
Need for this bill: According to the author, "Current law limits
the availability of State hearing documents because the
documents can only be picked up at the County DSS. The
inability to access hearing documents electronically imposes
additional transportation costs on low-income persons,
especially those living in rural areas."
Staff comments: Sponsors of this bill assert that the inability
of individuals to access hearing documents electronically
imposes additional transportation costs on low-income persons,
especially those living in rural areas. According to the
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations, the
sponsor of this bill, while hearings are no longer conducted
exclusively in person and may occur over the phone in some rural
counties, applicants for or recipients of public social services
must still drive to the county welfare office to obtain hearing
materials. This bill seeks to address these issues by requiring
public and private agencies to make hearing materials available
electronically to recipients.
However, the County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) has
raised concerns regarding the ability of counties to deliver
Statements of Position (SOP) electronically, citing privacy
concerns and effectiveness of electronic delivery. According to
CWDA, some SOPs may contain personally identifying information
and can therefore only be sent using secure mail. In addition
to this, CWDA asserts that claimants often do not open or review
SOPs sent via electronic mail; a majority of the hearing may
then be spent discussing the SOP.
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These concerns may be mitigated by permitting county welfare
agencies that are unable to comply with the provisions of this
bill to opt out of delivering SOPs electronically by submitting
an annual report to the Department of Social Services detailing
both why the agency is unable to provide materials
electronically, and what steps it is taking to move towards
electronic access. Therefore, committee staff suggests the
following amendments, starting after line 31 on page 2 of the
bill:
19
(b)If the public or private agency does not make the position
20
statement available not less than two working days prior to
business
21
days before the hearing or if the public or private agency
decides
22
to modify the position statement, the hearing shall be
postponed
23
upon the request of the applicant or recipient, provided if an
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24
applicant or recipient agrees to waive the right to obtain a
decision
25
on the hearing within the deadline that would otherwise be
26
applicable under regulations. A postponement for reason of the
27
public or private agency not making the position statement
28
available within not less than two working business days shall
be
29
deemed a postponement for good cause for purposes of
determining
30
eligibility to any applicable benefits pending disposition of
the
31
hearing.
(c)A public or private agency shall not be required to comply
with the requirements of this section provided the agency
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submits a report, by December 31st of each year, to the
Department of Social Services that includes both of the
following: (1) barriers the agency has identified that
substantially impede or prohibit electronic provision of hearing
documents; and (2) what steps the agency is taking to address
these barriers. .
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations (CCWRO) -
sponsor
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Kelsy Castillo / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
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