BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2631
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 12, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Susan Bonilla, Chair
AB 2631
(Santiago) - As Amended April 5, 2016
SUBJECT: CalWORKs: housing assistance
SUMMARY: Removes the once-in-a-lifetime limit on CalWORKs
homeless assistance benefits and extends to 30 days, per year,
the permissible length of time for receipt of temporary shelter
assistance.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Strikes language stipulating that CalWORKs special needs
benefits related to housing, including various components of
the homeless assistance program, are nonrecurring and further
stipulates that assistance for temporary shelter shall be
available once per calendar year to eligible families.
2)Extends the amount of time during which temporary shelter
assistance may be received from 16 to 30 days.
3)Provides that no appropriation, as specified, shall be made
for purposes of implementing this bill.
AB 2631
Page 2
4)Makes technical amendments, including removing provisions that
specify or refer to eligibility periods that conflict with the
provisions contained in this bill.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes under federal law the Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) program to provide aid and
welfare-to-work services to eligible families and, in
California, provides that TANF funds for welfare-to-work
services are administered through the CalWORKs program. (42
U.S.C. 601 et seq., WIC 11200 et seq.)
2)Establishes income, asset and real property limits used to
determine eligibility for the program, including net income
below the Maximum Aid Payment (MAP), based on family size and
county of residence, which is around 40% of the Federal
Poverty Level. (WIC 11150 to 11160, 11450 et seq.)
3)Establishes a 48-month lifetime limit of CalWORKs benefits for
eligible adults, including 24 months during which a recipient
must meet federal work requirements in order to retain
eligibility. (WIC 11454, 11322.85)
4)Requires all individuals over 16 years of age, unless they are
otherwise exempt, to participate in welfare-to-work activities
as a condition of eligibility for CalWORKs. (WIC 11320.3,
11322.6)
5)Establishes the number of weekly hours of welfare-to-work
participation necessary to remain eligible for aid, including
requirements for an unemployed parent in a two-parent
assistance unit, as specified. (WIC 11322.8)
AB 2631
Page 3
6)Entitles a family to receive an allowance for nonrecurring
special needs related to housing or homelessness after that
family has used all available liquid resources in excess of
$100, as specified, and grants this allowance for different
purposes and amounts, as follows:
a) Replacement of clothing and household equipment and for
emergency housing needs other than temporary shelter;
b) Temporary shelter assistance for homeless families
receiving CalWORKs for one period of 16 consecutive days,
except as specified, and counts a break in the consecutive
use of this assistance as permanent exhaustion of the
benefit; and
c) Permanent housing assistance available to pay for last
month's rent and security deposits when these payments are
reasonable conditions of securing a residence, or to pay
for up to two months of rent arrearages, when these
payments are a reasonable condition of preventing eviction.
(WIC 11450 (f))
7)Prohibits the sum of all housing assistance special needs
provided for to exceed $600 per event.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
CalWORKs: The California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to
Kids (CalWORKs) program provides monthly income assistance and
employment-related services aimed at moving children out of
poverty and helping families meet basic needs. Federal funding
for CalWORKs comes from the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) block grant. The average 2015-16 monthly cash
grant for a family of three on CalWORKs (one parent and two
AB 2631
Page 4
children) is $506.55. According to recent data from the
California Department of Social Services, over 540,000 families
rely on CalWORKs, including over one million children. Nearly
80% of the children are under age twelve and 40% are under age
five.
Average grant amounts of $506.55 per month for a family of three
means $16.88 per day, per family, or $5.62 per family member,
per day to meet basic needs, including rent, clothing, utility
bills, food, and anything else a family needs to ensure children
can be cared for at home and safely remain with their families.
This grant amount puts the annual household income at $6,078 per
year. Federal Poverty Guidelines for 2015 show that 100% of
poverty for a family of three is over three times that at
$20,090 per year.
Homelessness in California: Point in time data from the Annual
Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) produced by the US Department
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reveals that on a single
night in January 2014, there were 578,424 homeless people
counted in the United States, 216,261 of which were people who
were part of homeless families. That same report reveals that
113,952 (nearly 20%) of those homeless people were counted in
California, 71,437 of which were unsheltered. It is important
to note that this number is for a single night and is neither
exhaustive of the number of Californians experiencing
homelessness on a daily basis nor the number of Californians who
experience homelessness each year.
Homelessness has particularly damaging effects on children.
According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, nearly
2.5 million children in the US will experience homelessness over
the course of a year. The AHAR revealed that on that same night
in January 2014, 135,701 homeless individuals were children
under age 18. The effects of homelessness on children span from
hunger and related physical, cognitive and developmental issues
AB 2631
Page 5
to lowered academic achievement and increases in stress,
depression, emotional instability and overall poor mental
health.
CalWORKs homeless assistance: For purposes of identifying
families eligible for CalWORKs homeless assistance, a family is
considered homeless if the family lacks a fixed and regular
nighttime residence, if the family's primary nighttime residence
is a shelter, or if the family is residing in a public or
private place that is not an appropriate sleeping place for
human beings. Additionally, a family can be considered homeless
for CalWORKs purposes if the family has received an eviction
notice and the cause of eviction is the result of a verified
financial hardship.
Temporary shelter assistance and permanent housing assistance
are two types of housing assistance provided to homeless
families under the CalWORKs program. Whereas permanent housing
assistance can be provided to help secure or maintain permanent
housing and help prevent eviction for a family, temporary
shelter assistance is provided to homeless families for up to 16
consecutive days. Temporary shelter assistance for a family of
up to four people is $65 per day, and $15 is provided for each
additional family member. The maximum amount of temporary
shelter assistance any family can receive is $125 per day, and
the assistance can only be used to pay for housing provided in a
commercial establishment, a shelter, or an established rental
property. Additionally, CalWORKs recipients must provide proof
to the county that they are searching for permanent housing
while they are receiving this benefit and proof that the shelter
assistance was used to pay for allowable housing. Any break in
the use of the assistance, including one night spent with a
friend or relative, automatically terminates a family's ability
to receive shelter assistance for any days remaining within the
16 consecutive day limit.
AB 2631
Page 6
The 16 consecutive day limit is a lifetime limit for temporary
shelter assistance, provided that a family doesn't meet criteria
for an exception. A family may receive temporary shelter
assistance more than once in a lifetime if the family's
homelessness is the direct result of domestic violence, a
medically verified physical or mental illness, excluding
diagnoses that include substance abuse, or a fire or other
natural catastrophe beyond the family's control. Still, a
family cannot receive the 16 consecutive days of homeless
assistance more than once in a 12-month period, and families can
only receive shelter assistance for domestic violence twice in a
lifetime.
In California each month, county CalWORKs offices receive an
average of 4,300 requests for homeless assistance.
Need for this bill: According to the author, "Combating
homelessness requires strategies to reduce the number of
families and individuals who become homeless. Unfortunately,
many Californians are struggling to make ends meet and are one
paycheck from becoming homeless. Increasing the Homeless
Assistance Program to 30 days and once a year will give families
slightly more time to become stable and self-sufficient."
PRIOR LEGISLATION:
AB 264 (Maienschein), 2014, would have deleted the requirement
that CalWORKs temporary shelter assistance be provided
consecutively to a limit of 16 days and instead allowed a family
to receive temporary shelter assistance for a total of 16
calendar days to be used at any time they were both homeless and
receiving CalWORKs aid. It died in the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
AB 2631
Page 7
Support
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organization (CCWRO)
National Association of Social Workers CA Chapter (NASW-CA)
California Catholic Conference
Western Center on Law and Poverty
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
AB 2631
Page 8