BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Senator McGuire, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 312
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|Author: |Pan |
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|Version: |February 23, 2015 |Hearing |April 21, 2015 |
| | |Date: | |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Mareva Brown |
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Subject: Public assistance: personal interviews
SUMMARY
This bill would authorize the county welfare department to
conduct a required personal interview with an applicant for
CalWORKs benefits either telephonically or through electronic
means, if the county welfare department determines that such an
interview would be more efficient. The bill would also delete a
cross-reference to an obsolete section of statute.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1) Establishes in state law the CalWORKs program to provide
cash assistance and other social services for low-income
families through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) program. Under CalWORKs, each county
provides assistance through a combination of state, county
and federal TANF funds. (WIC 10530)
2) Prohibits an applicant for CalWORKs from being granted
assistance until he or she is first personally interviewed
by the office of the county welfare department or by state
staff for patients in state hospitals. (WIC 11052.5)
3) Requires the personal interview to be conducted promptly
following the application for assistance. If an applicant
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is incapable of acting in his or her own behalf, the county
department shall verify this fact by personal contact with
the applicant before aid is authorized. (WIC 11052.5)
4) Establishes under federal law the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) within the US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) to promote the general welfare and to
safeguard the health and wellbeing of the nation's
population by raising the levels of nutrition among
low-income households. It establishes SNAP eligibility
requirements, including income that is at or below 130
percent of the federal poverty level and is determined to
be a substantial limiting factor in permitting a recipient
to obtain a more nutritious diet (7 CFR 271.1; 7 CFR 273.9)
5) Establishes in California statute the CalFresh program
to administer the provision of federal SNAP benefits to
families and individuals meeting specified criteria. (WIC
18900 et seq.)
6) Establishes in CalFresh statute the option for a county
welfare department to exempt an applicant for food benefits
from complying with face-to-face interview requirements for
purposes of determining eligibility at initial application
and recertification. (WIC 18901.1)
This bill:
1) Names this bill the County Option of Efficient
Interviewing of CalWORKs Applicants Act of 2015.
2) Deletes an obsolete reference to an amended section of
statute, per legislative counsel.
3) Permits a county welfare department to conduct an
applicant's required personal interview by telephone or
through electronic means if the county welfare department
determines that method will be more efficient.
FISCAL IMPACT
This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal committee.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
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Purpose of the bill:
According to the author, counties that have set up the
infrastructure to do telephone interviews for CalFresh, or food
stamp, applicants should have the option to do the same for
CalWORKs applicants if it would achieve administrative
efficiency. The author also states that telephone interviews
would be beneficial to beneficiaries who live in rural
California, where the cost of transportation to an in-person
interview can be burdensome.
Poverty
California has the highest poverty rate of any state in the
nation, with nearly one-quarter of residents living at or below
the federal poverty level (FPL) according to the national
Supplemental Poverty Measure. A family of three living at the
FPL earns no more than $20,090 per year. During and after the
Great Recession, California saw growing rates of deep poverty -
those living below 50 percent of the federal poverty line.
Additionally, 26.3 percent of young children - aged 6 or younger
- were below poverty under the recently created California
Poverty Measure that is calculated by researchers at Stanford
and the Public Policy Institute of California. While
California's child poverty rate is much worse than the national
average, there are pockets of poverty within this state where
children are especially needy. In 2013, researchers found that
Merced County had a childhood poverty rate of 40.6 percent,
while more than one in three children in Fresno, Kern, Tulare,
Lake, and Mendocino counties live below the poverty line.<1>
California's young children are at the greatest risk: More than
11 percent of young children statewide experienced deep poverty
in 2013, according to research provided by Stanford University's
poverty center. The Stanford researchers found that rates of
deep poverty grew most steeply among young children during and
after the Great Recession.
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<1> Bohn, Sarah and Matt Levin, "Child Poverty in California,"
Public Policy Institute of California, August 2013.
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TANF and CalWORKs
One of California's most essential anti-poverty strategies is
the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids
program (CalWORKs), which provides state and federal cash
assistance to approximately 540,000 families, including more
than 1 million children. A grant to a family of three in a
high-cost California county currently is $704 per month, or
approximately 42 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). In
1989, a similar grant was worth about 81 percent of FPL, and 55
percent in 1997.
The CalWORKs program is funded through a combination of state
funds and a fixed federal block grant through the federal
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. The TANF
program, created through the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act or PRWORA (42 U.S.C. 601),
permits recipients to receive aid for up to 60 months. The
program was designed to give states flexibility in setting
eligibility and guidelines. Under PRWORA, as long as states meet
maintenance of effort requirements and adhere to federal work
participation requirements, they receive federal funding.
California's CalWORKs statute has been revised repeatedly over
the last decade and most notably in response to the state's
fiscal crisis during the Great Recession. Currently, a recipient
may remain on aid for 48 months so long as during the last 24 of
those months the participant is meeting strict federal work
requirements. An array of services and supports is designed to
identify and address any individual challenges clients face
during the first 24 months.
CalFresh
The USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
funds 100 percent of food benefits to eligible households
nationwide. California, its 58 counties and the federal
government share the cost of administering the program, which is
known as CalFresh. Specific eligibility requirements are set by
the USDA, including gross- and net-income asset tests for most
recipients, work requirements and specific documentation
requirements. Approximately 4.4 million Californians receive
CalFresh benefits, according to USDA data. Many CalWORKs
participants also receive CalFresh benefits.
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Use of telephone interviews
Under a federal USDA waiver<2> and under current regulatory
requirements,<3> California's county human services agencies
have the option to allow CalFresh applicants to satisfy the
interview requirement over the telephone rather than mandating a
face-to-face interview. CDSS instructed counties in February
2014<4> that they were permitted to complete a telephone
interview without having an applicant schedule an appointment by
calling a county call center or other number specified by the
county. The applicant also has the option of scheduling
appointments or requesting an accommodation, if they have
special needs.
Yet the use of a telephonic interview is not permitted in the
CalWORKs program. Per CDSS guidance, if an applicant is applying
for both programs together, which is common, county human
services agencies must conduct the interview in person, to
comply with CalWORKs state law and regulation.<5>
Efficiencies within the TANF program
A research paper prepared for the US Administration on Children
and Families in 2014 focused on state's efforts to serve TANF
recipients in the wake of significant cuts to grants, program
staff and constricted job opportunities nationwide. The
researchers surveyed 30 states, including California, and found,
among other things, that states had made explicit efforts to
reduce program costs in part by reducing administrative and
program staffing. In California that included furloughs and
unfilled vacancies. Even with an improving economy, most states
still struggle with fewer staff and less to offer poor
participants. The researchers identified five strategies to
improve TANF programs, including use of more efficient business
practices.
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<2> USDA Food and Nutrition Services Waiver #2130007,
implemented August 1, 2013.
<3> US 7 CFR 273.2(e)(3) and California Manual of Policies and
Procedures Section 63-300.46
<4> CDSS All County Letter # 14-20, February 27, 2014
<5> Manuals of Policies and Procedures 40-131; CDSS All County
Information Notice I-15-03, March 28, 2003
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Improving the efficiency of business processes could help
agencies engage TANF recipients more quickly and
consistently or could free up funds which could then be
re-invested in other TANF services.<6>
Related legislation
SB 297 (McGuire 2015) would require CDSS to establish an
electronic signature storage hub to enable counties to record
telephonic and electronic signatures during a CalFresh
interview.
AB 1970 (Skinner, 2012) would have permitted counties to use
electronic methods of communication for the application and
recertification processes in CalWORKs and CalFresh, and would
have established alternatives to in-person interviews for
applications and redeterminations. It died in the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
COMMENTS
The author is seeking to align CalWORKs interviewing
requirements with those existing in the CalFresh program, which
currently requires that county human services agencies use a
telephonic verification, unless certain circumstances exist.
Staff recommends the following amendments to clarify the bill's
intent:
11052.5. (a) An applicant shall not be granted public assistance
under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) until he or she
is first personally interviewed by the office of the county
welfare department human services agency or state staff for
patients in state hospitals. The personal interview shall be
conducted promptly following the application for assistance . The
county welfare department may conduct the personal interview and
may be conducted by telephone or through electronic means. If
the county welfare department determines that a personal
interview by telephone or electronic means will be more
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<6> Brown, Elizabeth and Michelle Derr, "Serving TANF Recipients
in a Post-Recession Environment," Mathematica Policy
Research on behalf of the Office of Planning, Research and
Evaluation (OPRE) in the US Administration for Children and
Families, February 2015
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efficient . If an applicant is incapable of acting in his or her
own behalf, the county welfare department human services agency
shall verify this fact by personal contact with the applicant
before aid is authorized. As used in this section, the term
public assistance does not include health care as provided by
Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000).
(b) The interview conducted pursuant to this section shall occur
within seven days after the time of application unless there are
extenuating circumstances that justify further delay.
(c) A face-to-face interview shall be conducted if requested by
an applicant or recipient.
POSITIONS
Support:
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations
(Sponsor - Support)
Western Center on Law and Poverty (Sponsor- Support)
Oppose:
None.
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